From the album: Chicago/The Blues/Today!, Vol. 3 John Shines guitar, mandolin, and vocals; Big Walter Horton, harmonica; Floyd Jones, bass; Frank Kirkland, drums.
Johnny Shines (April 26, 1915 -- April 20, 1992[1]) was an American blues singer and guitarist. According to the music journalist Tony Russell, "Shines was that rare being, a blues artist who overcame age and rustiness to make music that stood up beside the work of his youth. When Shines came back to the blues in 1965 he was 50, yet his voice had the leonine power of a dozen years before, when he made records his reputation was based on".[2]
He was born John Ned Shines in Frayser, Tennessee.[1] He spent most of his childhood in Memphis, Tennessee playing slide guitar at an early age in local "jukes" and for tips on the streets.[1] He was "inspired by the likes of Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, and the young Howlin' Wolf",[1] but he was taught to play the guitar by his mother.[1] Shines moved to Hughes, Arkansas in 1932 and worked on farms for three years putting his musical career on hold.[3] It was this chance meeting with Robert Johnson, his greatest influence, that gave him the inspiration to return to music.[1] In 1935, Shines began traveling with Johnson, touring the south and heading as far north as Ontario where they appeared on a local radio program.[1] The two went their separate ways in 1937, one year before Johnson's death.[3]
Shines played throughout the southern United States until 1941 when he settled in Chicago.[2] There Shines found work in the construction industry but continued to play in local bars.[1]
He made his first recording in 1946 for Columbia Records, but the takes were never released.[2] He recorded for Chess in 1950, and was once again denied release.[2] He kept playing with local blues musicians in the Chicago area for several more years. In 1952, Shines recorded what is considered his best work for the J.O.B. Records label.[1] The recordings were a commercial failure and Shines, frustrated with the music industry, sold his equipment and returned to construction.[1]
In 1966, Vanguard Records found Shines taking photographs in a Chicago blues club and had him record tracks for the third installment of Chicago/The Blues/Today![1] The album has since then become a blues classic and it brought Shines into the mainstream music scene.[1]
Shines toured with the Chicago All Stars alongside Lee Jackson, Big Walter Horton and Willie Dixon.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Shines
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