John Adam “Sleepy” Estes, born into a sharecropping family just outside of Ripley, Tennessee but raised in Brownsville, was a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and generally recognized as one of the most important artists in blues history. He got the nickname “Sleepy” from his frequent naps. Estes lost the sight in his right eye after an accident that occurred as a child. Afterwards, he learned to play guitar at parties and picnics around his home, often with mandolin player Yank Rachell. In the 1920s, Estes, Rachell and harmonica player Hammie Nixon went to Memphis, where they played on street corners and in parks. Estes began his recording career in 1929 in Memphis with Victor. Two years later, he and Nixon relocated to Chicago where Estes recorded for Decca. From 1940 to 1941 Estes recorded with Bluebird Records. “Someday Baby” (also known as “Worried Life Blues”), his most noted Bluebird release, became one of Estes’s trademark numbers and a blues standard. In 1948, Estes returned to Tennessee and ended the first phase of his recording career. He continued to work around Brownsville, occasionally performing in Memphis. Estes and Nixon recorded for Memphis label Sun Records in the early 1950s. By this time, … Continue reading John Adam “Sleepy” Estes (1904-1977)