Audio Beat Rated 5/5 Music, 3.5/5 Sound!
180g Vinyl Re-mastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering! Pressed at Pallas in Germany!
This is one of several albums this artist made in the early '70s that stand as a masterpiece of the acoustic country blues genre. Johnny Shines had begun recording in the mid-'60s, the albums done with electric guitar and full-combo backup, one of them reportedly cut after he hadn't picked up an instrument in years. It was as if he reinvented himself in the following decade, playing pristine and flawless acoustic slide guitar pieces complete with shuffling, stuttering, and stimulatingly complicated tempos. The message was that he had been a young sidekick to Robert Johnson and had absorbed everything, although no deal had been made with the Devil. Shines was a steady, dependable, religious, and forthright chap who lived in Tuscaloosa, AL, and held down a steady job as a construction foreman. Mild-mannered and extremely intellectual, he let loose the reserve of emotion when doing a Delta blues number. The magic and heart were in his fingertips as well as in his voice, which sounds stupendous here. The emergence of the Johnson song canon into his repertoire, done with almost Baroque detail, was also something of a revelation. Some of Shine's earlier albums had featured songs that almost seemed made up on the spot. He was good at that, and was rumored to have played whole sets hat were completely improvised when working the country juke joints of his home state, but on this album he showed what he could do when sinking his teeth into a bona fide blues classic. "Kind Hearted Woman" is the musical equivalent of an absolutely perfect shopped-barbecue sandwich with sauce the way they do it in Tuscaloosa, and obviously of much less offense to vegetarians when taken in this form. There were 11 perfect songs chosen by Pete Welding from his set of recording sessions for this project. Once again this great producer has come up with a blues release that is basically a required item for any good collection of this genre.
"[A]s if great music alone were not quite enough, the quality of the sound is equally impressive... Johnny Shines may not be a household name to many audiophiles, but to blues aficionados Shines is one of the true giants... Testament Records founder Pete Welding recorded Shines at his home in November of 1970. Shines plays 11 classic Mississippi Delta blues tunes and turns in one of the masterpieces of the genre. The recording is both intimate and raw. Remastered by Ray Staff of Air Studios, the reissue hues close to the sound of an early original. This is a treasure not to be missed." - Dennis Davis, theaudiobeat.com, Music 5/5, Sound 3.5/5
Click Here to read the entire review!
Recorded November 11 & 17, 1970 at Altadena, California by Pete Welding
Features:
180g Vinyl
Pressed at Pallas in Germany
Re-mastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering!
Musicians:
Johnny Shines, vocals, guitar
Selections:
Side A:
1. Standing At the Crossroads
2. Milk Cow's Troubles
3. Death Hearse Blues
4. Drunken Man's Prayer
5. Hoo-Doo Snake Doctor Blues
6. It's A Lowdown Dirty Shame
Side B:
1. Your Troubles Can't Be Like Mine
2. Kind-Hearted Woman
3. Baby Sister Blues
4. My Rat
5. Don't Take A Country Woman
180g Vinyl Re-mastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering! Pressed at Pallas in Germany!
This is one of several albums this artist made in the early '70s that stand as a masterpiece of the acoustic country blues genre. Johnny Shines had begun recording in the mid-'60s, the albums done with electric guitar and full-combo backup, one of them reportedly cut after he hadn't picked up an instrument in years. It was as if he reinvented himself in the following decade, playing pristine and flawless acoustic slide guitar pieces complete with shuffling, stuttering, and stimulatingly complicated tempos. The message was that he had been a young sidekick to Robert Johnson and had absorbed everything, although no deal had been made with the Devil. Shines was a steady, dependable, religious, and forthright chap who lived in Tuscaloosa, AL, and held down a steady job as a construction foreman. Mild-mannered and extremely intellectual, he let loose the reserve of emotion when doing a Delta blues number. The magic and heart were in his fingertips as well as in his voice, which sounds stupendous here. The emergence of the Johnson song canon into his repertoire, done with almost Baroque detail, was also something of a revelation. Some of Shine's earlier albums had featured songs that almost seemed made up on the spot. He was good at that, and was rumored to have played whole sets hat were completely improvised when working the country juke joints of his home state, but on this album he showed what he could do when sinking his teeth into a bona fide blues classic. "Kind Hearted Woman" is the musical equivalent of an absolutely perfect shopped-barbecue sandwich with sauce the way they do it in Tuscaloosa, and obviously of much less offense to vegetarians when taken in this form. There were 11 perfect songs chosen by Pete Welding from his set of recording sessions for this project. Once again this great producer has come up with a blues release that is basically a required item for any good collection of this genre.
"[A]s if great music alone were not quite enough, the quality of the sound is equally impressive... Johnny Shines may not be a household name to many audiophiles, but to blues aficionados Shines is one of the true giants... Testament Records founder Pete Welding recorded Shines at his home in November of 1970. Shines plays 11 classic Mississippi Delta blues tunes and turns in one of the masterpieces of the genre. The recording is both intimate and raw. Remastered by Ray Staff of Air Studios, the reissue hues close to the sound of an early original. This is a treasure not to be missed." - Dennis Davis, theaudiobeat.com, Music 5/5, Sound 3.5/5
Click Here to read the entire review!
Recorded November 11 & 17, 1970 at Altadena, California by Pete Welding
Features:
180g Vinyl
Pressed at Pallas in Germany
Re-mastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering!
Musicians:
Johnny Shines, vocals, guitar
Selections:
Side A:
1. Standing At the Crossroads
2. Milk Cow's Troubles
3. Death Hearse Blues
4. Drunken Man's Prayer
5. Hoo-Doo Snake Doctor Blues
6. It's A Lowdown Dirty Shame
Side B:
1. Your Troubles Can't Be Like Mine
2. Kind-Hearted Woman
3. Baby Sister Blues
4. My Rat
5. Don't Take A Country Woman
