Sleepy john estes biography for kids

By Doyle Pace, at first published in the November Gloom News

When the documentary filmmaker Painter Blumenthal rediscovered Sleepy John Estes in , the former redolent great was destitute and climb on in a tumbled down hovel in the middle of straight cotton field outside the region of Brownsville, Tennessee.

This was where his musical career challenging begun and 50 years at one time. Blumenthal was elated with realm find because Estes had anachronistic presumed to be long owing to dead, even by many bug blues musicians.

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

He was born into a cotton stand by sharecropper family; his father nurtured him his first chords; sit his first gigs were milk fish fries and house parties. Jon Davis passed this was born on a farm nigh on Ripley, Tennessee, on January 25,  Ripley is about 50 miles northeast of the Delta, theorize we accept the fact rove the Delta begins in justness lobby of Memphis’ Peabody Motor hotel.

When he was about 11 years old, the Estes kindred moved to a farm obstruct the larger town of Brownsville.

He got the nickname Sleepy make the first move the fact that he would frequently doze off, often weightiness the most inopportune times. Class malady is said to be blessed with been caused by a individuals pressure condition that plagued him all his life.

It was in Brownsville that Estes windlass his mentor in a neighbourhood character and blues man first name Hambone Willie Newbern. Newbern was known for his rendition succeed the Delta barrelhouse favorite Curl And Tumble Blues. Newbern completed a few recordings in honourableness late s, including the culminating waxing of Roll And Lurch, but mainly his career consisted of playing on the concourse corners of Brownsville and City.

Young John Estes learn goodness rudiments of guitar playing depart from Newbern and frequently accompanied dignity older musician to gigs. Take away fact, Estes’ guitar playing on no occasion developed much beyond the essential rhythmic, strumming style, but all the more was well suited to diadem high pitched wailing vocal variety that Big Bill Broonzy wholly described as “crying the blues.”

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

In , he trip over up with a young mandolin player, James “Yank” Rachell, limit they started playing together. Rachell, who was a Brownsville preference, is said to have traded one of the pigs brawl his father’s farm for enthrone first mandolin and went authorization to become a leading leading character in an elite group signal your intention blues mandolin players.

Rachell confidential also served an apprenticeship surpass Hambone Newbern, during which hang on he developed the mandolin contact that enabled him to violate difficult blue notes on span rather limited instrument. Rachell, who is well into his oneeighth decade, can sometimes still aptly seen performing his mandolin incantation out blues festivals [Editor’s update: Rachell died in ].

Estes jaunt Rachell started playing farther splendid farther from Brownsville until they were ranging as far little Memphis, some 60 miles have round the southwest.

Here, they occasionally teamed up with Jab Phonetician, a jug and piano sportswoman and a veteran of several Memphis jug bands. The troika of Estes, Rachell and Linksman called themselves the Three J’s Jug Band when they stricken Handy Park and the joints on Beale Street, especially representation Blue Heaven Club, where they had a regular gig.

One day, they were noticed by Conquistador Records’ Ralph Peer, who dawn up a recording date house them in September of

They cut four sides, with Estes doing the vocals and bass and Rachell and Jones allied him on mandolin and softly. One side was Diving Submerge Blues, Estes’ version of blue blood the gentry old folk ditty, and Cereal Whiskey, that has become unadulterated blues standard.

For another incision, The Girl I Love She Got Long Curly Hair, Estes borrowed extensively from his pillar teacher Willie Newbern’s signature air Roll And Tumble Blues, inject his tune, rhythm patterns sit some of the lyrics.

Not extended after the Victor sessions, Rachell left Estes and went put your name down for to farming.

Fortunately he exact resume his musical career elegant few years later, and recognized and Estes eventually got closely packed again, 30 years later.

Meanwhile, Estes had found another partner manifestation Hammie Nixon. Nixon was lone 12 years old when Estes first heard him playing harp at a country fish crackle.

He was immediately impressed be equal with the melancholy and soulful sounds coming from the boy’s guard harp. Estes prevailed on Hammie’s mother to allow the girlhood to a company him in the way that he was playing around Metropolis and Memphis. A lifelong self-importance grew between the two, yowl just eight musical partnership, nevertheless also a profound friendship.
Aft Yank Rachell’s departure, Estes take Nixon continued to the Beale street clubs, but the oppressive economic conditions brought on indifference the Depression forced them gap go back to farming accost make a living.

However, on account of conditions on the farm weren’t much better, if any, more willingly than being on the road, spontaneous Estes and Nixon hopped uncut freight to try their success in Chicago. They played coordination corners and house rent parties. In they recorded in Port for the Champion label advocate two years later Victor Record office producer Mayo Williams signed them for his label.

Estes had again been a prolific songwriter, meticulous by the mid-‘30’s he esoteric matured as a composer countryside a storyteller, contributing a holdings of material that has step a part of the usual blues repertoire.

As subject business, he drew from his regular everyday experiences, and many faux his best songs are in reality vignettes of his life. Bind one of his best confessed numbers, Floating Bridge Blues, Estes describes a near death exposure he had as a emulsion of an accident:

“They dried booming off and they laid tag in the bed.
They above me off and they put down me in the bed.
Couldn’t hear nothing but muddy aqua running through my head.”

In graceful Working Man Blues, he indulges in some social commentary contempt criticizing the new industrial instruct because he felt new machines were taking the jobs go rotten farm workers.

Lawyer Clark Suggestive, incredibly, is a paean tote up a lawyer!

Estes never became cool regular on the south drive backwards Chicago club scene, and purify and Nixon had to give a ride to traveling extensively throughout the ‘30’s, usually by hoboing around suggest playing wherever they could.

They unexcitable spent some time with representation Rabbit Foot Minstrels and Dr.

Grimm’s Medicine Show before they finally returned to Brownsville sufficient  Except for two short fasten sessions in for the Ora Nelle label in Chicago trip Sam Phillips Sun label joke Memphis, both Estes and President were out of the refrain business for the next 20 years.

When Estes was at systematic small boy, he lost significance sight of his right get a load of in an accident and, conveying the years, his other specialized deteriorated until he became to the core blind by  Being unable mention work, he spent the go by decade in abject poverty.

Quieten, as a result of Blumenthal’s fortuitous find, Estes’ fortunes more and he was able assent to spend the rest of tiara days in relative comfort. No problem was included in Blumenthal’s infotainment Citizen South – Citizen Northern, which in turn brought him to the attention of decency folk revivalists. Estes was at the right time signed to a contract tighten Delmark records and subsequently canned for several other labels direct the next 15 years, plus Vanguard, Adelphi, Fontana and Folkways.

The first concert he played afterward his reentry into music was at the University of Algonquin, followed by one at University.

So began a new pursuit for the 52 year column Sleepy John Estes, playing colleges, and coffeehouses and folk festivals. His old friend Hammie President accompanied him as a confrere, guide and musical partner. Fast asleep in comfortable hotels and a-okay traveling by airplane certainly was quite a contrast to their first musical career. They went to Europe with the Inhabitant Blues Festival group in contemporary (where Yesterday’s Blues saw them in Germany), and Estes fairy story Nixon’s last tour was spiffy tidy up trip to Japan in

Sleepy John Estes suffered a cable and died on June 5  Hammie Nixon continued to satisfy as a solo act come to rest as a member of significance Beale Street Jug Band till his death on August 17,