Keith Richards - Cocaine Blues

[Al Acuff]

Originally Posted by godfreydaniel

I saw at least four of the same video on YouTube of Keith’s version being attributed to John Hurt, so I’m sure they fooled a lot of people. I don’t know if Hurt even recorded “Cocaine Blues”!

ASFAIK Mississippi John Hurt never recorded 'Cocaine Blues'. I was surprised to see the John Hurt attribution on Youtube. I learned the song from a Reverend Gary Davis record (Jack Elliott probably did too). Dave Van Ronk did a lovely version.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Al Acuff

WOW! You're absolutely correct. My bad! This just goes to show you how what you hear is shaped by what you expect to hear... no wonder they sound similar LOL. The only difference is the difference in the audio quality.

Here is the Jack Elliott version that Keith refers to.

I was listening to that thinking, “I’ve heard John Hurt sing before and he’s never sounded exactly like Keith Richards in the past”! I’m relieved to know it was Keith again...

[godfreydaniel]

Originally Posted by Al Acuff

I was surprised to see the John Hurt attribution on Youtube. I learned it from a Reverend Gary Davis record (Jack Elliott probably did too).

I first learned it from Dave Van Ronk, who also learned it from the Reverend.

[Al Acuff]

I heard Dave play the song at the Second Fret Coffeehouse in Philadelphia as a teenager back in the 60s. He owned it! What a character!

Dave made a guitar instruction video that is priceless if you like ragtime blues. It's one of the best guitar lesson videos I own. I recommend it!

This Fred Neil version uses the Gary Davis lyrics with different music. It's a fun listen. He was another presence in the Greenwich Village folk scene. He wrote 'Everybody's Talkin'.

[godfreydaniel]

I took lessons with Dave in the mid-80s. He was a great performer and a very interesting guy.

[Al Acuff]

Originally Posted by godfreydaniel

I took lessons with Dave in the mid-80s. He was a great performer and a very interesting guy.

I'm jealous!!! I enjoyed his memoir. Studying with him must have been great fun.

https://www.amazon.com/Mayor-MacDoug...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

[godfreydaniel]

Originally Posted by Al Acuff

I'm jealous!!! I enjoyed his memoir. Studying with him must have been great fun.

https://www.amazon.com/Mayor-MacDoug...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

It was, I feel very lucky. His book is a great read.

Well I can't imagine a person more qualified to sing those lyrics than Keith.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by Al Acuff

WOW! You're absolutely correct. My bad! This just goes to show you how what you hear is shaped by what you expect to hear... no wonder they sound similar LOL. The only difference is the difference in the audio quality.

Here is the Jack Elliott version that Keith refers to.

Props to you for admitting your brain fooled you. It happens to all of us from time to time but most (many) of us dig our heals in. Some of the comments on that version on YouTube are hilarious.

[Al Acuff]

Originally Posted by davidbeinct

Props to you for admitting your brain fooled you. It happens to all of us from time to time but most (many) of us dig our heals in. Some of the comments on that version on YouTube are hilarious.

Thank you for your kind words. I see it this way––we can learn from our mistakes but we learn nothing if we refuse to admit our mistakes. I believe it's OK to make mistakes as long as they are interesting mistakes