Sleepy John Estes
Big Bill Broonzy called John Estes' style of singing "crying" the blues because of its overt emotional quality. Actually, his vocal style harks back to his tenure as a work-gang leader for a railroad maintenance crew, where his vocal improvisations and keen, cutting voice set the pace for work activities. Nicknamed "Sleepy" John Estes, supposedly because of his ability to sleep standing up, he teamed with mandolinist Yank Rachell and harmonica player Hammie Nixon to play the house party circuit in and around Brownsville in the early 1920s. The same team reunited 40 years later to record for Delmark and play the festival circuit. Never an outstanding guitarist, Estes relied on his expressive voice to carry his music, and the recordings he made from 1929 on have enormous appeal and remain remarkably accessible today.
Despite the fact that he performed for mixed Black and white audiences in string bands, jug bands, and medicine show formats, his music retains a distinct ethnicity and has a particularly plaintive sound. Astonishingly, he recorded for six decades on Victor, Decca, Bluebird, Ora Nelle, Sun, Delmark, and others. Over the course of his career, his music remained simple yet powerful, and despite his sojourns to Memphis and Chicago he retained a traditional down-home sound. Some of his songs are deeply personal statements about his community and life, such as "Lawyer Clark" and "Floating Bridge." Other compositions have universal appeal ("Drop Down Mama" and "Someday Baby") and went on to become mainstays in the repertoires of countless musicians. One of the true masters of his idiom, he lived in poverty, yet was somehow capable of turning his experiences and the conditions of his life into compelling art.
© Barry Lee Pearson /TiVo
Artistas similares
-
Broke and Hungry - Ragged and Dirty, Too
Blues - Editado por Tin Toy el 5 may. 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Blues Anthology: Sleepy John Estes, Vol. 1
Blues - Editado por MN Records el 2 dic. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleepy John Estes; Singer-Songwriter, Volume 3: The Blues Legend
R&B - Editado por PROFOUND el 30 oct. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleepy John Estes; Singer-Songwriter, Volume 1: Blues Master
R&B - Editado por PROFOUND el 30 oct. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jailhouse Blues
Sleepy John Estes, Blind Willie McTell
Blues - Editado por History el 2 ene. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
The man who cried the blues
Jazz - Editado por EPM el 9 mar. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues Live
Sleepy John Estes, John Henry Barbee
Blues - Editado por Storyville Records el 20 sept. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lawyer Clark Blues - Treasury Of Jazz No. 30 (Recordings of 1941)
Pop - Editado por Treasury of Jazz el 31 ene. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleepy John Estes in Europe
Blues - Editado por Delmark Records el 28 sept. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
The Ultimate Jazz Archive 13 - Blues (3 Of 4)
Blues - Editado por Carinco AG el 18 feb. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Blues Anthology: Sleepy John Estes, Vol. 2
Blues - Editado por MN Records el 2 dic. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Jazz Figures / Sleepy John Estes (1937-1941)
Jazz - Editado por Collector Records Greece el 10 nov. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
-
-
Rats in My Kitchen :The Legendary Sleepy John Estes
Blues - Editado por Mach60 Music el 1 jun. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo