Customer Reviews

Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop

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There are so many excellent bluesman that do not get the recognition they deserve. Johnny Shines is certainly one of them. This album showcases Johnny's amazing talents -- the stomping bass runs, the spidery treble counterpoints, the keening slide guitar... Johnny was both subtle and explosive: listen to the seemingly simple accompaniment on "Mean Mistreater" and then the mind-boggling playing on "Milk Cow" or "Going to the River." And I have said nothing his singing talents. He raises his voice to a full-throated wail and drops to a ear-carressing whisper in the same tune -- and his playing on the guitar perfectly accompanies these with appropriate changes in pitch (listen to "I will Be Kind" for some truly astounding changes in volume).
This is possibly my favorite Shines album, featuring his own compositions like "Delta Pines" and "I had a Good Home," blues standards like "Mean Mistreater" (a Leroy Carr tune) and compositions by his old running-mate Robert Johnson, like his version of "Terraplane." This last is as good, if not better, than the original recording by Johnson himself.
This is amazing music.

I was lucky enough to be there at a Harvard concert in 1971sponsored by the Boston Blues Society. I first heard Johnny Shines in person that Sunday afternoon. This album is a compilation of recordings in the Boston area at that time. If you want to hear undiluted '30s Delta blues , this is it.

Johnny is so under-rated it brings a tear to my eye. As Robert Johnson's traveling companion for several years, he picked up a ton of Johnson's traits while developing a technique all his own. On this CD he does a lot of Johnson covers almost as chilling as the originals.

Although Shines was a traveling companion of Robert Johnson, this 1971 recording is far more than a historical document. Compiled from several live concerts, Shines and his acoustic guitar rivet the listener's attention. He is in excellent voice, with a distinctive vibrato that gives you chills. The driving rhythm of his guitar gets you tapping your foot. The sound is so utterly infectious that the CD seems shorter than it is. "When Your Troubles Get Like Mine" and "Do Like the Lord Day Do" are particular favorites of mine, but there is not a weak cut on the album.

The sound quality is remarkably good for a 1971 live recording, especially since Johnny occasionally sends the needles into the red with loud moans right into the mike. Just enough audience applause and Shines banter are included to give the flavor of a live performance; unlike too many live albums, we are not forced to listen to 30 seconds of clapping. The liner notes are excellent but, although they begin "When I first met Johnny..." I can find no indication of who wrote them. Whoever he is, he's lucky.

Lately, I have listened to tribute and duet albums featuring too many musicians and a bloated sound. What a treat it is to hear unadorned, traditional blues. No duets with BB King or Tony Bennett, no Eric Clapton or Willie Nelson--just a man, his guitar, and his music. If you want to introduce someone to the blues, start them out with this CD. They'll be as captivated as the listeners in clubs and on street corners were many decades ago.