![[1980s]](hurley.jpg)
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[Pic source, by David Schwartz]
New: mention
LATEST: Tour info
NEW: RealAudio samples plus RealVideos and recent pix and forthcoming CD
NEW: Cat Power a fan
1941: born 20 December, four siblings, father produced operettas in Florida (Showboat, The Chocolate Soldier, Carmen, Naughty Marietta, The Merry Widow)
1945: begins drawing career
1949: shifts allegiance from cowboys to Indians
Much travelled: Florida, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New Orleans, Mexico, Alabama
1950s: girlfriend Andy Behr, collies Boone and Count
Teenage years: Bucks County, PA, raising hell with Jessie Colin Young [qv] (Youngbloods), Robin Remailey (who shot MH with a 38?) and Steve Weber (Holy Modal Rounders) "I drank wine all the time"
1959: "I began to ramble... hitchhiked to New Orleans, New York, and Mexico. I was then learning to play the guitar..." [memoirs]
Artists admired: Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Burl Ives, Leadbelly, Hank Williams, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Lightnin' Hopkins, Brenda Lee, Joseph Spence, Flat and Scruggs, Smiley Lewis, Thurston Harris
1960s: "I had a need for fast cash so for years I heisted the produce, even robbed trains, hopped trains, and even worked as a broomsweep in a small Philadelphia grocery. ...five or six arrests... given suspended sentences..."
1963? NYC's Bellevue for 6 months with a serious liver condition and TB
1964: "discovered" by the great blues and jazz historian Frederick Ramsey III
1965: debut album, First Songs, recorded for Folkways Records on the same reel-to-reel machine that taped Leadbelly's Last Sessions.
1965: moved in with Peter Stampfel (of the Holy Modal Rounders), who would become his on again off again comrade in musical mayhem for fifteen years.
1960s: living with girlfriend 'Pasta' in Lambertville, New Jersey, picking apples; road trip to Mexico
1960s: Vermont, studying auto mechanics; Martha's Vineyard w/gf Kim (four kids?)
1960s: championed by boyhood friend Jesse Colin Young, who released his 2nd & 3rd albums on The Youngbloods' Warner Bros. imprint, Raccoon.
1970s: Staelbons, Vermont
1976 LP "Have Moicy" (Rounder) a collaboration with the The Unholy Modal Rounders and Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones, was named "the greatest folk album of the rock era" by the Village Voice's Robert Christgau [qv].
1990s: living with Mora Reinhardt in Richmond, Virginia; eight-track tape repairman
Touring: "Charlottesville, North Carolina to New York City, with Richmond, VA, Boston, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Columbus, OH, Rochester, NY, Buffalo, NY, and more points are being added to my circuit from time to time. Two tours of Germany and one tour of Ireland..."
1996: Profile from Chicago Reader incl pic
1996: Long review of Dublin show
1997: Long account of arranging Columbus Ohio concert
1998: Account from Rochester NY w/pix; ditto from Portland, Oregon
Wheels: "Remember, when you see a dark green 70s Chevy van with a 4" by 8" wooden beam for a bumper going 50 mph on some interstate somewhere, don't forget you're passing a true American originator-so roll down your window and give him the thumbs up!"
Faves: Patty Loveless, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams, Akito Ayano, Pam Tillis, The Kendalls, The Whites, The Sunburned Hand of Man, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Debussy, Erik Satie, and Charles Ives
DON"T MISS: Interview includes complete discography and much personal memories
MISSING: Funky official page
NEW: Fancy official site and fansite
Blue Navigator fanzine subscription info
Defunct mailinglist, non-defunct mailinglist! w/archive, iMusic BBS
Other sources: informative review, fanpage, fanpage w/discography, Rough Guide (incl partial discography)
Tracks included Down by the Poolhall (Clickety-clack)
Outtake: You Know Friggin' Well, Your Home Is in Hell
info, lyrics, cover, order from Smithsonian
Tracks: Werewolf, Grand Canyon Line, English Nobleman, Be Kind To Me, Troubled Water, Red Raveager's Reel, Sweedeedee, Open Up (eternal lips), Jocko's Lament, Light Green Fellow, Get the Best of Me, Biscuit Roller, When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano, Penguins
Outtakes: Your Dick Is Hanging Out of Your Pants, Your Monkey Pissed In My Beer
Lyrics (from memory):
Grand Canyon Line: "The boxcar doors opened and the posse came in/ The sheriff said now grab him boys, I think that's him/ They took me to the jailhouse and now I must die/ Five hours to live, how the time flies..."
English Nobleman: "My nobility is blended with senility/ To this institution I've been committed/ But the officials and me should have a cup of tea/ And with that I would be acquitted..."
Troubled Water: "They say that I'm one of the devil's daughters/ They look at me with scorn, I'll never hear that horn/ I'll be underneath the waters judgment morning..."
Light Green Fellow: "I'm lookin in your window, but it's so dark I don't see you... why don't you light a candle? The curtains are drawn but I'd see through... Light green I'm your light green fellow/ Sheets are green and the light is yellow..."
