Blues

Sleepy John Estes: “Mailman Blues” and “Someday Baby”

John Adams (“Sleepy John”) Estes was born in Ripley, Tennessee on January 25th of 1899 or 1900. The earlier date was on his tombstone and the latter on his World War I draft card.

Estes is an important blues guitarist, songwriter and singer who influenced many subsequent musicians, including John Fahey. The Wikipedia profile says that his career spanned more than fifty years. His main collaborators were guitarist and mandolin player James “Yank” Rachell and Hammie Nixon, who played harmonica.

Estes really wasn’t drowsy:

Some accounts attribute the nickname Sleepy to a blood pressure disorder or narcolepsyBob 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.”

Sleepy John Estes
 Sleepy John Estes

The Tennessee Historical Society wrote that Estes played an important role in “reestablishing rural blues within the American music canon during the folk revival of the 1960s.”

Brian Dempsey describes the importance of Sleepy John Estes at The Tennessee Encyclopedia: “A highly skilled blues musician, Estes played a pivotal role in reestablishing rural blues within the American music canon during the folk blues revival of the 1960s. His well-crafted songs, bolstered by a personalized lyricism that combined local flavor with individual feeling, left an indelible mark on fans and musicians. Prominent scholars in the 1960s referred to Estes as a true original and a primary influence on subsequent blues musicians throughout the South.” There are a lot of Estes compilations available. They likely are the same recordings. Click here or on the image for more from Amazon on the album “I Ain’t Gonna Be Worried No More.” Here is more on the album from from iTunes.
The Wikipedia profile says that the Estes family moved to Brownsville, TN in 1915. He met Rachell and Nixon and began playing professionally. He also lost sight in one eye in an accident. Estes and Nixon moved to Memphis in the late 1920s and formed a band named the Three J’s. Jab Jones played the jug, a popular instrument at the time. (The Memphis Jug Band is a great example of how the instrument was used.)

The profile says that rural southern blues players were becoming popular and record companies sent scouts to the south to find regional talent. In 1929, Victor Records’ Ralph Peer recorded Estes and, presumably, Nixon and Rachell. Some of the songs with which Estes is associated are “Diving Duck Blues” and “Milkcow Blues.”

The trio migrated to Chicago and recorded for RCA Victor and Decca. Life in the big city, the profile says, enabled Estes to refine his style. He worked with the Rabbit Foot Minstrel Show and recorded songs such as “Drop Down Mama” and “Some Day Baby Blues.”

Estes returned to the south, took up sharecropping and became completely blind. He recorded occasionally and remained poor. Many blues fans had assumed he was dead because he already sounded like an old man in the early recordings. He wasn’t, and was found by filmmaker David Blumenthal. A subsequent documentary led to his rediscovery and a second career. Estes played the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, had radio exposure and toured European Tours.

About is “Mailman Blues,” with featuring Yank Rachell. Below is “Someday Baby.”

The Tennessee Encyclopedia was cited in the blue box.

Our New Things: Links to Music Sites and Info on Analog Tech and Vinyl

TDMB has focused on music and musicians. We will continue to do that, of course. We're also expanding our coverage to include vinyl and analog equipment.

More specifically, we'll look at this huge and interesting world from the perspective of music lovers who want a better experience, not committed non-audiophiles.

Check out is some of what we've written so far:

-- Assessing the Value of Vinyl Records: An Overview

-- 7 Quick Tips on Optimizing Your Turntable Cartridge

-- Why Vinyl Records Continue to Thrive

-- Finding the Best Amplifier

-- Finding the Best Phono Preamp

-- What Speakers Do I Need for My Turntable?

Check out more articles on analog equipment and vinyl.

The site also is home to The Internet Music Mapping Project, an effort to list and describe as many music-related sites as possible.

Our Music

--A Tribe Called Quest to The Dick Hyman Trio (In other words, A to H)

--Indigo Girls to Queen Ida (I to Q)

--Radiohead to ZZ Top (R to Z)

Reading Music

The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.

Here are some books to check out.

Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.

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What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.

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The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").

David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.

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