JOHNNY SHINES WAS BORN ON THIS DAY in 1915 in Frayser, TN. A - TopicsExpress

JOHNNY SHINES WAS BORN ON THIS DAY in 1915 in Frayser, TN. A traveling and performing partner of Robert Johnson, he didnt establish a solid recording and performing career of his own until he was swept up in the folk-blues boom of the ’60s. Nearly until his death he remained one of the most potent voices — quite literally - in Delta blues. Last year the exceptional contemporary blues singer Curtis Salgado and me we spoke about how most blues bands sing traditional songs without bothering to investigate or trying to understand their context and foundation — what those songs really meant to the people of their time and why they were relevant and contemporary when they were released (two qualities that are not even on the radar for so many blues performers — an attitude that has mightily contributed to the genres marginalization). Sweet Home Chicago was one of the songs we discussed. Listening to Shines performance — his melody, his phrasing, the emotion in his voice — is a reminder of how this song was a vision of African-American Mecca, or Shangri-La, or perhaps even Heaven to the poor black people of the Delta until the thumb of Jim Crow. It was about finding freedom. Today, most band play it like theyre at a frat party. So as an antidote, here is Shines performing Sweet Home Chicago.