Скачать или смотреть You Can't Stop The Blues - We Found Legendary Bluesman Sleepy John Estes

You can't stop the blues. In 1973 we found legendary bluesman Sleepy John Estes. John Adam Estes was born into a sharecropping family near Brownsville, Tennessee. John lost the sight in one eye after an accident when he was a child and by the 1950s was totally blind. He got the nickname “Sleepy” he like to take naps. John Estes was recognized as one of the most important artists in blues history.

In the 1930s and 40s he made a number of recordings. Then he stopped, faded into obscurity and most blues fans thought he had died. In the 1960’s he was rediscovered, made more recording, played the Newport Folk Festival and went to Europe and Japan. Then, that fame faded, too. In 1973, Sleepy John and Hammie were forgotten giants. I found them through the Tennessee Welfare Department. John and Hammie played the blues … pure and simple.

It was a hot, sweltering June day when I visited then in Brownsville. He sang “Diving Duck Blues”, “Drop Down Mama,” “Someday Baby,” “Worried Life Blues” and “Trouble No More.” I asked him how he could keep singing the old song and make them so real. He told me, “The blues comes from feelings that never die. They’re real every day.”

THE REST OF THE STORY – Not long after our visit Sleepy John and Hammie were discovered ... again. They were invited to perform, tour and share their music. In 1977 they were preparing for a European tour when John died of a stroke. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1991. This story aired on WTVF-TV Channel 5 Eyewitness News in 1973.

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The Traveler Series started as the Tennessee Traveler at WLAC-TV in Nashville. It’s now WTVF. They told me to explore, talk with people and bring their stories back. This began ten years of roaming the country meeting the most amazing people. My sincere thanks to news director and anchor Chris Clark for giving me the best job in television.

Long before CNN and Fox News the Traveler series with Andy Johnston was an Emmy award winning program that showcased amazing people, unusual things, local legends, food finds, outdoor activities, folk art, and family fun. In 2022 the Walter J. Brown Media Archives at the University of Georgia founded The Original Georgia Traveler -- Andy Johnston Collection to preserve and maintain the stories.

The Traveler Series celebrates life and living in America in the 1970s. Nostalgia, small towns, traditional life and the good old days. The stories give us ways to compare then and now. Folklore, music, handcrafts, vanishing America and unusual people. Funny stories, personal stories and amazing people are in this collection.

This story is presented for educational and preservation purposes and is covered under Fair Use. At the time it was broadcast the television station had a blanket music license with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. The station maintains that license today. All music used is covered under that agreement.

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