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Masters of Modern Blues
Johnny Shines
Masters of Modern Blues
Genres: Blues, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (10) - Disc #1

The title of this 1966 collection is quite misleading: Shines was actually a first-generation Delta bluesman, having traveled with Robert Johnson in the mid-1930s. Shines is best known as a Johnson disciple, capable of riv...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Johnny Shines
Title: Masters of Modern Blues
Members Wishing: 3
Total Copies: 0
Label: Hightone Records
Release Date: 7/26/1994
Genres: Blues, Pop
Styles: Chicago Blues, Delta Blues, Electric Blues, Slide Guitar
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 012928500227

Synopsis

Amazon.com
The title of this 1966 collection is quite misleading: Shines was actually a first-generation Delta bluesman, having traveled with Robert Johnson in the mid-1930s. Shines is best known as a Johnson disciple, capable of riveting acoustic slide-guitar displays and expressive vocals. This set puts him in the company of noted Chicago electric bluesmen including Big Walter Horton on harmonica and Otis Spann on piano. Shines seems right at home with these modern masters, updating the classic Delta style and seamlessly fusing it with elements of the Chicago school. "Mr. Tom Green's Farm" and "So Cold in Vietnam" offer incredibly sharp and explosive electric-bottleneck work. Shines also tackles Johnson classics including "Walkin' Blues" and "Sweet Home Chicago." This album brilliantly illustrates the direct connection between acoustic Delta blues and modern Chicago blues. --Marc Greilsamer

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CD Reviews

Another fine "Masters Of Modern Blues" album
Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 01/06/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Delta slide guitarist Johnny Shines was a pupil and travelling companion of the slightly older Robert Johnson.
Rarely recorded in his prime, Shines quit the music business for a time, but came back during the 60s blues boom, and recorded this fine album for producer Pete Weldings "Masters Of Modern Blues" series. He is backed by the great Walter Horton on harmonica, as well as veteran bluesmen Lee Jackson (bass) and Fred Below (drums), and Muddy Waters' sublime pianist Otis Spann sits in as well.Johnny Shines was an excellent slide guitarist and a fine singer, very much inspired by Robert Johnson in his choice of material (he covers both Johnson and Charley Patton here, and the fine "Two Trains Runnin'" clearly utilizes the pattern from Delta legend Son House's "My Black Mama pr. II", AKA "Death Letter Blues").
And there are plenty of highlights on this consistently enjoayble record, particularly the swinging, up-tempo "What Kind Of Little Girl Are You", Johnny Shines' renditions of "Sweet Home Chicago" and "My Black Mare", and the excellent original "Trouble Is All I See", which features Shines' fluid electric slide guitar, Horton's harp and Spann's magnificent piano playing (and both Lee Jackson, who provides the sole backing on the slow, moody "Mr Tom Green's Farm", and the versatile Fred Below deserves praise as well...Below was one of the best and most influential blues drummers of the 50s and 60s).If a blues record has the late, great Otis Spann rolling the 88s, it's probably a good one, and this one is no exception. "Masters Of Modern Blues" is a really fine album all the way through, well arranged and superbly played, and one of John Ned Shines' finest."