Michael Hurley Discography
A recorded history in Vinyl, Cassette and CD
First Songs
Mike Hurley
Folkways Records FG3581 LP 1965
Smithsonian Folkways Cassette 03581 1992.
Locust Music CD 2002
Blue Mountain, You Get Down by the Pool Hall Clickety-Clack, I Like My Wine, No No No I Won’t Come Down No More, Tea, Just A Bum, They Took Away the Diesel, Fat Mama, The Animal Song, Captain Kidd, Intersoular Blues, Werewolf
Michael Hurley, Robin Remaily
“A secret pillar of the folk revival, Hurley still makes fine, stark mountain songs. Here, his raw-sugar wail and eccentric drifter’s tales glow with high lonesome fidelity.” David Fricke , Rolling Stone , November 14, 2002
Armchair Boogie
Michael Hurley
Racoon/WB ws1915US 1971 LP
Snocko Music Cassette 1988
Future Days Recordings FDR 603 CD
Mississippi Records MR-018 LP 2009
Grand Canyon Line, English Nobleman, Be Kind To Me, Troubled Waters, Red Ravager’s Reel, Sweedeedee, Open Up, Jocko’s Lament, Light Green Fellow, Get the Best of Me, Biscuit Roller, When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano, Penquins
Michael Hurley, Robin Remailly, Michael Kane, Maggie Hurley, Jeff Meyer, Earthquake Anderson, Scott Lawrence, Jesse Colin Young,
“A great cosmic trip.. a delightful masterpiece” Rolling Stone
Hi Fi Snock Uptown
Michael Hurley
Racoon 2625USLP 1972
Snocko Music Cassette 1984
Mississippi Records MR-048 LP 2010
Blue Driver, Watertrain, The Sun is Sinkin’, Old Black Crow, Twilight Zone, I’m Worried, In Florida, Mr. Whiskerwitz, Lilly Pads, Eyes Eyes, The Girl I Love, Uncle Bob’s Corner, Ratface, In Trinidad
Elwood Snock, Banana, Joe Bauer, Michael Kane
“some of his finest (and still extant) songs” Folk Roots
Have Moicy
Michael Hurley, The Unholy Modal Rounders, Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones
Rounder 3010 US 1976 LP, 1992 CD
Midnight in Paris, Robbin’ Banks, Slurf Song, Jacknife – 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.
Jeffrey Frederick, Jill Gross, Michael Hurley, Wax Iwaskiewicz, Robert Nickson, Paul Presti, Dave Reisch, Robin Remailly, Peter Stampfel.
“The greatest piece of recorded music ever” Omnibus
” A fucking masterpiece” Village Voice
Long Journey
Michael Hurley
Rounder 3010 US 1976 LP, Rounder 1998 CD, Light in the Attic LP 2011
Long Journey, The Portland Water, So You Say, Reconciled to the Blues, You Got To Find Me, The 8-Ball Cafe, Polynesia #1, Monkey on the Interstate, Whiskey willie, Panama Hat, Why Should I have to Worry? The Vt.-Ore Floor, Hog of the Forsaken, In the Garden, Watchin’ the Show
Michael Hurley, Robert Nickson, Morgan Huber, John Keyes, Medulla, Peter Stampfel, Derick Semler, Robert Iwaskiewicz, Rob Hykys, Al Zanzler, Christopher L’Estrang, Paul Presti, Dave Reisch, Robin Remailly, Peter Stampfel.
‘His songs are hilarious and mountain-stream-clear, way over on the other side of sense… Michael’s best, apart from Hi Fi Snock Uptown.” Michael C. Stephens
‘Chicken-skin music from the king of Relaxed Strange’. Eileen Gunn
Snockgrass
Michael Hurley
Rounder US 3043 1980 LP,
Rounder CD 1997,
Light in the Attic 2011 LP
Midnite Rounder, O My Stars, Tia Marie, I’m Getting 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, Joe’ Blon, I Think I’ll Move, Goin’ to Florida, You’re Gonna Look Like a Monkey.
(CD Bonus: Sweet Lucy [alternative take], Grapefruit Juice Blues)
Michael Hurley, Gary Sisco, Robert Nickson, Dave Reisch, Robin Remailly, Jill Gross, Richard Tyler, H. Archer, N. Branch.
