Johnny Shines - 'The Blues Came Falling Down'

 

The music industry’s history is littered with talent that never managed to intersect popular acclaim, and such might have been the story of bluesman Johnny Shines, if not for his sideline as a photographer and a chance encounter with Howlin’ Wolf.

Johnny started gigging in the early ‘30s, and hoboed with Robert Johnson through Depression-era America.  They hopped freights, played on street corners, shared rooms, whiskey, women and they made it as far north as Canada.

In 1946, Johnny made recordings for the for Columbia, and for the Chess label in 1950, both sessions but were consigned to the vault.  In 1952, he recorded what many (myself included) consider his best work, for J.O.B. Records.  Unfortunately the J.O.B. sides didn’t make a dent in the market.

By the mid-50s Johnny had withdrawn from performing and turned to the construction industry, but a sideline photographing Chicago club patrons put him in touch with Howlin’ Wolf, and in turn secured him a half-dozen tracks on Vanguard’s influential 1966 anthology, Chicago/The Blues/Today, Vol. 3. (All three volumes, will be a future post)

Upon its release, the Vanguard album sparked the renown that circumstance had denied Johnny for two decades.  He recorded albums for several independent labels and toured the international blues circuit to wide acclaim before a stroke in 1980 sidelined him for several years.

In 1991 Johnny appeared and played in the documentary 'The Search For Robert Johnson' just before his 1992 death.  The Blues Hall of Fame wasted no time in inducting him that same year.

'The Blues Came Falling Down' was recorded live in 1973, but for some reason not released until 1999.  The performance was recorded in the acoustically friendly Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis, and finds Johnny in peak form.  His guitar playing is crisp, nimble and deeply informed by decades steeped in the blues.  At 58, his voice was still strong and supple, showing no signs of age, and his touring experience shows in a powerful command of the stage.  His song introductions and between song banter is essential, adding context and some humor to the listening experience.

Johnny’s solo and acoustic for the first 12 and final five cuts of this concert.  He’s accompanied on guitar for the other three tunes by Nighthawk co-founder Leroy Jodie Pierson.

If you have a warm spot in your heart for traditional acoustic blues, you’ll absolutely love this CD. The sound quality is so good that you can almost feel Johnny Young’s breath between verses. It’s an absolute shame that his concert went unreleased for 46 years, but we can enjoy it now.

For the freeload, tell us about some of your favorite music that sat on a shelf unreleased for many years.