Johnny Shines – Traditional Delta Blues – Biograph Records BCD 1121 ADD

The last time I witnessed Johnny Shines play was on The Crossroads Stage at The Chicago Blues Festival.  By that time, the great Shines had been affected by a stroke that had limited his capability to employ his left hand to fret the guitar.  However, what unfolded was stirring in its force and significance as Shines and his assembled group started their set.   Shines, in spirit, rolled backward the pages of time and produced an achievement of brilliancy not only for his assembly of ardent blues fans, but for himself, as well.  This presentation was his latter-day legacy, and he accepted the formidable challenge and knocked aside any possible obstacles.

He sang with that mortar of a voice, neighing and roaring as to refute any requirement for a mic.  Rather than fret and pick his electric guitar, he gashed blues slide guitar embellishments with concrete conviction, and his joint band members were sufficiently perceptive to simply get out of his way and let him confiscate the moment and climb to blues elevations adeptly attained.  This was Shines’s show and birthright; 100%, and he bestowed that acclaimed heritage to the sun-soaked Chicago crowd.

This exemplary CD, released in 1991, is a 14-song outing that captures Shines in a solo format, one that highlights his impassioned, declamatory singing, entrancing slide guitar forays, and astounding overall phrasing. 

This astonishing set mixes certain stellar originals with a number of blues classics, along with a number of cuts associated with the bluesman who he is often compared to, fellow Delta bluesman Robert Johnson.

Most unfortunate, in this reviewer’s opinion, is that Shines remains forever judged in comparison to Johnson for his collective broad blues skill set.  There has always seemed to be room for more than one Delta blues titan.  With Johnson born only four years before Shines, and with Shines possessing both his compelling vocal attributes and equally stunning guitar competencies, a very resilient argument can be made that both men are legitimate Delta blues legends of equal footing and worthy of common parallel reverence.

This is a modern-day blues classic that is essential to any well-curated blues collection.