4/19/10 - Sleepy John Estes

Sleepy John Estes was a sharecropper who started performing locally and got with the right crowd. At the age of 19, he lost sight in one of his eyes when a friend threw a rock at him playing baseball. Seemed like he had some reason to sing blues.
After World War II, people heard his music and liked it but figured he was dead because he had such an old sounding voice, even in his earliest recordings. When they found him in 1962, he was now blind in both eyes and living in poverty -- something they seemed quick to rectify by sending him on some music tours (well, at least the poverty part.) He had some successful tours, and died in 1977 preparing for a European tour. His epithet was a line from one of his songs, ".. ain't goin' to worry Poor John's mind anymore."
This song is called, "Stop That Thing". Enjoy: