Sleepy john estes biography for kids

By Doyle Pace, number one published in the November Suggestive News

When the documentary filmmaker King Blumenthal rediscovered Sleepy John Estes in , the former dejection great was destitute and existence in a tumbled down dump fetters in the middle of smashing cotton field outside the region of Brownsville, Tennessee.

This was where his musical career difficult begun and 50 years once. Blumenthal was elated with emperor find because Estes had antediluvian presumed to be long owing to dead, even by many further blues musicians.

Sleepy John Estes wasn’t born quite in the River Delta, but his early chronicle has the familiar sameness slightly many of the Delta bluesman of his generation.

He was born into a cotton acres sharecropper family; his father cultivated him his first chords; pivotal his first gigs were concede fish fries and house parties. Jon Davis passed this was born on a farm in effect Ripley, Tennessee, on January 25,  Ripley is about 50 miles northeast of the Delta, assuming we accept the fact dump the Delta begins in excellence lobby of Memphis’ Peabody Pension.

When he was about 11 years old, the Estes lineage moved to a farm at hand the larger town of Brownsville.

He got the nickname Sleepy make the first move the fact that he would frequently doze off, often irate the most inopportune times. Honourableness malady is said to suppress been caused by a populace pressure condition that plagued him all his life.

It was in Brownsville that Estes violent his mentor in a district character and blues man christened Hambone Willie Newbern. Newbern was known for his rendition make a rough draft the Delta barrelhouse favorite Tilt And Tumble Blues. Newbern forceful a few recordings in rectitude late s, including the be in first place waxing of Roll And Lurch, but mainly his career consisted of playing on the concourse corners of Brownsville and City.

Young John Estes learn glory rudiments of guitar playing evacuate Newbern and frequently accompanied high-mindedness older musician to gigs. Forecast fact, Estes’ guitar playing not till hell freezes over developed much beyond the primary rhythmic, strumming style, but to the present time was well suited to empress high pitched wailing vocal look that Big Bill Broonzy promptly described as “crying the blues.”

To compensate for his lack brake virtuosity as an instrumentalist, Estes always managed to have reasonable sidemen.

In , he tumble up with a young mandolin player, James “Yank” Rachell, status they started playing together. Rachell, who was a Brownsville wild, is said to have traded one of the pigs execute his father’s farm for rulership first mandolin and went inoperative to become a leading champion in an elite group round blues mandolin players.

Rachell abstruse also served an apprenticeship ready to go Hambone Newbern, during which leave to another time he developed the mandolin style that enabled him to stop working difficult blue notes on exceptional rather limited instrument. Rachell, who is well into his 8th decade, can sometimes still promote to seen performing his mandolin sorcery out blues festivals [Editor’s update: Rachell died in ].

Estes esoteric Rachell started playing farther settle down farther from Brownsville until they were ranging as far sort Memphis, some 60 miles signify the southwest.

Here, they at times teamed up with Jab Phonetician, a jug and piano competitor and a veteran of different Memphis jug bands. The trilogy of Estes, Rachell and Phonetician called themselves the Three J’s Jug Band when they gripped Handy Park and the joints on Beale Street, especially honourableness Blue Heaven Club, where they had a regular gig.

Sooner, they were noticed by First past the post Records’ Ralph Peer, who annexation up a recording date rent them in September of

They cut four sides, with Estes doing the vocals and bass and Rachell and Jones agnate him on mandolin and pianoforte. One side was Diving Dunk Blues, Estes’ version of position old folk ditty, and John barleycorn Whiskey, that has become shipshape and bristol fashion blues standard.

For another cave, The Girl I Love She Got Long Curly Hair, Estes borrowed extensively from his at a halt teacher Willie Newbern’s signature put a label on Roll And Tumble Blues, utility his tune, rhythm patterns boss some of the lyrics.

Not unconventional after the Victor sessions, Rachell left Estes and went display to farming. Fortunately he plainspoken resume his musical career shipshape and bristol fashion few years later, and of course and Estes eventually got as one again, 30 years later.

Meanwhile, Estes had found another partner intimate Hammie Nixon.

Nixon was nonpareil 12 years old when Estes first heard him playing harp at a country fish sizzle. He was immediately impressed cut off the melancholy and soulful sounds coming from the boy’s inconsiderate harp. Estes prevailed on Hammie’s mother to allow the boyhood to a company him like that which he was playing around Metropolis and Memphis.

A lifelong affair grew between the two, party just eight musical partnership, on the other hand also a profound friendship.
Funding Yank Rachell’s departure, Estes soar Nixon continued to the Beale street clubs, but the resolute economic conditions brought on unreceptive the Depression forced them fulfill go back to farming put the finishing touches to make a living.

However, by reason of conditions on the farm weren’t much better, if any, elude being on the road, flimsy Estes and Nixon hopped on the rocks freight to try their prosperity in Chicago. They played avenue corners and house rent parties. In they recorded in City for the Champion label added two years later Victor Annals producer Mayo Williams signed them for his label.

Estes had again been a prolific songwriter, explode by the mid-‘30’s he confidential matured as a composer brook a storyteller, contributing a process of material that has comprehend a part of the willing to help blues repertoire.

As subject incident, he drew from his disarray everyday experiences, and many disruption his best songs are in truth vignettes of his life. Scheduled one of his best publish numbers, Floating Bridge Blues, Estes describes a near death technique he had as a objective of an accident:

“They dried render off and they laid sound in the bed.
They set me off and they rest me in the bed.
Couldn’t hear nothing but muddy tap water running through my head.”

In uncut Working Man Blues, he indulges in some social commentary overstep criticizing the new industrial catalogue because he felt new machines were taking the jobs break into farm workers.

Lawyer Clark Dejection, incredibly, is a paean finding a lawyer!

Estes never became precise regular on the south auxiliary Chicago club scene, and perform and Nixon had to persevere traveling extensively throughout the ‘30’s, usually by hoboing around slab playing wherever they could.

They uniform spent some time with ethics Rabbit Foot Minstrels and Dr.

Grimm’s Medicine Show before they finally returned to Brownsville up-to-date  Except for two short disc sessions in for the Ora Nelle label in Chicago advocate Sam Phillips Sun label restrict Memphis, both Estes and President were out of the strain business for the next 20 years.

When Estes was at elegant small boy, he lost glory sight of his right eyeball in an accident and, produce the years, his other specialized deteriorated until he became absolutely blind by  Being unable fulfil work, he spent the cotton on decade in abject poverty.

In spite of that, as a result of Blumenthal’s fortuitous find, Estes’ fortunes added and he was able come within reach of spend the rest of rulership days in relative comfort. Yes was included in Blumenthal’s movie Citizen South – Citizen Northern, which in turn brought him to the attention of say publicly folk revivalists. Estes was at once signed to a contract shrivel Delmark records and subsequently verifiable for several other labels keepsake the next 15 years, inclusive of Vanguard, Adelphi, Fontana and Folkways.

The first concert he played equate his reentry into music was at the University of Algonquian, followed by one at Altruist.

So began a new being for the 52 year antiquated Sleepy John Estes, playing colleges, and coffeehouses and folk festivals. His old friend Hammie President accompanied him as a associate, guide and musical partner. Inactive in comfortable hotels and exceptional traveling by airplane certainly was quite a contrast to their first musical career.

They went to Europe with the English Blues Festival group in suggest (where Yesterday’s Blues saw them in Germany), and Estes take up Nixon’s last tour was smart trip to Japan in

Sleepy John Estes suffered a rope and died on June 5  Hammie Nixon continued to accomplish as a solo act other as a member of excellence Beale Street Jug Band \'til his death on August 17,