Blue Navigator
Michael Hurley
Rooster No. 124 US 1984,
Feeding Tube Records FTR 539, 2021
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)
Michael Hurley, Peter Riley, Gordon Stone, Derick Semler, William Wright, Jon Weber, Spencer Lewis, Nancy Beaven, Tim Baker
“Feel free to tape this album: Blue Navigator is not solely a commercial venture but is intended for a spiritual life far out traveling the destination of one arrow.”
Watertower
Michael Hurley
Fundamental Save 051 1988 LP/CD
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 & Hula Girls, Broadcasting the Blues, Uncle Bob’s Corner, Moon Song
Michael Hurley, Peter Riley, Dan Archer, Michael Boise, Marcia Brewster, Debbie Joan Patton, Nancy Beaven, Gary Sisco, John Carlton
Wolfways
Michael Hurley
Veracity IRS 993.156 CD 1994
The Portland Water, Eyes Eyes, Mayor of Alburg, I Paint A Design, Werewolf, Hog of the Forsaken, Somebody To Say Bye Bye To, Diddy Boy Twang, Letter In Neon, 3 Blind’s Blues
Michael Hurley, Gus Ziesing, Jim McGinness, Mickey Bones, Brian Rost,
Jill Gross, Margaret Pash, Bob Jordan, Gideon Freudman
Rolling Stone [German Edition] Record of the Year, 1994.
Parsnip Snips
Michael Hurley
Veracity LP 002, 1995
Mississippi Records MR-044 LP 2009
You’re a dog don’t talk to me, Hoot Owls, Give me the cure, New Tea, Don’t blame it on me, Parsnip Snips, Runaway, Old Black Crow, Light Green Fellow, The Time is Right, Goin’ to Polynesia, Abominable Snowman, US Space Weevils
Michael Hurley solo with guitar. Amy Boute sings on The Time is Right.
Recorded 1965-72 on a Mono Wollensak, from the vaults of Bellemeade Phonics.
Bellemeade Sessions
Michael Hurley
Blue Navigator BN 010 CD 1998
$10.00 gig, Girl on the Billboard, Victoria, Ruben’s Train, The Beggar’s Terms, Misery, Pay No Attention to Alice, Love Changin’ Blues, English Nobleman, Ghost Woman Blues, Sweet Thing
Michael Hurley, Gail Valentine, Karen Yates, Kim Rigsby, Will Rigby, Stephen ‘Oatmar’ Smith, Michelle Lemond, Michael Styers
“Michael Hurley is marvellous – a surrealist hillbilly with deep roots, a whimsical touch and a voice like gin-soaked chocolate cake dropped in sand… On these 11 originals and covers he’s the antithesis of the bedsit singer-songwriter or folk-clubber: outdoorsy and free” Sylvie Simmons, MOJO
Weatherhole
Michael Hurley
Field Recording FR 010 CD 1999
Your Old Gear Box, Extra Love, Beggars Terms, Nat’l Weed Grower’s Assoc., Me and Red, Rue of Ruby Whores, Vanessa, Mr. Man in the Moon, Lean on Me, Dust off This Old Guitar, Rider’s Lament, Don’t Call Me Sam, Wildegeeses
Michael Hurley, David Mansfield, Kevin Maul, Dave Reisch, Johnny Hott, Paul Watson, Jeff Valentine, LouAnn Timberlake, Michelle Adams, Pinewood Woodbill, Kornbred.
Sweetkorn
Michael Hurley
Trikont CD-0296, 2002
Ohio Blues, Rue of Ruby Whores, Barbera Allen, Question, Blockade Stillers, Edinburgh Lag, Negatory Romance, Got Over It, O My Stars, Mona Lisa, End of the Road
Michael Hurley
“For newcomers it’s the bees knees, pretty much defining the man’s idiosyncratic US-roots art” Folk Roots
Down in Dublin
Michael Hurley
Blue Navigator BN 030, 2004
Goners, What I’d Give, Rough and Rocky, Slurf Song, Uncle Smoochface, Monkey on the Dual Carriageway, Have I told you lately, Gooseball Brown, I Don’t Care X 3, Pancho and Lefty, Whisky Willy, You Got To Say
Michael Hurley, Dave Reisch, Tim Rogers, Bill Whelan, Ben Keogh, Thurstan Binns
“Michael Hurley’s albums creep up on you, and this one’s no exception. Hurley triumphs where others fail because behind his ultra-relaxed demeanor he’s an enormously skilled entertainer.”
Bill Meyer, Dusted.
