Sleepy John Estes

One of the finest first-generation country blues singers to come out of the South, Tennessean Sleepy John Estes had an amazing run of recordings from the late 1920s to the early '40s. He popularized many of the tunes that would become blues (and rock & roll) standards, like “Drop Down Mama” and “Milk Cow Blues.” Like so many of his contemporaries, Estes was rediscovered during the early '60s folk/blues boom, and came out of retirement to record and perform once more. Estes died in 1977, and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame 13 years later.