Mississippi John Hurt played the guitar like he was telling you a secret. His voice was warm, his fingers were gentle, and Candy Man sounds like sitting on a front porch in Avalon -- the Mississippi town he was born in and barely left. He recorded a handful of sides for Okeh Records in 1928, then went back to sharecropping and never expected to record again.

In 1963, a young blues enthusiast named Tom Hoskins tracked him down using the lyrics to his song Avalon Blues as a map. Hurt was 70 years old, still living in Avalon, still playing guitar on his porch. Hoskins convinced him to come to Washington, D.C. and record again. The world of folk music had no idea what was about to hit it.

He played the Newport Folk Festival as a 71-year-old debutant and charmed absolutely everyone. His three-finger picking was intricate without being showy, his voice was kind, and his songs -- Candy Man, Spike Driver Blues, Creole Belle -- were the sound of a man who'd spent his life making music for the people he loved. He died three years later. The gentleness was real.

Mississippi John Hurt was rediscovered at 70, played Newport, and spent his final three years sharing the gentlest music the blues ever produced. He'd been sharecropping in Avalon for 35 years between recording sessions. The music never left him because it was never separate from his life. Candy Man is still a Mississippi afternoon.