1 	Hello Central 	3:08
2 	You Don't Have To Go 	2:22
3 	Sneakin' And Hidin' 	3:51
4 	'Til I Made My Tonsils Sore 	3:24
5 	Fat Mama 	2:49
6 	G.B. Blues 	2:05
7 	Worried Life Blues 	3:11
8 	I Cry, I Cry 	3:18
9 	If It Ain't Me 	3:46
10 	I Want To Warn You, Baby 	3:38
11 	I Cry, I Cry (Alternate Take) 	2:38
12 	Sneakin' And Hidin' Part 2 	4:33

Bass – Lee Jackson (tracks: 2, 4, 6, 7, 10), Prince Candy (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12)
Drums – Bill Brown (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12), Fred Below (tracks: 2, 4, 6, 7, 10)
Guitar – Luther Allison (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12)
Harmonica – Big Walter Horton (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12)
Piano – Otis Spann (tracks: 2, 4, 6, 7, 10)
Vocals – Big Walter Horton (tracks: 3)
Vocals, Guitar – Johnny Shines

This is Johnny Shines' second electric band album for Testament and features recordings from two very different sessions. One, recorded in Chicago in 1966, is the balance of that session that yielded his first Testament album (available as Testament 5002) and the other was recorded in Los Angeles with Big Walter Horton providing some outstanding harp accompaniments as well as a vocal and a couple of instrumental pieces. The band on this session features a young Luther Allison providing some fine lead and backup guitar work. Most of the songs here are Shines originals. ---discogs.com

Calling an album one the best in this particular genre, Chicago blues, is a pretty big move. There are plenty of masters of this particular form, and the success of several different record companies recording the genre over the years has assured no shortage of material. Something just comes together splendidly on these sessions that elevates this album well above the level of even some of the great Chicago sides of artists such as Muddy Waters. It might not exude the timeless gold dust of such records, but at the same time has a raw energy and breathless courage that goes well beyond anything the Chess label got on tape in its studios. The sound is also richly thick and loaded with midrange overtones. This benefits not only bass sounds but the presence of the drummers as well. Outrageous drum breaks are one byproduct, and the listener might even sense the ensemble somehow about to topple before everything comes together at the slightest chicken scratch of Johnny Shines' electric guitar. Bringing that subject up: in the late '60s, this artist had yet to start developing his acoustic country blues phase and was playing the electric as if a concrete pick had been welded to his hand. One can only imagine an uptight recording engineer fussing with this sound, trying get something slicker and more professional. Thankfully, the recording teams in charge of this blues masterpiece don't indulge in the quiver, shiver, and shake mentality and just let the sounds go down, including this Shines guitar sound, which is almost more like a living creature scratching at the insides of the speaker box like a misdirected rodent. We are approaching guitar heaven, but it vaults over the gates with the appearance of Luther Allison, whose meaty, juicy tone is the perfect contrast for Shines. This album collects tracks from two different recording sessions a few years apart. Allison is present for only one of the sessions, but the harmonica genius Big Walter Horton is on both dates, flooding the bandstand with chordal cascades and even bringing a frightening edge to some cuts with distorted vocalese. This is not only a great blues record, it is a great party blues record. ---Eugene Chadbourne, AllMusic Review

download (mp3 @192 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto solidfiles global-files

back

01	Johnny Shines	Evening Shuffle [Take 2]		
02	Johnny Shines	No Name Blues		
03	Johnny Shines	Brutal Hearted Woman		
04	Johnny Shines	Gonna Call The Angel		
05	Johnny Shines	Evening Shuffle [Take 3]		
06	Johnny Shines	Living In The White House		
07	Johnny Shines	Please Don't [Take 1]		
08	Johnny Shines	Please Don't [Take 2]		
09	Johnny Shines	Evening Shuffle [Take 1]	

Johnny Shines – vocals, guitar
J.T. Brown – tenor saxophone
J.B. Lenoir – guitar
Sunnyland Slim – piano
Alfred Wallace – drums
Walter Horton – harmonica
Al Smith – bass

10	John Brim	Young And Wild	
11	John Brim	I Love My Baby		
12	John Brim	Trouble In The Morning		
13	John Brim	Humming Blues		
14	John Brim	Man Around My Door		
15	John Brim	Hospitality Blues		
16	John Brim	Hard Pill To Swallow		
17	John Brim	Drinking Woman		
18	John Brim	Don't Leave Me		
19	John Brim	Moonlight Blues		

John Brim – vocals, guitar
Sunnyland Slim – humming, piano
Moody Jones – bass
Grace Brim – vocal, harmonica, drums
Eddie Taylor - guitar
Earnest Cotton – tenor saxophone
Pete Franklin – guitar
Big Crawford - bass
Alfred Wallace - drums

