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Biography
Infobox musical artist | background = solo_singer | instrument = Guitar | name = Sleepy John Estes| image = Sleepy John Estes Album I Aint Gonna Be Worried No More.jpg| caption = ''I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More 1929-1941 | birth_name = John Adam Estes| birth_date = birth date|1899|1|25|mf=y| birth_place = Nutbush, Tennessee|Nutbush , Tennessee , United States | death_date = death date and age|1977|6|5|1899|1|25|mf=y| death_place = Brownsville, Tennessee , United States| genre = Country blues , blues | instrument = Human voice|Vocals , guitar | years_active = 1929–1977| associated_acts = Yank Rachell Hammie Nixon | website = John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1904 http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608002313/Sleepy-John-Estes.html Musician Guide – June 5, 1977 http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php? id=6582 Allaboutjazz.com birth and death details), best known as Sleepy John Estes or Sleepy John , was a United States|American blues guitarist , songwriter and vocalist , born in Ripley, Tennessee|Ripley , Lauderdale County, Tennessee|Lauderdale County , Tennessee . http://www.7digital.com/stores/ArtistBiography.aspx? shop=122& masterartist=2859 Biography at 7digital.com from the Encyclopedia of Popular Music - accessed February 2008
Career
In 1915, Estes' father, a sharecropping|sharecropper who also played some guitar, moved the family to Brownsville, Tennessee . Not long after, Estes lost the sight of his right eye when a friend threw a rock at him during a baseball game. At the age of 19, while working as a field hand, he began to perform professionally. The venues were mostly local parties and picnics, with the accompaniment of Hammie Nixon , a harmonica player, and Yank Rachell|James "Yank" Rachell , a guitarist and mandolin player. He would continue to work on and off with both musician s for more than fifty years.
Estes made his debut as a sound recording and reproduction|recording artist in Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis , Tennessee in 1929, at a session organized by Ralph Peer for Victor Records . His partnership with Nixon was first documented on songs such as "Drop Down Mama" and "Someday Baby Blues" in 1935; later sides replaced the harmonica player with the guitarists Son Bonds or Charlie Pickett.cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher= Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | isbn= 1-85868-255-X | page= 110 He later recorded for the Decca Records|Decca and Bluebird Records|Bluebird record label|labels , with his last pre-war recording session taking place in 1941. He made a brief return to recording at Sun Studio in Memphis in 1952, recording "Runnin' Around" and "Rats in My Kitchen", but otherwise was largely out of the public eye for two decades.
Estes was a fine singer, with a distinctive "crying" vocal style. He frequently teamed with more capable musicians, like "Yank" Rachell, Hammie Nixon, and the piano player Jab Jones. Estes sounded so much like an old man, even on his early records, that blues revivalists reportedly delayed looking for him because they assumed he would have to be long dead, and because fellow musician Big Bill Broonzy had written that Estes had died. By the time he was tracked down, by Bob Koester and Samuel Charters in 1962, he had become completely blind and was living in poverty . He resumed touring and recording, reunited with Nixon and toured Europe several times and Japan , with a clutch of albums released on the Delmark Records label. His later records are generally considered less interesting than his pre-war output. Nevertheless, Estes, Nixon and Rachell also made a successful appearance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival . http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Sleepy-John-Estes.html Oldies.com biography of Estes
Bob Dylan mentions Estes in the sleevenotes to Bringing It All Back Home (1965). http://www.john-meekings.co.uk/jestes.html Blues fansite observation - accessed February 2008
Many of Estes' original songs were based on events in his own life or on people he knew from his home town of Brownsville, Tennessee, such as the local lawyer ("Lawyer Clark Blues"), local auto mechanic ("Vassie Williams' Blues"), or an amorously inclined teenage girl ("Little Laura Blues"). "Lawyer Clark Blues" referenced the lawyer, and later judge and senator, Hugh L. Clarke. Clarke and his family lived in Brownsville, and according to the song let Estes 'off the hook' for an offense.
He also dispensed advice on agricultural matters ("Working Man Blues") and chronicled his own attempt to reach a recording studio for a session by hopping a freight train ("Special Agent (Railroad Police Blues)"). His lyrics combined keen observation with an ability to turn an effective phrase.cite book | last = Charters | first = Samuel | title = Sweet As the Showers of Rain | year = | publisher = Oak Publications | pages = 68–82 | chapter = | isbn = Cite journal | first = Samuel | last = Charters | title = Sleepy John Estes, 1929-1940, liner notes | postscript =
Some accounts attribute his nickname " Sleepy " to a blood pressure disorder and/or narcolepsy . Others, such as blues historian Bob Koester , claim he simply had a " tendency to withdraw from his surroundings into drowsiness whenever life was too cruel or too boring to warrant full attention ".Cite journal | first = Don | last = Kent | title = I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More 1929-1941, liner notes | postscript =
Death
Estes suffered a stroke while preparing for a European tour, and died on June 5, 1977, at his home of 17 years in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tennessee|Haywood County , Tennessee.cite web |url= http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php? EntryID=E025a |title=TN Encyclopedia: Sleepy John Estes |accessdate=16 December 2008 |work= |publisher=Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture |date= cite book | title = Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee | author = Norris, Sharon | year = 2000 | location= Mount Pleasant, SC | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | isbn = 0-7385-0605-2 Estes is buried at Elam Baptist Church Cemetery in Durhamville, Tennessee|Durhamville , Lauderdale County, Tennessee|Lauderdale County , Tennessee.