Ancestral Swamp Michael Hurley
Gnomonsong CD, 2007
Knockando, Dying Crapshooter’s Blues, Lonesome Graveyard,New River Blues, El Dorado, 1st Precinct Blues, Light Green Fellow, Gambling Charley, Streets of Laredo, When I Get Back Home, She Got a Mathematic
Michael Hurley, Dave Reisch, Tara Jane O’Neill, Lewi Longmire
“Blessed with a voice that makes Leon Redbone, JJ Cale and Ry Cooder all sound like a bunch of prissy stage-school elocutionists, Ancestral Swamp is a welcome pit-stop on Hurley’s lo-fi travelogue across the myths and backwaters of rural America.“ BBC
Ida Con Snock
Michael Hurley, Ida
Gnomonsong CD, 2009
It Must Be Gelatine, Wildegeeses, Hog of the Foresaken, I Stole The Right to Live, Valley of Tears, Going Steady, Hoot Owls, The Time is Right, I Can’t Help Myself, Loch Lomond / Molly Malone, Ragg Mopp, Any Ninny Any
Michael Hurley, Daniel Littleton, Elizabeth Mitchell, Jean Cook
“Rather than mellowing or fading into irrelevance, Hurley seems to only get more and more charismatic with age.” Anthony D’Amico, Brainwashed
Blue Hills
Michael Hurley
Mississippi Records MR-070 LP 2010
In The Morning, Help Me To Get Rid Of Her / How Sweet I Roamed, The Corridor, Shockoe Bottom, Meara O’Reilly, Tea
Michael Hurley
Fatboy Spring
Michael Hurley
Mississippi Records MR-094, Secret Seven SEC-7-009, LP 2011
Drivin’ Wheel, Ghost Woman Blues, Long Legs, Long John, Move It On Over, Watchin’ The Show, The Portland Water, Singing Waterfall
Michael Hurley, Robert Iwaskiewicz, Robert Nickson, Doug Southworth, Davy Bessett
A full LP of never-before released Hurley recordings from 1972-73.
Back Home with Drifting Woods
Michael Hurley
Mississippi Records MRP-022
/ Nero’s Neptune LP -021 , 2012
What’llya Do / What’llya Say? The Blues Had Gone Away, Pretty Girl On Rollerskates, The Tea Song, Intersoular Blues, I Like My Wine, Hey Hey Hey Hey, I Love You Babe
Michael Hurley
Recorded in 1964. Heavyweight faux Folkways wraparound paste-on cover with liner note insert. Liner notes list 1965 as recording date following the recording of First Songs issued on Folkways in the very same year.
Land of Lo Fi
Michael Hurley
Mississippi Records, MRP-052 LP , 2013
Dark Valley Walls, Disaster On Your Wheel, Big Black Spider, The Corridor, Doin’ The O’Possum, How Many Biscuits?, Sun To Sun, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, Old Doc Gieger, Ohio Blues, You Got To Die.
Although a Bellemeade Phonics cassette with a similar title and the same cover was released in 1988, this is a different album of new recordings.
Bad Mr. Mike
Michael Hurley
Mississippi Records, MRP 103, 2016
Kentucky 3, Charona, Tender Is The Guitar, Beasley’s Release, Boone & Jocko, Cuckoo Rock, Lo Bonney, The Moon Song, Moonman Newfie, Dragging The Indian.
Michael Hurley
Redbirds at Folk City
Michael Hurley
2017
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, Monkey On The Interstate
Michael Hurley and the Redbirds (Al Zanzler, Doug Southworth, Morgan Huber, Robert Nickson) at Folk City, NY, in 1976
“The music rolls out like the sweetest-ever guzzle of maple syrup laced with Mello Corn Whiskey. So loaded, so powerful, you’re likely to shit the bed if you listen lying down”. Byron Coley
The Time of the Foxgloves
Michael Hurley
No Quarter, NOQ075 LP and CD, 2021
Are You Here for the Festival, Alabama, Se Fue en la Noche, Blondes and Redheads, Love Is the Closest Thing, Boulevard, Knocko the Monk, Jacob’s Ladder, Little Blue River, Beer, Ale and Wine, Lush Green Trees
Michael Hurley, Luke Ydstie, Kati Claborn, Gabrielle Macrae, Halli Anderson, Gill Landry, Nate Lumbard, Olaf Ydstie, Lindsay Clark, Barry Southern, Josephine Foster, Betsy Nichols
“Foxgloves is as charming and insightful as any of Hurley’s albums, and it radiates intimacy and coziness even with an expansive list of collaborators.” Pitchfork
Sweetkorn
Michael Hurley
Mississippi Records, MOR 04
LP and Digital, 2023
Got Over it, O My Stars, Mona Lisa, End of the Road, Blockade Stillers, Rue of Ruby Whores, Edinborough Lag, Murders Home
Michael Hurley worked on this new version of his 2012 classic Sweetkorn over the course of five years, creating a whole new record with the original Sweetkorn as its base. A new sequence, reimagined track list, new mixes and even new instrumentation. The cover artwork is by Canadian artist Claire Majors, a friend of Hurley’s.