20	Floyd Jones	Big World	
21	Floyd Jones	I Lost A Good Woman		
22	Floyd Jones	Skinny Mama		
23	Floyd Jones	Rising Wind		

Floyd Jones – vocals, guitar
Sunnyland Slim – piano
Moody Jones – bass
Bill Howell – trumpet
Eddie Taylor - guitar
Unknown - drums

download (mp3 @VBR kbs):

yandex mediafire uloz.to solidfiles global-files

back

1. Trouble In Mind - 3:51
2. Corrine Corrina - 2:20
3. Cool Driver - 3:03
4. They're Red Hot - 2:18
5. Crossroads - 3:04
6. Lost A Good Woman - 4:18
7. Evening Sun - 2:56
8. Peace In Hell - 2:24
9. Send Your Man To War - 3:06
10. Come On In My Kitchen - 2:58
11. Blues Come To Texas - 3:23
12. Moon Is Rising - 3:35
13. Hey Bobba Re Bop - 3:12
14. Terraplane - 3:41
15. I Make You Happy - 3:10


Johnny Shines - Vocals Only!
Snooky Pryor - Harmonica, Vocals
John Nicholas - National Steel Standard and Gibson Acoustic Guitars, Piano
with:
Kent Du Chaine - Lead National Steel Standard Guitar on tr.1;
Rhythm Guitar on tr.4,13

Back to the Country finds Johnny Shines, accompanied by Snooky Pryor, running through a selection of standards, many of which they had played in their prime. At the time they made Back to the Country, they were well into old age, and had suffered some losses. Shines, in particular, was hit hard by the ravages of old age, suffering a stroke in the late '80s. As a result, Shines couldn't play guitar for this session, so producer John Nicholas and Kent Du Chane pick up the slack. This doesn't really hurt the music, but it's disheartening and awkward to listen to the album knowing that Shines isn't able to perform. That said, there are some nice moments on the record -- Shines and Pryor have a nice rapport which shines through despite difficulties -- but overall, it's hard not to view this as a nostalgia exercise. ---Thom Owens, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto solidfiles global-files

back

01 - Give My Heart a Break (Johnny Shines) 1970
02 - Too Lazy (Johnny Shines) 1970
03 - Moaning and Groaning (Johnny Shines) 1970
04 - Just a Little Tenderness (Johnny Shines) 1970
05 - I Know the Winds Are Blowing (Johnny Shines) 1970
06 - Just Call Me (Johnny Shines) 1970
07 - My Love Can't Hide (Willie Dixon, Johnny Shines) 1970
08 - Skull and Crossbones Blues (Johnny Shines) 1970
09 - Vallie Lee (Johnny Shines) 1970
10 - Can't Get Along with You (Johnny Shines) 1970
11 - Have to Pay the Cost (Johnny Shines) 1970
12 - Ramblin' (Johnny Shines) 1974

Johnny Shines : vocal & guitar
Phillip Walker : guitar
David Ii : baritone sax
Nat Dove : Piano
Charles Jones : bass
Murl Downy : drums

Not many musicians of the 20th century could boast of a career that included touring with Robert Johnson, recording for Columbia, Vanguard and Chess Records, and playing with blues luminaries Little Walter, Robert Lockwood Jr., Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Willie Dixon, among others. Maybe there was only one, and that artist was blues singer/slide guitarist Johnny Shines.

On May 3rd, 2019, Omnivore Recordings will release The Blues Came Falling Down – Live 1973, an album of previously unheard performances by Shines recorded at Washington University’s Graham Chapel in St. Louis. The recording was overseen by Leroy Jodie Pierson, founder of legendary blues and reggae label Nighthawk Records, but was never issued — until now. The set contains liner notes by Pierson as well as photos from his collection.

In the 1930s Shines toured with his greatest influence, Robert Johnson, well before he made his first recordings. Those came in 1946 for Columbia and again in 1950 for Chess, but went unissued for decades. In 1952, he was back in the studio, this time for the J.O.B. label. Again, several sides saw no release, but those that did were commercial failures, likely due to lack of wide distribution. Shines hung it up and stepped away from music.

Thankfully, only a few years went by before he was “rediscovered” in Chicago at a Howlin’ Wolf show, after which he toured and recorded actively until a stroke slowed him down for a little while in 1980. He recorded a string of albums for labels such as Testament, Blue Horizon, Advent, Rounder, Biograph, and Blind Pig, among others, and toured internationally.

Shines appeared and played in the documentary The Search for Robert Johnson in 1991, just before his 1992 death. The Blues Hall of Fame wasted no time in inducting him that same year.

Back in 1973, though, he was at the height of his powers as demonstrated by this largely solo performance at Washington University, where he mixed original compositions with a few selections by Robert Johnson for a grateful and enthusiastic crowd. ---JD Nash, americanbluesscene.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto solidfiles global-files

back