The Greatly Underappreciated Johnny Shines
D. B Pepper | Plainview, NY United States | 08/03/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Johnny Shines is a greatly underappreciated musical artist. His recordings from the '60s and '70s contain a variety of musical styles. Though he seems most comfortable playing acoustic Delta Blues, this disc contains amazing songs with tons of soul, such as "Just A Little Tenderness" and "Just Call Me." "My Love Can't Hide" resembles Otis Rush's "My Love Will Never Die", but Shines manages to put ten times more emotion and stark vocalization into the song (despite Rush's recording being excellent). This disc is a great mix of acoustic Delta Blues, electrified Chicago tunes, and Shines' successful attempt at the then-popular Soul music. Out of Standing At The Crossroads, Too Wet To Plow, Worried Blues Ain't Bad, and this record, his singing is at its earth-shaking best on this record. I look forward to purchasing Traditional Delta Blues and Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop. The only drawback to this disc is the unimpressive presentation of the liner notes."