Vocalist/guitarist
Sleepy John Estes
was already in his seventies when he recorded this set of mostly traditional country blues, while his partner, harmonica player and vocalist
Hammie Nixon
, was in his late sixties. They'd already been making music together for some 40 years or more so, not surprisingly, their playing and singing mesh seamlessly on this collection of previously unreleased recordings, cut in a single day in Chicago in 1974. There's a lightheartedness to the mix of
Estes
' upper-register vocals (think of him as the anti-
Howlin' Wolf
) and
Nixon
's rougher voice and easy rollin' harmonica, which features prominently on all but two tracks, among them
"Mary Come on Home,"
"80 Highway,"
and the opening
"Love Grows in Your Heart."
takes over on lead vocals for the earthy
"Potato Diggin' Man,"
doubles up on vocals on several numbers, among them a spirited
"When the Saints Go Marching In,"
and switches from harp to kazoo on
"I'll be Glad When You're Dead"
and
"Corrine Corrina."
Two different takes of
"President Kennedy"
serve as a reminder of the affection that African-Americans had for the fallen leader. A fine sampling of unadulterated acoustic blues. ~ Jeff Tamarkin