Johnny Shines

John Ned Shines (April 25, 1915 – April 20, 1992) was an American blues singer and guitarist.

Biography Shines was born in Frayser, Tennessee, today a neighborhood of Memphis. 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. A chance meeting with Robert Johnson, his greatest influence, gave him the inspiration to return to music.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Shines toured with Robert Lockwood, Jr., Robert Johnson's stepson, another one of the last living original Delta blues musicians.

Shines died on April 20, 1992, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Discography

Last Night's Dream (Warner Bros. Records, 1968) Johnny Shines: Blues Masters vol. 7 (Blue Horizon Records, recorded May 1968) Johnny Shines with Big Walter Horton (Testament Records, 1969) Willie Dixon: I Am the Blues (November 1969) Standing at the Crossroads (Testament, 1970) Sittin' on Top of the World (Biograph Records, 1972) Chicago Blues Festival 1972 (Black & Blue Records, 1973) Johnny Shines & Co. (Biograph, 1973) Johnny Shines (Advent Records, 1974) Too Wet to Plow (Blue Labor Records, 1977) Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop! (Rounder Records, 1978) To Wet To Plow (Tomato Records, 1989) Back to the Country (Blind Pig Records, 1991) Traditional Delta Blues (Biograph, 1991) Mr. Cover Shaker (Biograph, 1992) Skull & Crossbones Blues (High Tone, 2003) Johnny Shines: The Blues Came Falling Down - Live 1973 (Omnivore Recordings, 2019) I Don't Know b/w "32-20 Blues" (Live at Old Town Music Hall, September 15, 1979) (Earth Libraries, 2025)