# CD review: Johnny Shines – The Blues Came Falling Down 2019: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/07/20/cd-review-johnny-shines-the-blues-came-falling-down-2019-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2019-07-20T12:06:42+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Born near Memphis in 1915 and one of the most important yet under-recorded artists
who bridged the gap from country to urban blues, Johnny Shines lives again with 
this never-before-released live concert set that was captured in 1973 when his skills
were as sharp as a razor.**

Shines spent part of his youth touring with Robert Johnson before launching a career
that included extensive work with Robert Jr. Lockwood, Mississippi Fred McDowell
and other early stars. In his adult years – after relocating to Chicago in 1941 
and being “rediscovered” at a concert headlined by Howlin’ Wolf, he performed and
recorded with Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Willie Dixon, Sugar Blue and Kent
DuChaine.

And his final album, the 1991 Blind Pig release, _Back To The Country –_which was
issued a year before his passing, captured a W.C. Handy Award and featured contributions
from Johnny Nicholas and Snooky Pryor. He was also featured that year in the documentary,
_The Search For Robert Johnson_. One of the most talented finger-picking guitarists
of his era and a man with a beautiful, powerful and melismatic tenor singing voice,
Shines left us in 1992, the same year he was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame.

Shines’ early work appears on several of the most important blues labels in existence
during his lifetime, including Biograph, Testament and Blue Horizon, and his later
albums were released by Rounder and others. But both Columbia — in the ‘40s — and
Chess and J.O.B. — in the ‘50s – invited him into their studios but never issued
his work on vinyl.

The same holds true for this set, which was recorded at Washington University by
St. Louis-based Nighthawk Records, a label that issued several blues compilations
and one Henry Townsend album before abandoning blues altogether for reggae in 1980.
Fortunately for blues lovers, however, Omnivore Entertainment Group acquired the
Nighthawk catalog in 2017. Like Townsend’s _Mule_, which preceded it, this is an
exceptionally well-remastered time capsule of a musician at the very top of his 
game.

Johnny’s solo and acoustic for the first 12 and final five cuts of this concert.
He’s accompanied on guitar for the other three tunes by Nighthawk co-founder Leroy
Jodie Pierson, who also contributed the liner notes for this release.

Shines opens with the dazzling instrumental, “Big Boy Boogie,” engaging the audience
by talking over his playing and recounting how he’d first heard it in his childhood
and remembering the impact it had on the folks who’d heard it back then. When he
finishes, the audience’s response is nothing short of explosive. Most of the material
that follows comes from his own catalog, which is interspersed by four tunes from
Johnson, one from Hammie Nixon and Sleepy John Estes and another from Willie Johnson.

The slow blues, “Seems Like A Million Years,” begins with several masterful and 
understated guitar runs before his pyrotechnic singing voice hits like an A-bomb
for the first time. The slide instrumental “Cold In Hand Blues” follows after a 
tuning change before Johnson’s “Kind Hearted Woman Blues” and his own masterpiece,“
Have You Ever Loved A Woman.” The hits keep coming with “Stay High All Day Long,”“
I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man” and “Stand By Me” – a gospel tinged original not to be
confused with the Sam Cooke number of the same name – and continue with “Happy Home”
and “Someday Baby Blues.”

The second half of the performance is equally as impressive, beginning with “They’re
Red Hot (Hot Tamales)” then “You’re The One I Love,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” “The 
Blues Came Falling Down” and “Big Star Falling” before a finishing run that includes“
Tell Me Mama,” “Ramblin’,” “It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” “Goodbye Boogie” and “
How Do You Want Your Rollin’ Done.”

If you have a warm spot in your heart for traditional acoustic blues, you’ll absolutely
love this CD. The sound quality is so good that you can almost feel Johnny Young’s
breath between verses. It’s an absolute shame that his concert went unreleased for
46 years, and it’s a true blessing that we’re able to enjoy it now. It’s both a 
surprise and a treasure!

![Image result for Johnny Shines – The Blues Came Falling Down](https://i0.wp.
com/omnivorerecordings.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Shines-Blues-Came-Falling-
Down-OV-328.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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