Johnny Shines

John Ned Shines was a Delta blues guitarist and singer best known as a traveling companion of Robert Johnson in the mid-1930s, providing some of the most detailed and reliable firsthand accounts of Johnson's life and performing style. A powerful musician in his own right, Shines developed a slide guitar technique that combined Johnson's sophistication with a raw, emotional intensity. He recorded for Columbia, Chess, and J.O.B. in the late 1940s and 1950s before retiring from music to work in construction. Rediscovered during the blues revival, he recorded extensively for Testament, Advent, Hightone, and other labels, and his later recordings are considered some of the finest examples of traditional Delta blues captured on modern equipment.