Today: Sleepy John Estes passed away in 1977 – 35 years ago

Photo by Willa Davis

From Wikipedia:

John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 – June 5, 1977), best known as Sleepy John Estes or Sleepy John, was a American blues guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, born in Ripley, Lauderdale County, Tennessee.

From allmusic.com:

Despite the fact that he performed for mixed black and white audiences in string band, jug band, and medicine show formats, his music retains a distinct ethnicity and has a particularly plaintive sound. Astonishingly, he recorded during six decades for 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

Mailman blues:

Album of the day @ JV:

Other June-05:

  • Conway Twitty (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 40 #1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006. From 1971-76, Twitty received a string of Country Music Association awards for duets with Loretta Lynn. He was never a member of the Grand Ole Opry, but was inducted into both the Country Music and Rockabilly Halls of Fame.
  • Freddie Stone (born Frederick Stewart, June 5, 1947, Vallejo, California, United States) is an African-American musician, best known for his role as co-founder, guitarist, andvocalist in the band Sly and the Family Stone, the frontman for which was his brother Sly Stone. His sisters Rosie Stone and Vet Stone were also members of the band.
  • Bob Dylan recorded “The Man In Me” @ Studio E, Columbia Recording Studios, NYC in 1970

-Egil