Johnny Shines
Wikimp3 information about the music of Johnny Shines. On our website we have 26 albums and 69 collections of artist Johnny Shines. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Johnny Shines represents Blues genres.
Biography
[Edit]Best known as a traveling companion of Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines' own contributions to the blues have often been unfairly shortchanged, simply because Johnson's own legend casts such a long shadow. In his early days, Shines was one of the top slide guitarists in Delta blues, with his own distinctive, energized style; one that may have echoed Johnson's spirit and influence, but was never a mere imitation. Shines eventually made his way north to Chicago, and made the transition to electrified urban blues with ease, helped in part by his robust, impassioned vocals. He was vastly under-recorded during his prime years, even quitting the music business for a time, but was rediscovered in the late '60s and recorded and toured steadily for quite some time. A 1980 stroke robbed him of some of his dexterity on guitar, but his voice remained a powerfully emotive instrument, and he performed up until his death in 1992.
John Ned Shines was born April 26, 1915, in Frayser, TN, and grew up in Memphis from the age of six. Part of a musical family, he learned guitar from his mother, and as a youth he played for tips on the streets of Memphis with several friends, inspired by the likes of Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, and the young Howlin' Wolf. In 1932, he moved to Hughes, AR, to work as a sharecropper, keeping up his musical activities on the side; in 1935, he decided to try and make it as a professional musician. Shines had first met Robert Johnson in Memphis in 1934, and he began accompanying Johnson on his wanderings around the Southern juke-joint circuit, playing wherever they could find gigs; the two made their way as far north as Windsor, Ontario, where they appeared on a radio program. After around three years on the road together — which made Shines one of Johnson's most intimate associates, along with Johnson's stepson Robert Jr. Lockwood — the two split up in Arkansas in 1937, and never saw each other again before Johnson's death in 1938.
Shines continued to play around the South for a few years, and in 1941 decided to make his way north in hopes of finding work in Canada, and from there catching a boat to Africa. Instead, when he stopped in Chicago, his cousin immediately offered him a job in construction, and Shines wound up staying. He started making the rounds of the local blues club scene, and in 1946 he made his first-ever recordings; four tracks for Columbia that the label declined to release. In 1950, he resurfaced on Chess, cutting sides that were rarely released (and, when they were, often appeared under the name "Shoe Shine Johnny"). Meanwhile, Shines was finding work supporting other artists at live shows and recording sessions. From 1952-1953, he laid down some storming sides for the JOB label, which constitute some of his finest work ever (some featured Big Walter Horton on harmonica). They went underappreciated commercially, however, and Shines returned to his supporting roles. In 1958, fed up with the musicians' union over a financial dispute, Shines quit the music business, pawned all of his equipment, and made his living solely with the construction job he'd kept all the while.
Shines did, however, stay plugged into the local blues scene by working as a photographer at live events, selling photos to patrons as souvenirs. Eventually, he was sought out by blues historians, and talked into recording for Vanguard's now-classic Chicago/The Blues/Today! series; his appearance on the third volume in 1966 rejuvenated his career. Shines next cut sessions for Testament (1966's Master of the Modern Blues, Vol. 1, a couple with Big Walter Horton, and more) and Blue Horizon (1968's Last Night's Dream), which effectively introduced him to much of the listening public. The reception was much greater this time around, and Shines hit the road, first with Horton and Willie Dixon as the Chicago All-Stars, then leading his own band. In the meantime, his daughter died unexpectedly, leaving Shines to raise his grandchildren; concerned about bringing them up in an urban environment, he moved the whole family down to Tuscaloosa, AL.
During the early '70s, Shines recorded for Biograph and Advent, among others, and enjoyed one of his most acclaimed releases with 1975's more Delta-styled Too Wet to Plow (for Tomato). He also taught guitar locally in Tuscaloosa in between touring engagements. Despite his own generally high-quality work, Shines was a fascinating figure to many white blues fans simply because of the mythology surrounding Robert Johnson, and he was interviewed repeatedly about his experiences with Johnson to the exclusion of discussing his own music and contemporary career; which understandably frustrated him after a while. However, that didn't stop him from rediscovering his roots in acoustic Delta blues, or including many of Johnson's classic songs in his own repertoire; in fact, during the late '70s, Shines toured and recorded often with Robert Jr. Lockwood, a teaming that owed much to Johnson's legacy if ever there was one. Unfortunately, in 1980, Shines suffered a stroke that greatly affected his guitar playing, which would never return to its former glories. He was able to sing as effectively as before, though, and helped by some of his students, he continued to tour America and Europe. In the early '90s, Shines appeared in the documentary film Searching for Robert Johnson, and he also cut one last album with Snooky Pryor, 1991's Back to the Country, which won a Handy Award. Shines' health was failing, however, and he passed away on April 20, 1992, in a Tuscaloosa hospital.
