RSSRobert Jr. Lockwood & Johnny Shines [extended]
- Johnny Shines [Blue Horizon, 1972] A-
- Too Wet to Plow [Blue Labor, 1977] A-
- Does 12 [Trix, 1977] B
- Hangin' On [Rounder, 1980] A-
See Also:
Consumer Guide Reviews:
Johnny Shines: Johnny Shines [Blue Horizon, 1972]
Born in 1915, Shines is the most vigorous surviving practitioner of acoustic Delta blues. With his intense vibrato, his observant, imaginative, yet tradition-soaked lyrics, and his incomparable slide guitar, he ought to be recorded once a year by the Library of Congress. Right. He did this session for English blues fiend Mike Vernon in 1968, but only now has it been released in the States. A band featuring Willie Dixon and Shakey Horton is on half the cuts. A-
Johnny Shines: Too Wet to Plow [Blue Labor, 1977]
Shines isn't Robert Johnson made flesh and come to walk amongst us--you should hear his Biograph stuff--but here he takes advantage of his forty-year edge to make an album that's easier to listen to--because it sounds better--than King of the Delta Blues Singers. Engineering is only a means to an end--the real secret is a devotion to the form so passionate that Shines's playing and singing are wild and brilliant as they've never been before. Guitarist and change-of-pace vocalist Louisiana Red and harpman Sugar Blue add small touches of plenty. The songwriting fades some on side two. A-
Robert Jr. Lockwood: Does 12 [Trix, 1977]
Lovers of urban blues will cherish this record by Robert Johnson's self-designated heir. It even boasts some adventurously progressive saxophone and twelve-string stylings that do no violence to a notoriously intransigent genre. But Lockwood is an undistinguished vocal interpreter, and only one of his originals--the imperturbable "Selfish Ways"--is worthy of interpretation itself. B
Hangin' On [Rounder, 1980]
The formal double-bind of the Delta blues these two students and near-contemporaries of Robert Johnson pursue so loyally isn't as constricting as that of the more recent Chicago style--there's no dated "commercial" formula, so attempts at progress aren't as likely to sound like awkward compromises. The acoustic duets, alternated (never shared) lead vocals, relaxed two-man horn arrangements, and funk-influenced drumming of their recording debut may read like a mishmash, but Shines's singing and songwriting fills in the holes for Lockwood, who has made unpretentious eclecticism a specialty for years. A-