Snocko Music Cassettes
Land of Lo Fi & Redbirds
Snocko Music Cassette 1988
A/ 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, Halleluia I’m a Bum, Slippery Rag, Lo Bonney.
B/ 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.
“When they toured during the heat wave of ’88, Hurley & Dave Reisch recorded the gigs and at Soundhound Studio in Richmond VA. Side Two features Michael Hurley and the Redbirds (Al Zanzler, Doug Southworth, Morgan Huber, Robert Nickson) at Folk City ’76. They get into some hard bop.”
Excrusiasion ’86
Snocko Music Cassette 1988
A/ Reconciled to the Blues, Eyes Eyes, Nowhere to Go, Broadcasting the Blues, The Slurf Song, Werewolf, In the Garden, O My Stars
B/ Open Up, Don’t Call Me Sam, Long Haired Preachers, Halleluia I’m A Bum, Sweet Lucy, Shackles and Chains
“Excrusiasion: excursion, crusade, invasion, excruciating; and so it was all up and down the east coast in February and March,1986 with Mike Hurley, Bouncing Bob Jordan & Butchie Baker. They recorded every show & the best stuff is here. Most of it was recorded at Folk City & at the homecoming show at Paul Stacy’s Blue Plate in Holden, MA where they were joined by Brian Rost and Dr. Bones”.
Growlin’ Bobo
Snocko Music Cassette 1991
All About You/ Under the Willow, Wild Goose, Blue Navigator, Monkey Woman, County Boys, Drivin’ Wheel, Slurf Song, Automatic Slim & the Fat Boys, Whiskey Willey, Hackle or Jackle
Recorded at The Mill in Winooski, VT, November 14/15 1980.
Michael Hurley, Derrick Semler, Driftin’ Bob Iwaskievwicz, Robin Remaily, Gary Sisco. “The Mill was the kind of a place; your luck was liable to be good if you didn’t screw up too bad”.
“Sixty minutes of pure folk-rock heaven” Kevin Kraynick, Damp.
Woodbill Brothers
Snocko Music/Bellemeade Phonics cassette 1992
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 Beggar’s Terms
“In the summer of ’92 the Woodbill Brothers gathered from the four great corners of the globe to celebrate a little known species; the people of corn, as well as other cereals. They are made of corn; they are made of bread, rye or whatever. Virtually brainless, heartless etc., these creatures nevertheless can speak, sing, have feelings, & are perpetually hungry. They need to be recognised as a whole people, & granted citizenship to the United States with all the priveleges that go with it.”
Recorded at Bellemeade Phonics in Richmond, VA.
7" Singles
Wildegeeses/Coloured Birds
Carnage Press, 1992, 7″
National Weed Growers Association/Slippery Rag
Singles Only Label, 1993, 7″
Michael Hurley & Betsy Nichols
Mississippi Records MR045, 2009
a/ Jocko’s Lament, Knockando
b/ River in the rain, Don’t Let Me Down
Compliations/Soundtracks
Doc GMO
Co-compiled by Michael Hurley, 2014
Michael Hurley – Bad Monsanto plus tracks by Wes Buckley, Alexa Whiley, Barry Walker, The Osprey Singers, Christopher Luedeke and John Sgourakis
Migrating Birds, the Songs of Lal Waterson
Honest Jon’s Records HJRCD31, 2007, Compilation by Charlotte Greig and John Williams
Many Artistes, including King Creosote, Vashti Bunyan, James Yorkston, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Victoria Williams, Alasdair Roberts – and Michael Hurley (How Can I Leave)
The Great Koonaklaster Speaks
A John Fahey Celebration
Courtesy of Table of Elements & A Bevy of Artistes, US 2007
“A rather stunningly beautiful celebration of the weird and wonderful music of the great john fahey, fahey is widely regarded as one of the finest acoustic guitar pickers of all time and is one of the leading lights of minimal folk blues sounds, he was always an artist trying to find new sounds and new ways of playing folk and blues music, this fine collection of modern interpretations of some of his classic pieces features jack rose, greg malcolm, ben vida, sir richard bishop, michael hurley, no neck blues band, lichens, badgerlore, r keenan lawler, pumice and david daniel”
station to station one
A Mixum Gatherum of Artistes
Benefit CD for KBOO Community Radio, US 2007
This benefit CD consists exclusively of material recorded live on the air on KBOO 90.7 FM Portland, Oregon. “station to station one” features live originals by Michael Hurley (Light Green Fellow, O My Stars, Old Black Crow), Bingo, Jim Boyer (of Freak Mountain Ramblers), Sophe Lux, Crash & Betty and more. Curated and produced by Jessica Stiles. All proceeds go to listener-sponsored KBOO Community Radio.