His gravemarker reads:
Sleepy John Estes
"''.. ain't goin' to worry Poor John's mind anymore "
In Memory
John Adam Estes
Jan. 25, 1899
June 5, 1977
Blues Pioneer
Guitarist - Songwriter - Poet
Sleepy John Estes' epitaph "''.. ain't goin' to worry Poor John's mind anymore "Inscription on grave marker of John Adam Estes ( Sleepy John Estes''). Grave is at Elam Baptist Church Cemetery on Durhamville Rd in Durhamville, Lauderdale County, Tennessee was derived from his song, "Someday Baby Blues." "I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More" was recorded in 1935,cite web |url= http://www.yazoorecords.com/2004.htm |title=Sleepy John Estes |accessdate=16 December 2008 |work= |publisher=Yazoo Records |year=2000 and in his song "Drop Down Mama", also recorded in 1935, Sleepy John refers to himself as " Poor John ". Estes' grave at Elam Baptist Church Cemetery in Durhamville is located off a country road and at the far end of the cemetery. His grave is adjacent to a small grove of trees, secluded but not hidden.
In 1991, Estes was Posthumous recognition|posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame .
Recordings
Albums
Sleepy John Estes, 1929-1940 (RBF Records)
Complete Recorded Works 1929-1941 Vols 1-2 ( Document Records|Document )
''I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More 1929-1941 ( Yazoo Records|Yazoo )
The Legend of Sleepy John Estes ( Delmark Records|Delmark )
Broke and Hungry, Ragged and Hungry Too (Delmark)
Brownsville Blues (Delmark)
Down South Blues (Delamark)
Sleepy John Estes In Europe (Delmark)
Songs
"Leaving Trunk" - a cover version of Estes' song "Milk Cow Blues" appeared on Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal 's, 1968 eponymous album , Taj Mahal (album)|Taj Mahal . It was also covered by The Derek Trucks Band on their concert album Live at Georgia Theatre . The Keef Hartley|Keef Hartley Band covered the song on their debut album, Halfbreed (album)|Halfbreed .
"Special Agent" - included on The Country Blues , and later recorded by Martin Simpson .
"Someday Baby Blues" - it appeared re-written by Muddy Waters as " Trouble No More (song)|Trouble No More " and further amended to " Someday Baby " by Bob Dylan .
"Drop Down Mama" - was recorded by Tom Rush , Big Joe Williams and Led Zeppelin .
"Floating Bridge" - appeared on the compilation album , The Blues (Eric Clapton album)|The Blues , on Eric Clapton 's 1981 album, Another Ticket and was the opening track on the 2011 album by Gregg Allman , Low Country Blues .
"Milk Cow Blues" - was covered by The Kinks and appeared as the lead-off track on their album The Kink Kontroversy .
" The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair " - was covered by Led Zeppelin on their live album BBC Sessions (Led Zeppelin album)|BBC Sessions .
"President Kennedy" - Estes performed this song for Ry Cooder 's 1972 album, '' Boomer's Story
See also
List of blues musicians
Memphis blues
Country blues
List of people from Tennessee
Anthology of American Folk Music
American Folk Blues Festival
References
commons categoryReflist
External links
http://www.wirz.de/music/estes.htm Illustrated Sleepy John Estes discography
http://www.cr.nps.gov/delta/blues/people/sleepyjohn_estes.htm Sleepy John Estes page at the National Parks Service "Links to the Past" site
Persondata | NAME =Estes, John Adam | ALTERNATIVE NAMES =Estes, Sleepy John | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American blues guitarist, songwriter and singer | DATE OF BIRTH =January 25, 1899 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Nutbush, Tennessee , United States | DATE OF DEATH =June 5, 1977 | PLACE OF DEATH = Brownsville, Tennessee , United States DEFAULTSORT:Estes, Sleepy John Category:1899 births Category:1977 deaths Category:People from Haywood County, Tennessee Category:African American musicians Category:American blues guitarists Category:Memphis blues musicians Category:Country blues singers Category:American blues singer-songwriters Category:Blind bluesmen Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:Sun Records artists Category:People from Lauderdale County, Tennessee
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