Sleepy John Estes

In June of 1969, the fourth Memphis Country Blues Festival took place at the city's famed Overton Park Band Shell. Fueled by the rediscovery of blues artists like Furry Lewis and Mississippi Fred McDowell, the fest had been launched in 1966 by a group of Bluff City blues fans and counterculturalists. The '69 edition -- which doubled as a celebration of Memphis' sesquicentennial -- promised the event's biggest and most ambitious lineup, one that included...