Deadwood
Numerous Artistes Lost Highway CD 2005
Music from the critically acclaimed HBO Series ‘Deadwood’ featuring American roots music from an eclectic mix of artists ranging from Lyle Lovett to June Carter Cash to Jelly Roll Morton to Michael Hurley (Hog of The Forsaken), with full dialog excerpts.
I Make A Wish For A Potato
The Odd Artiste Here & There
Rounder Records, US 2001
“The quintessential Rounder Records artists – we kind of named our company after them – Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber (The Holy Modal Rounders) combined a wildness and wackiness with, paradoxically, both irreverence and a reverence for tradition. If they neglected to mine and include any small corner of American music, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Joined here by cohorts Michael Hurley, Jeffrey Frederick and other Rounders and Clamtones”
Michael Hurley: (I’m Gettin Ready To Go; You Got To Find Me; Sweet Lucy; Slurf Song)
The Accountant
Ginny Mule Pictures’ first film, ‘The Accountant’, won the 2002 Oscar for “Best Live Action Short”. Written and directed by Ray McKinnon, it stars Ray, Walton Goggins and Eddie King, and was produced by Lisa Blount and Walt Goggins. A dark account of two brothers trying to save the family farm and the eccentric accountant who sets out to help them…”It’s doable… but it ain’t gonna be purty.”
End Titles: I Paint A Design – Michael Hurley
Meet Me at Club2
Multiple Artistes
Benefit Farewell Tribute CD, Germany 2000
Benefit 2 CD compilation for Club Zwei in Munich, Germany. Features unreleased tracks or rare live recordings at the club. Artists include… Lambchop, Funny Van Dannen, Handsome Family, Attwenger, Notwist, Jeb Loy Nichols, Friends of Dean Martinez, Superpunk, Mucus and…. Michael Hurley (Love is The Closest Thing; Roomful Of Roses)
U-Sound, Vol. One
Lots of Different Artistes
US/UK 2000
2 CD compilation of live performances at the Pink Pony, NYC, recorded March, April, December 1999. Features – amongst others – Army of Ghosts, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Tara Jane O’Neil, Tono-Bungay, The Doves, Daniel Carter Ensemble, Sai Flora, Unity Sound Ensemble, The Double Leopards, Furchick, Glands of External Excretion, Mathew Valentine and…. Michael Hurley: (The Aliens; Knockando)
Hills of Home
Multivarious Artistes
Rounder Records, 2 CD, US 1995
25 Years of Folk Music on Rounder Records… Michael Hurley (Sweet Lucy). Same track also appears, along with 173 others, on 9 CD Box Set ’25 Years of Rounder Records’
Love is My Only Crime (Vol 1) Many & Various Artistes
Veracity/Intercord, LP, CD, Germany 1993
Compiled by Peter Schneider. Featuring – amongst others – Charlie Feathers, Townes Van Zandt, Ben Vaugn, Mo Tucker, Lorette Velvette, Sylvia Juncosa, Barbara Manning, Alex Chilton, FSK, Sid Selvidge and… Michael Hurley (Dialogue of Love)
Delicacy & Nourishment
Lyrics by Ernest Noyes Brookings, Vol 3
Numerous Artistes
Duplex Planet, CD, US, 1993
Compiled by David Greenberger. Featuring Yo La Tengo, Peter Stampfel & The Bottlecaps, Peter Blegvad, The Shines, HP Lovetunnel, Idlewild and… Michael Hurley (‘Z’)