Performance · Other credits

Sleepy John Estes

real name John Adam Estes

Ripley, United States · 1899-01-25 – 1977-06-05

Sleepy John Estes is credited on 1,199 releases across 310 albums tracked on Gatefold, active 1952–2025 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

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1,199

Credits

310

Albums

Decades active

225

In collections

Biography

source

American blues singer & guitarist.
Born 25 January 1899 in Ripley, Lauderdale County, Tennessee.
Died: 5 June 1977 in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tennessee.
Estes made his debut as a recording artist in Memphis in 1929, at a session organized by for Victor Records. He later recorded for the Decca and Bluebird labels, with his last pre-war recording session taking place in 1941. He made a brief return to recording at Sun Studio in Memphis in 1952, recording "Runnin' Around" and "Rats in My Kitchen," but otherwise was largely out of the public eye for two decades. When he was tracked down, by Robert G. Koester and Samuel B. Charters in 1962, he was completely blind and living in poverty. He resumed touring and recording.

Bio from Discogs