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
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The Legend of Sleepy John Estes
Blues - Pubblicato da Delmark Records il 1 gen 1990
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Broke and Hungry
Sleepy John Estes, Hammie Nixon, Yank Rachell
Blues - Pubblicato da Delmark il 2 nov 1995
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Newport Blues
Blues - Pubblicato da Delmark Records il 28 mag 2002
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I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More 1929-1941
Blues - Pubblicato da Yazoo il 1 gen 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Goin' To Brownsville
Blues - Pubblicato da HighTone Records il 24 feb 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Goin' To Brownsville
Blues - Pubblicato da Shout! il 24 feb 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleepy John Estes Vol. 2 (1937 - 1941)
Blues - Pubblicato da Document Records il 12 apr 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On the Chicago Blues Scene
Blues - Pubblicato da Delmark Records il 1 gen 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live in Japan with Hammie Nixon
Blues - Pubblicato da Delmark il 21 mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleepy John Estes 1929-1941: From Memphis to Chicago
Blues - Pubblicato da Fremeaux Heritage il 30 lug 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Presenting Sleepy John Estes
Blues - Pubblicato da Universal Digital Enterprises il 8 apr 1930
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Jack And Jill Blues - The Best Of
Blues - Pubblicato da Stardust il 1 gen 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Blues Music
Blues - Pubblicato da Blues Experience il 13 set 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brownsville Blues
Blues - Pubblicato da Delmark Records il 1 gen 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1935-1938
Jazz - Pubblicato da Disques Black & Blue il 26 mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleepy John Estes; Singer-Songwriter, Volume 2: Blues Master
R&B - Pubblicato da PROFOUND il 30 ott 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Crying Out Loud - Sleepy John Estes Blues Chronicles
Blues - Pubblicato da Stardom Records il 15 set 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -