Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson LP: Southern Blues (LP)

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catalog number: LPWOLF120916
weight in Kg 0.25

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(Wolf Records) 17 tracks Born JOHN ADAM ESTES on January 25, 1904 in Ripley, Tennessee, John... more

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Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson: Southern Blues (LP)

(Wolf Records) 17 tracks
Born JOHN ADAM ESTES on January 25, 1904 in Ripley, Tennessee, John settled with his family in Brownsville, Tennessee in 1915.
In his youth he worked as a field hand and, at the suggestion of his brother Louis, began playing guitar at the age of twelve.
Two years later, he lost his left eye during a football game. After his father's death in 1920, he began a career as a musician, performing at various local cookouts and meetings.

In 1925, he met James "Yank" Rachel, and in 1927, he met his longtime partner HAMMIE NIXON (born in Brownsville on January 22, 1913).
Together they played in the Como, Mississippi area and traveled to Chicago to perform on the road with Son Bonds and Charlie Pickett
From 1935 to 1941, John recorded for the Champion, Decca and Bluebird labels and had a big hit with his acclaimed "Someday Baby Blues," which many artists still play today as "Worried Life Blues."

Article properties: Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson: Southern Blues (LP)

Interpret: Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
Album titlle: Southern Blues (LP)
Genre Blues
Geschwindigkeit 33 U/min
Vinyl record size LP (12 Inch)
Record Grading Mint (M)
Sleeve Grading Mint (M)
Label WOLF RECORDS
Artikelart LP
EAN: 2500013120002
weight in Kg 0.25

Estes, Sleepy John - Southern Blues (LP) LP 1
01	You Rascal You	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
02	I Ain’T Gonna Sell It	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
03	Someday Baby You Ain’T Gonna Worry My Life Anymore	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
04	The Death Of President Kennedy	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
05	Tear It Down (Tearing Little Daddy)	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
06	Mama Don’T Allow Me To Stay Out All Night Long	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
07	80 Highway	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
08	Mama Won’T You Do That Thing	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
09	“44” Blues	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
10	Pony Blues	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
11	Don’T Cry Baby	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
12	M&O Blues	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
13	Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
14	G Rag	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
15	My Gal’S Got A Heart Like A Rock Cast In The Sea	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
16	I Just Keep On Working	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson
17	Blues On My Mind Sonny Boy Nelson— Guitar+ Vocals	Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson

Born in Ripley, Tennessee in 1904 John Estes lived most of his life in Brownsville, Tennessee.... more

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"Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon & Sonny Boy Nelson"

Born in Ripley, Tennessee in 1904 John Estes lived most of his life in Brownsville, Tennessee. He did his first recordings for Victor in 1929 and 1930, a career interrupted by the great depression. When the jukebox rejuvenated the record business, he was picked up by Decca in 1935. Blues artists who wrote their own songs were the rule rather than the exception in those days and his discs sold well enough that he stayed with Decca for the next five years. He even made a trip to New York during the Chicago recording ban of 1938. But on one of those trips, having cashed in their train tickets from Dec., he and harp player Hammie Nixon hoboed on a train where John lost his last eye to total blindness in a gravel car when a piece of grav-el flew up and hit him in the eye.

Under the aegis of publisher Lester Melrose John moved to Bluebird for a session in 1941, a new career path interrupted by World War 11 and the Petrillo recording ban. No one could call John's songs simple, but he was an uncomplicated man. He loved his blues, his booze and his family. Wishing to put Hammie Nixon's name on the Decca labels, he gave him song credit (although John kept the $10 royalty buyout payment.) John was not a roving song collector like Big Joe Williams. He wrote in Brownsville or on occasional trips to nearby Memphis, and often about the people and places of his hometown. Those are real people and places in the songs that rise above the usual insight-ful generalizations about life and love. Brownsville and neighboring towns gave the world more bluesmen than you might expect. Mandolinist and fellow Victor, Bluebird and Delmark artist Yank Rachell and John's faithful companion Hammie Nixon, as well as Son Bonds whose Decca/Champion recording session led to John's Decca stint, were Brownsvillians.

Nearby towns gave us Kids Spoons and John Lee Williamson, aka Sonny Boy I. After the war, the blues business, which had involved jazz-influenced trumpet-sax band accompaniments, soon made room for the more down home electric blues and, with a few exceptions, the old country blues was out of the R&B picture. However, John did record for the legendary Sun label although the results only appeared years after Delmark's first albums. A filmmaker had been to Brownsville for the first chapter of a production to be titled Citizen South-Citizen North when we met him at the Jazz Record Mart where he spoke with Joe Segal about filming a jazz artist at one of his Sutherland Hotel Jazz Showcase sessions. So I went to Brownsville to bring John back to Chicago for recording sessions. He told us about Hammie's presence in Brownsville and Yank's in Indianapolis and we eventually included them.

On our return trip to Chicago John asked to go to 437 South Wabash where his brother worked. That was next door to Jazz Record Mart and I had met his brother, who was older than John, not realizing of course who he was. In fact, one day I almost called the brother "Sleepy John" but decided that would be unkind. Had I been my usual crass self, we might have found John before we did. I should mention that blues writer and pro-ducer George Mitchell of Atlanta, GA, who later worked at the Jazz Record Mart, appar-ently met Sleepy John before I did. The young white audience for blues was only beginning to build in the early 60s but John was able to find some work including a European tour with the American Folk Blues Festival and an appearance at the Newport Folk and Ann Arbor Blues Festivals. I judge any blues artist by his voice and his lyrics.

I am not a guitarist. But at least one of John's guitar patterns was adopted by Big Bill Broonzy and in a 1998 Delta blues compila-tion, a sadly uncredited writer states that "his style of accompaniment, although subtle in its approach ...became the foundation for Texas and Chicago blues style." This author goes on to cite Jimmy Reed, Lightnin' Hopkins, Freddie King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. -Bob Koester, July, 2008

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