Sleepy John Estes

John Adam Estes June 5, 1977), known as Sleepy John Estes, was an American blues guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. His music influenced such artists as The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin.

Life and career Estes was born in Ripley, Tennessee, either in 1899 (the date on his gravestone) or 1900 (the date on his World War I draft card). He went on to record for Decca Records and Bluebird Records, with his last prewar recording session taking place in 1941.

Many of Estes's original songs were based on events in his life or people he knew in his hometown, Brownsville, such as the local lawyer ("Lawyer Clark Blues"), the local auto mechanic ("Vassie Williams' Blues"), or an amorously inclined teenage girl ("Little Laura 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.

Some accounts attribute the nickname Sleepy to a blood pressure disorder or narcolepsy. Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records, said that Estes simply had a "tendency to withdraw from his surroundings into drowsiness whenever life was too cruel or too boring to warrant full attention". Estes himself explained that the nickname was born of his exhausting life as both musician and farmer. "'Every night I was going somewhere. I'd work all day, play all night and get back home about sunrise. I'd get the mule and get right on going. I went to sleep once in the shed. I used to go to sleep so much when we were playing, they called me Sleepy. But I never missed a note.'"

Death

Estes had 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. He is buried at Elam Baptist Church Cemetery in Durhamville, Lauderdale County, Tennessee. is derived from his song "Someday Baby Blues." "I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More" was recorded in 1935, and in his song "Drop Down Mama", also recorded in 1935, Estes referred to himself as "Poor John". His grave is located off a country road and at the far end of the cemetery, adjacent to a small grove of trees, secluded but not hidden.

In 1991, Estes was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Bob Dylan mentioned Estes in the sleeve notes for his album Bringing It All Back Home (1965). Estes's song "Milk Cow Blues" is the model for Dylan's "From a Buick 6" from Highway 61 Revisited. In an interview in 1970 published in Lennon Remembers, John Lennon recalled of the Beatles' early days that "We were all listening to Sleepy John Estes and all that in art school, like everybody else."

Estes's former two-room home is on display in Brownsville, Tennessee, U.S. alongside Tina Turner's Flagg Grove School and museum.

Recordings Albums The Legend of Sleepy John Estes (Delmar/Delmark, 1963) Broke and Hungry (Ragged and Dirty, Too) (Delmark, 1964) Electric Sleep (Delmark, 1968) Brownsville Blues (Delmark, 1965) Down South Blues (Delmark) Sleepy John Estes in Europe (Delmark, 1999)

Compilations Sleepy John Estes, 1929–1940 (RBF Records) Complete Recorded Works 1929–1941, vols. 1 and 2 (Document) I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More 1929–1941 (Yazoo)