Every musician is bound to be a child of their influences. Even though many people would rather try to come up with something completely original, chances are the best music will come from them taking the basics of their record collections and transforming them into something that sounds original. Although The Beatles were masters of twisting around different genres into something new, John Lennon felt that he was a little out of his depth singing in this bluesman’s style.

Granted, the Beatles were never really indoctrinated in the blues as some of their contemporaries were. The Rolling Stones had made an entire career out of making songs about how someone had done them wrong, but the Fab Four were interested in hearing the first rock and rollers that came their way, whether that was The Everly Brothers’ soaring harmonies or the original tunes that Buddy Holly and Little Richard banged out.

And when it came to different vocal styles, Lennon was more into raw muscle whenever he sang. Although Paul McCartney could hit every single high note that Little Richard could during their renditions of tunes like ‘Long Tall Sally’, Lennon was more suited to straight-ahead tunes like ‘Johnny B Goode’ or ‘Some Other Guy’ when they were playing in The Cavern.

However, something changed when they started to make experimental music. Since he was determined to make everything sound slightly off, most of Lennon’s vocal takes included him shredding his voice to make sure that he got the right performance, like the screams at the end of ‘Revolution’ or his yelping midway through ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’.

When it came time to record the tune ‘Yer Blues’, Lennon was intimidated trying to go toe-to-toe with the same vocal style Sleepy John Estes used, saying, “There was a self-consciousness about singing blues. We were all listening to Sleepy John Estes and all that in art school. But to sing it was something else. I’m self-conscious about doing it. I think Dylan does it well, but I was self-conscious, and I went for ‘Yer Blues.’”

It’s not like Sleepy John Estes is the easiest person to imitate, either. Whereas most of the blues that Mick Jagger sang were still fairly straightforward, hearing Lennon have those dramatic stabs before he sings is still intimidating for any singer trying to hold the audience in the palm of their hands, especially with lyrics dealing with being suicidal.

Then again, Lennon could go far beyond that singing when he wanted to. ‘Yer Blues’ could have been a big moment for him, but listening to what he did on a track like ‘Well Well Well’ taken from Plastic Ono Band, this version of the blues sounds like someone’s first day playing the blues.

That’s because while Lennon was self-conscious about a certain type of singing, it was always about more than the style. It was about getting across the emotion you wanted, and considering where he took his solo career, Lennon was more than capable of opening up his heart for the world to see.