Johnny Shines

Johnny Shines
Shines performing at the 1991 Chicago Blues Festival
Background information
Birth name	John Ned Shines
Born	(1915-04-26)April 26, 1915 Frayser, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Died	April 20, 1992(1992-04-20) (aged 76) Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
Genres	Blues
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1932–1992
Labels	Chess Records J.O.B. Records Vanguard Records Various

John Ned "Johnny" Shines (April 26, 1915 – April 20, 1992) was an American blues singer and guitarist.

Shines was born in Frayser, Memphis, Tennessee. He was taught to play the guitar by his mother and spent most of his childhood in Memphis, playing slide guitar at an early age in juke joints and on the street. He moved to Hughes, Arkansas, in 1932 and worked on farms for three years, putting aside his music career. A chance meeting with Robert Johnson, his greatest influence, gave him the inspiration to return to music. In 1935, Shines began traveling with Johnson, touring in the United States and Canada. They parted in 1937, one year before Johnson's death.

Shines played throughout the southern United States until 1941, when he settled in Chicago. There he 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 in 1950, but again no records were released. He kept playing with blues musicians in the Chicago area for several more years. In 1952, Shines recorded what is considered his best work, for J.O.B. Records. The recordings were a commercial failure, and Shines, frustrated with the music industry, sold his equipment and returned to working in construction.

In 1966, Vanguard Records found Shines taking photographs in a Chicago blues club, and he recorded tracks for the third volume of Chicago/The Blues/Today! The album became 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, in Tuscaloosa County, in 1969. Natalie Mattson, a student at the University of Alabama, learned that he was living in the area and invited him to play at a campus coffee house, the Down Under, which she ran. Shines played there on several occasions and brought his friend, blues artist Mississippi Fred McDowell, to perform with him. 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.