Biscuit Roller: "I wonder what/ Would make my grampa/ Crazy bout my gramma so?/ She got the same old jelly that she had 30 years ago..."
Tracks: Blue Driver, Watertrain, The Sun is Slowly Sinkin', Old Black Crow, Twilight Zone, I'm Worried I'm Worried, In Florida, Mr. Wiskerwitz, Lilly Pads, Eyes Eyes, The Girls I Love, Uncle Bob's Corner, Ratface, In Trinidad
Lyrics (from memory):
Watertrain: "Saw my old lady on the other side/ Lookin good like pumpkin pie/ I guess that she didn't really die/ She just had to go/ Don't know why..."
Twilight Zone: "Everything is weird/ Turnin out just like I feared/ Voice keeps callin in a nightmare tone/ I don't wanna live in the twilight zone..."
Mr. Wiskerwitz; "Nobody ever sits with Mr. Wiskerwitz/ Especially when they know he's had a linguini sub/ Right there's the tub, better get in it bub/ Then we got to do the rub'n'scrub..."
Eyes Eyes (complete I think):
Protein monster ate a sack of poison sugar
Crawlin out of the barn to the weeds to die
He's rollin' his eyes... eyes, eyes.Mama molasses broke my glasses
And the moon came up and we wiggled our asses
She's got red eyes... eyes, eyes.Marilyn Monroe pointed her toe
Crawlin out of the pool, from the water so cool
Camera flashes flashin back from her eyes... eyes, eyes.The werewolf cries and everybody hides
He won't be scared when he dies
Look in his eyes... eyes, eyes.You call me a bum, sleep all day
There was nothin I wanted to say
I'm closin my eyes... eyes, eyes.
One of the New York Times Top 20 LPs of 1976; Robert Christgau gave it an A+ in his Village Voice Consumer Guide.
Tracks: Midnight In Paris, Robbin' Banks, Slurf Song, Jackknife / The Red Newt, Griselda, What Made My Hamburger Disappear, Sweet Lucy, Country Bump, Fooey Fooey, Jealous Daddy's Death Song, Driving Wheel, Weep Weep Weep, Hoodoo Bash
MH on HM: "You probably just don't have the software to know how good I feel about the Have Moicy release. So many people have told me that they love it, it changed their life, it turned them on to old-time asskickin' hillbilly, it lead them to a superior love life, it brought them much wealth and still remains a favorite after 20 years or 10. Everytime I listen to it, it sounds more together; it sounds like a bunch of loonies too."
Rounder's page includes samples and cover art
Tracks: Long Journey, Portland Water, So You Say, Reconciled to the Blues, You Got to Find Me, The 8-Ball Cafe, Polynesia, Monkey on the Interstate, Whiskey Willey, Panama Hat, Why Should I Have to Worry?, The Vt.-Ore. Floor, Hog of the Forsaken, In the Garden, Watchin' the Show
Rounder's page includes samples and cover art
Lyrics (from memory):
Portland Water: "There's a stream runnin through the meadow/ Why don't you stop and throw a rock in the water?/ I can tell by your eyes that you wanna..."
You Got to Find Me: "I got a garage down in Cambridge/ Bring in your broken down heap/ I'll fix it twice as fast, and fix it twice as good, and I'll fix it up twice as cheap..."
Hog of the Forsaken: "Hog of the forsaken there's no reason to cry/ He got to chew the angels fallen from on high..."
Tracks: Midnite Rounder, O My Stars, Tia Marie, I'm Gettin' Ready to Go, Watchin' the Show, Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys, Don't Treat Me Bad, I Heard the Voice of a Porkchop, No Home, Jole' Blon, I Think I'll Move, Goin' to Florida, You Gonna Look Like a Monkey, Sweet Lucy, Grapefruit Juice Blues
Rounder's page includes samples and cover art
"An underappreciated American treasure whose oddball demeanor often overshadowed the depth of the folk tradition from whence Hurley sprung. This is Rounder's reissue of a great mid-80s record."
Lyrics (from memory):
O My Stars: "O my stars how you undo me/ O my stars, O my stars, you undo me..."
Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys: "Slim got in the middle of a sticky situation/ Caught inside a roll with mustard all over/ He wanted to scream, but he was too much a gentleman/ Thought life was for always, and death a dream..."
Goin' to Florida: "They got signs all thru Georgia that say last chance for fresh pecans/ New crop you better stop paper shell we got to sell come back you missed it mister man/ Oh ants eat Georgia, it's what they call the Peach State..."
