Johnny Shines
The September 3rd, 1969, session at the Thunderbird Motel
in Chicago started with Johnny Shines, whose participation was
solicited by Big Joe Williams. Initially Shines played an acoustic
guitar which belonged to a member of the crew, but he had brought
an electric guitar and amp, which he seemed to prefer at that
time. The first selection is "Tell Me Mama (How You Want
Your Rolling Done") and it showcases the self-proclaimed
"Irish" blues man's outstanding vocals and underrated
guitar skills. The second clip is part of "Ramblin',"
which Shines first recorded for JOB in the 50s.
The Real
Media file for Tell Me Mama is 1:14 long and 732 Kb in size.
In Windows
Media, the size is 733 Kb.
The Real
Media file for Ramblin' is 1:19 in length and 780 Kb in size.
In Windows
Media, the size is 779 Kb.
At some point in the session, Johnny suggested calling his
old Memphis pal and harmonica ace Big Walter Horton to join them.
(See the Big Walter page for a clip
of that.) To Johnny's surprise, Honeyboy Edwards was next to arrive,
fresh from his day job in construction. Johnny had already made
a dent in the Jim Beam whiskey and started teasing Honey, who
took it with his characteristic good humor. We call that clip
"Mediocre."