Title: Takin' The Blues Back South (Blues Reference (recorded in France 1972))
Artist: Johnny Shines
Genre: Blues
Collections
Title: The Home of Blues, Vol. 5
Genre: Blues
Title: A Night out at the Blues Bar, Vol. 4
Genre: Blues
Title: We Got the Blues, Vol. 3
Genre: Blues
Title: The Very Best of Blues Guitar, Vol. 2
Genre: Blues
Title: The Very Best of Blues Guitar, Vol. 3
Genre: Blues
Title: Chicago All Stars
Genre: Blues
Title: A Night out at the Blues Bar, Vol. 3
Genre: Blues
Title: White Line Flyers - Mile Melting Road Raves
Genre: Blues
Title: Chess Blues (Box Set)
Genre: Blues
Title: Old Time Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Lost & Found - Job Records - Volume 2
Genre: Blues
Title: The J.O.B. Records Blues Story
Genre: Blues
Title: Best of Harmonica Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Harp and Soul
Genre: Blues
Title: The Blues of Chicago, Vol. 4
Genre: Blues
Title: The Great Blues Pioneers
Genre: Blues
Title: A Woman's Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues for the Road, Vol. 3
Title: Prime Chops Volume Two
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Piano Greats
Title: Lost & Found - Job Records, Vol. 1
Genre: Blues
Title: Slide Guitar Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: The Ultimate Best of the Blues Collection
Genre: Blues
Title: Chicago Blues, Vol. 4
Genre: Blues
Title: Greatest R&B Hits of 1953, Vol. 8
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Pop
Title: Document Shortcuts, Vol. 3: My Babe
Genre: Blues
Title: Hits of Memphis Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: The Most Underrated Blues Players Ever!
Genre: Blues, World Music
Title: Feel Like Going Home - A Film By Martin Scorsese
Genre: Blues
Title: Unforgetable - Bottleneck Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Harmonica Blues Nuggets
Genre: Blues
Title: Delta Blues, Vol. 1
Genre: Blues
Title: Vocal Jazz 2
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Best of the Blues Vol. 3
Genre: Blues
Title: Chicago Blues, Vol. 3
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Favorites for the Fall
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Legends in the Blues Hall of Fame
Genre: Blues
Title: An Introduction to Chicago Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Most Wanted 50s Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: ABC Of The Blues CD 42
Genre: Blues
Title: Pure... Blues (CD2)
Genre: Blues
Title: Definitive Chicago Blues (CD3)
Genre: Blues
Title: Just Wailing (CD2)
Genre: Blues
Title: Atlantic Blues: Chicago
Genre: Blues
Title: The Road To Robert Johnson And Beyond (CD3)
Genre: Blues
Title: The Road To Robert Johnson And Beyond (CD4)
Genre: Blues
Title: The J. O. B. Records Blues Story (CD2)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Electric Blues 2005 Part1 Beginnings 1939-1954 (CD2)
Genre: Blues
Title: The Chess Story 1947-1975 (CD02)
Genre: Blues
Title: 25 Years Of Rounder Records - Deep Blue (CD1)
Genre: Blues, World Music, Country, Folk
Title: Chess Blues (CD1)
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues: Chicago Sound, Vol. 2
Genre: Blues
Title: Essential Chess Blues (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Blues
Title: Chicago Is Just That Way: 1938 - 1954 (CD2)
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Women: Collection (April 2016) (CD2)
Genre: Soul, Blues, Blues Rock
Title: Blues On The Road Road Trip Music 2019
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues For Every Blues Mood, Part Two
Genre: Blues
Title: The Electric Blues Cafe
Genre: Blues
Title: Halloween Swampy Blues 2023
Genre: Blues, World Music, Country, Folk
Featuring albums
Title: I Wanna Play A Little While: The Complete Singles Collection 1950-1960 (CD2)
Artist: J. B. Lenoir
Genre: Blues