Week 65: Louis Collins



Mississippi John Hurt

The Song

Louis Collins is a beautiful little song that John recorded in his second session in December of 1928. John has said that the song is about a murder he heard people talking about. It is played in standard tuning tuned up to concert pitch or with a capo on the first fret.

It repeats a 12 bar progression with a little variation on each repetition, and it is a masterpiece of Piedmont style picking. The bass alternates on every second beat laying down a great foundation for the melody line to be played over the top. This song is a great example of the ‘two instruments in one’ philosophy behind finger picking – the bass hits on the beat every beat, while the melody follows a different rhythm altogether.

The key to nailing this is to get your thumb on autopilot and really concentrate on putting emotion into the subtle and somewhat laid back melody. Hold the notes and let them ring, and be purposeful in what you play. The melody exists as a separate entity to the bass, it weaves in and out of the chords, and John uses it to great effect by emphasising the chord tones when the bass changes chords.

There are a few recordings of this tune, but in my opinion this is by far the most beautiful. Play it slow – there is a tendency to rush this one, but you really want to leave space in the music for those melody notes to ring out.



The Lyrics

Miss Collins weeped, Miss Collins did moan, To see her son Louis leavin' home The angels laid him away The angels laid him away, They laid him six feet under the clay The angels laid him away Mrs. Collins weeped, Miss Collins moaned, To see her son Louis leavin' home The angels laid him away Oh, Bob shot once and Louis shot too, Shot poor Collins, shot him through and through The angels laid him away Interlude Oh, kind friends, oh, ain't it hard? To see poor Louis in a new graveyard The angels laid him away The angels laid him away, They laid him six feet under the clay The angels laid him away Interlude Oh, when they heard that Louis was dead All the people they dressed in red The angels laid him away The angels laid him away, They laid him six feet under the clay The angels laid him away Interlude Mrs. Collins weeped, Miss Collins moaned, To see her son Louis leavin' home The angels laid him away The angels laid him away, They laid him six feet under the clay The angels laid him away

The Intro

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The Progression

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$5.3.$1.0 $4.2.$3.0 $2.1 $5.3 $1.0 $4.2.$3.0 | $5.3.$1.0 h1 $4.2.$3.0 $1.0 $5.3 $2.3 $4.2.$3.0 $2.1 | To end, he hits a C chord on the first beat of bar 12.

In the interludes, John mixes it up a bit, playing this for bars 5 and 6:To end, he hits a C chord on the first beat of bar 12.