Tracks: Blue Navigator, Whoever Heard of You?, Dices, Dices, Werewolf, Wolf Dispatch, '54 Chevy, Code of the Mountains, Ghost Woman Blues, Somebody to Say Bye Bye To, Open Up (eternal lips)
Tracks: The Revenant, I Paint a Design, Lush Green Trees, Keep Rockin', You'll Never Go to Heaven, Ma's Dream Blues, I Still Could Not Forget You Then, Indian Chiefs and Hula Girls, Broadcasting the Blues, Uncle Bob's Corner, Moon Song
Quote from Revenant? used in Vampire game
Tracks: Roving Gambler, The Monkey Song, Everytime You Leave, Horse's Ass, Nowhere To Go, On the Grand Canyon Line, I've Been Working on the Railroad, Halleluja I'm a Bum, Slippery Rag, Lo Bonney, The Twilight Zone, Eyes Eyes, Uncle Bob's Corner, So You Say, Keep'em Down, Sweet Lucy, It Don't Take but a Few Minutes, Duck's Yass Yass, Redbird, Hog of the Forsaken
Tracks: Reconciled to the Blues, Eyes Eyes, Nowhere to Go, Broadcasting the Blues, The Slurf Song, Werewolf, In the Garden, O My Stars, Open Up (eternal lips), Don't Call Me Sam, Long Haired Preachers, Halleluja I'm a Bum, Sweet Lucy, Shackles and Chains
Tracks: All About You/ Under the Willow, Wild Goose, Blue Navigator, Monkey Woman, Country Boys, Drivin' Wheel, Slurf Song, Automatic Slim and the Fat Boys, Whiskey Willey, Hackle or Jackle
Tracks: Ms. Petty Blues, Me Solo Uno, She Got a Mathematic, Old Mother Hubbard, The Abominable Snowman, The Dialogue of Love, $10.00 Gig, I've Taken Leave, Down in Little Chinee, Fare Thee Well Blues, The Beggars Terms
"Wildegeeses" featured in the upcoming Miramax film, Hamlet
"hilarious pot growers anthem"
A stellar poetry reading by the late great Jack Knight, backed
by M. Hurley on fiddle and Cousin Kirk Jaskoviak on harmonica.
Tracks: The Portland Water, Mayor of Alburg, Eyes Eyes, I Paint a Design, Werewolf, Hog of the Forsaken, Moon Song, Somebody to Say Bye Bye Too, Ditty Boy Twang, Letter in Neon, The Revenant, You'll Never Go to Heaven, Lush Green Trees
"...introducing him to a new generation of fans in the alternative rock and No Depression country set. Tours with Son Volt, and high praise from younger performers like Lucinda Williams, Vic Chesnutt, Calexico, Cat Power and Robin Holcomb followed. 1999 finds Hurley more popular that at any time in his thirty-five year career."
Tracks: Your a Dog; Don't Talk to Me, Hoot Owls, Give Me the Cure, New Tea, Don't Blame it On Me, U.S. Space Weevils, Parsnip Snips, Runaway, Old Black Crow, Light Green Fellow, The Time is Right, Going to Polynesia, The Abominable Snowman
Tracks: $10.00 Gig, Girl on the Billboard, Victoria, Rueben's Train, The Beggars Terms, Misery, Pay No Attention to Alice, Love Changin Blues, English Nobleman, Ghost Woman Blues, Sweet Thing
"...features the bass playing of long time. Hurley cohort Dave Reisch (Holy Modal Rounders), Paul Watson (Sparklehorse), drummer Johnny Hott (Cracker, Gutterball), LouAnn Timberlake on mandolin and the dobro work of Kevin Maul (Robin & Linda Williams) and David Mansfield (Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams). From the classic surreal ballads "The Rue of Ruby Whores" and "Wildegeeses" (featured in the upcoming Miramax film, Hamlet), to the hilarious new pot growers anthem, "Nat'l Weed Growers Assoc." ...Noted author and biographer Nick Tosches penned the liner notes."
Blurbs and cover art plus Rounder titles
Holy Modal Rounders page, legend, HMR links
"Whether weaving a yarn about a mysterious hog or comparing the human heart to a mechanics toolbox, Mr. Hurley create(s) elaborate vistas in a musical version of outsider art" - Ann Powers / New York Times 12/9/97
"Hurley remains one of the elusive masters of American folk" - Chris Morris / Billboard 10/31/98
".....let's just shut up and listen and go to where Michael Hurley is. After all, we can always turn around and come back. He can't." - Nick Tosches (from the liner notes to Weatherhole)
"Undoubtedly one of this country's greatest folk singers, Hurley has little in common with the majority of today's folk performers. While they seem bent on demonstrating that all people are alike, such a suffocating presumption has no place in this man's work. Michael Hurley is nothing like his potential audience. What better reason to hear what he has to say?" - Chuck Cuminale (Colour Blind James)
"Trusting in his own peculiarities, Hurley makes the world spin just a little bit slower, and a little bit bumpier. Somehow it feels much more natural that way." - Jim Macnie
"Michael Hurley is the last unreconstructed folkie-shaman in America. His songs are primordial tales of the hunt for good cheer and satisfying sex, etched like cave paintings on city walls and farmland silos. Like many characters in his songs, his voice seems to have been run over by the dump truck of life, but it marries human mystery to forthright music like no other." - Milo Miles
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