Finally carved out some time to dig into a stack of releases Craft Recordings sent our way—yeah, life got messy, as usual. Big shoutout to eCoustics Music Contributor, Mark Smotroff, for holding down the fort and dropping solid reviews while I was busy untangling my life. I did manage to sneak in a review of Buddy Guy’s This Is Buddy Guy! and Scrapper Blackwell’s Mr. Scrapper’s Blues—both pressed on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl with all-analog mastering–Also, shoutout to Buddy Guy for his appearance in Sinners, one of the most interesting vampire flicks I’ve seen in a while, with a killer soundtrack and a juke joint set in 1930s Mississippi that felt like a character all its own. Speaking of Mississippi…
Craft Recordings and Bluesville Records dropped the reissue of Mississippi John Hurt’s iconic 1966 album Today! on March 14, 2025 — and if you thought grabbing a copy would be easy, think again. Pressed on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings with all-analog mastering by GRAMMY-nominated Matthew Lutthans (The Mastering Lab), the vinyl comes housed in a faithfully reproduced tip-on jacket with an obi strip containing insightful liner notes by GRAMMY-winning producer and writer Scott Billington.
In addition to the vinyl, Today! is available across digital platforms including standard and 192/24 hi-res audio formats, making this reissue a must-have for blues enthusiasts and audiophiles alike.
Launched in early 2024, Bluesville Records honors America’s foundational blues heritage and its trailblazing artists through carefully curated releases like this one, drawing from the catalogs of legendary labels such as Stax, Prestige, Vee-Jay, Vanguard, Rounder, and Riverside.
Mississippi John Hurt wasn’t your typical bluesman pounding out misery on a battered guitar—no, this guy was a gentle soul with a fingerpicking style so smooth it could make a stone weep. Born in 1893 to sharecroppers deep in rural Mississippi, Hurt spent more time farming than chasing fame, teaching himself guitar during stolen moments between hauling crops. He didn’t hit the spotlight until right before his death in ’66—talk about a slow burn.
Back in the Roaring Twenties, he was playing gigs with fiddle player Willie Narmour, who had the good sense to shove Hurt’s name to OKeh Records. Still, success was a long time coming—because nothing about this story is quick or easy, just like the blues itself.
Hurt cut a handful of tracks for OKeh back in ’28 — “Frankie,” “Candy Man Blues,” “Stack O’ Lee Blues” — all quiet, laid-back, and about as far from the growling grit of Son House or Charlie Patton as you could get. Trouble was, the folks back then didn’t know what to do with a bluesman who sounded like he was sipping tea instead of spitting fire. Hurt wasn’t chasing fame anyway; he was perfectly happy digging in the dirt and tending his farm like a man who knew his place.
Fast forward 30 years, and the folk revival scholars finally caught on. They dusted off his old recordings, found the 70-year-old Mississippi legend, and told him it was time to quit hiding and hit the stage. So, Hurt packed up and moved to Washington D.C., where he spent his last few years recording for the Library of Congress, playing festivals and coffeehouses, showing up on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, and cranking out albums for Vanguard. Not bad for a guy who once thought music was just a hobby.
Released in ’66, Today! is the record that pretty much sealed Mississippi John Hurt’s legacy. It’s the one where he flits effortlessly from jaunty originals like “Candy Man” and “Coffee Blues” to old-school country blues and even spirituals like “Louis Collins” and “Beulah Land.” It’s the album that pulled him out of folk revival obscurity and into the spotlight, introducing a wider audience to his gentle, hypnotic style.
Over the years, Today! didn’t just sit on dusty shelves — it inspired a lineup of younger artists who actually got it: John Fahey, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Gillian Welch. Not too shabby for a guy who started as a farmhand. And if you need proof it matters, the Library of Congress made it official in 2009 by adding it to their National Recording Registry. That’s right, this ain’t just some dusty old blues record — it’s history.
1966’s Today! is a straightforward album—just Mississippi John Hurt, his voice, and his guitar playing gentle folk-blues. This reissue stands out thanks to its quiet noise floor, allowing the music to come through clearly and with more presence than my older pressing.
Craft Recordings also reproduced the original orange Vanguard “Stereolab” label, which is a nice nod for collectors. The recording itself sounds warm and intimate, like Hurt is sitting nearby, quietly sharing his songs without any extra production frills–clean, accessible, and certainly a lot more affordable than any NM copy of older pressings you’re likely to find online.
Where to buy: $32.99 at Amazon
Related Reading:
- Helen Humes Songs I Like To Sing! Vinyl Reissue Review
- Craft Recordings and Bluesville Records Announce Jimmy Reed and Reverend Gary Davis Vinyl Reissues
- Bluesville Records and Craft Recordings Kick off 2025 with Lonnie Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt Vinyl Reissues
- Craft Recordings Honors The Blues With the Launch of Bluesville Records
