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Biography
Infobox musical artist | | name = Johnny Shines| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = John Ned Shines| alias =| birth_date = birth date|1915|04|26|mf=y| birth_place = Frayser, Memphis , United States | death_date = death date and age|1992|04|20|1915|04|26|mf=y| death_place = Tuscaloosa, Alabama , United States| death_place =| instrument = guitar| genre = Blues | occupation =| years_active = 1932–1992| label = Chess Records J.O.B. Records Vanguard Records Various| associated_acts =| website =| current_members =| past_members =| notable_instruments = Johnny Shines (April 26, 1915& nbsp;– April 20, 1992)cite web |first= |last= |url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p124713/biography|pure_url=yes |title=Biography by Steve Huey |publisher=Allmusic.com |accessdate=May 27, 2009 was an United States|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".cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | pages= 166 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X
Biography
He was born John Ned Shines in Frayser, Memphis , United States . 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. He was "inspired by the likes of Charley Patton , Blind Lemon Jefferson , Lonnie Johnson , and the young Howlin' Wolf ", but he was taught to play the guitar by his mother. Shines moved to Hughes, Arkansas in 1932 and worked on farms for three years putting his musical career on hold.Johnny Shines interviewed by John Hammond Jr. in The Search for Robert Johnson (UK, 1991) It was a chance meeting with Robert Johnson (musician)|Robert Johnson , his greatest influence, that gave him the inspiration to return to music. 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. The two went their separate ways in 1937, one year before Johnson's death.
Shines played throughout the southern United States until 1941 when he settled in Chicago. There Shines found work in the construction industry but continued to play in local bars.
He made his first recording in 1946 for Columbia Records , but the takes were never released. He recorded for Chess Records|Chess in 1950, and was once again denied release. 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. The recordings were a commercial failure and Shines, frustrated with the music industry, sold his equipment and returned to construction.
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! The album has since then become a blues classic and it brought Shines into the mainstream music scene.
Shines toured with the Chicago All Stars alongside Lee Jackson , Big Walter Horton and Willie Dixon .
Shines moved to Holt, Alabama|Holt , Alabama, in Tuscaloosa County , in 1969. When a University of Alabama student, Natalie Mattson, learned that he was living in the area, she invited him to play at a coffee house, known as the "Down Under," that she ran on campus. Shines played on several occasions, and also brought his friend, blues artist Mississippi Fred McDowell to appear with him at Down Under. These were some of his earliest appearances in Alabama after his move there. He continued to play the international blues circuit while living in Holt, Alabama.cite news| url= http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/21/obituaries/johnny-shines-dead-delta-blues-singer-76.html | work=The New York Times | title=Johnny Shines Dead; Delta Blues Singer, 76 | date=April 21, 1992
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Shines toured with Robert Johnson's stepson, Robert Lockwood, Jr. as the last remaining original delta blues musicians. In 1980, Shines' music was brought to a standstill when he suffered a stroke. He would later appear, and play, in the 1991 documentary The Search for Robert Johnson and release one last album, Back To The Country , which won a Blues Music Award|W.C. Handy Award . It featured playing from Snooky Prior and Johnny Nicholas .
In 1989, Shines met Kent DuChaine , and the two of them toured for the next several years until Shines' death. http://www.kentduchaine.com/bio.html Kentduchaine.com
Shines died on April 20, 1992, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama . He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame later the same year.
See also
Chicago Blues Festival
List of blues musicians
List of slide guitarists
List of Delta blues musicians
List of Chicago blues musicians
J.O.B. Records discography
References
reflist
Further reading
''Blues Who's Who , Sheldon Harris, Da Capo, 1979, ISBN 0-306-80155-8
The Search for Robert Johnson , John Hammond, Columbia Legacy, 1982, ISBN 0-7389-0079-6
External links
http://www.wirz.de/music/shines.htm Illustrated Johnny Shines discography
http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/folklife/folklife_cd2.cfm 1977 live recording of "Kind Hearted Woman"; from the Florida Folklife Collection, the State Archives of Florida
http://www.john-meekings.co.uk/jshines.html Fan biography
IMDb name|0793919
Worldcat id|lccn-n83-153220
Persondata | NAME = Shines, John Ned | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Shines, Johnny | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American blues singer and guitarist | DATE OF BIRTH = April 26, 1915 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Frayser, Memphis|Frayser , United States | DATE OF DEATH = April 20, 1992 | PLACE OF DEATH = Tuscaloosa, Alabama , United States DEFAULTSORT:Shines, Johnny Category:1915 births Category:1992 deaths Category:Delta blues musicians Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Electric blues musicians Category:American blues musicians Category:American blues guitarists Category:Slide guitarists Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:American buskers Category:African American musicians Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee Category:Deaths from stroke
