He was born John Ned Shines in Frayser, Tennessee. He spent most of his childhood in Memphis playing slide guitar at an early age in local “jukes” and for tips on the streets. His first musical influences were Blind Lemon Jefferson and Howlin’ Wolf, but he was taught to play the guitar by his mother. Shines moved to Hughes, Arkansas in 1932 and worked on farms for three years putting his musical career on hold. But it was a chance meeting with Robert Johnson, his greatest influence, that gave him the inspiration to return to music. In 1935, Johnny Shines began traveling with Robert Johnson, touring the south and heading as far north as Ontario. There, they both appeared on a local radio program. The two went their separate ways in 1937, one year before Johnson’s death.
Johnny Shines played throughout the U.S. South until 1941 when he decided to head back to Canada and then to Africa. He never made it past Chicago. In Chicago, Shines found work in the construction trade and continued to play in local bars.
He made his first recording in 1946 for Columbia Records, but the takes were never released. He later recorded for Chess and was once again denied. He kept playing with local blues musicians in the Chicago area for several more years. In 1952, Johnny Shines recorded what is considered his best work for the J.O.B. Records label. The recordings were a commercial flop and Shines frustrated with the music industry, sold his equipment and returned to construction.
In 1966, Vanguard records found Shines taking photographs in a Chicago blues club. He recorded with the label takes for the 3rd installment of Chicago/The Blues/Today!. The album has since then become a blues classic and it brought Johnny Shines into to mainstream music scene.
Shines toured with the Chicago All Stars alongside Lee Jackson, Big Walter Horton and Willie Dixon. In the late sixties and seventies, Johnny Shines toured with Robert Johnson’s step-son, Robert Junior Lockwood as the last remaining original delta blues musicians. In 1980, Shines’ music was brought to a standstill when he suffered a stroke. He would later appear in the documentary “Searching for Robert Johnson” and manage to release one last album, Back To The Country. Johnny Shines Died on April 20, 1992 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In 1989, Johnny Shines met a Minnesota born young blues player named Kent Duchaine, and the two of them toured for the next several years until Shines' death.
Ramblin' Blues
Johnny Shines Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Denwa BOX no soto wa ame
Kakenareta daiaru mawashikakete
Futo yubi wo tomeru
Tsumetai ame ni utarenagara
Kanashii monogatari omoidashita
Anata no kaeri michi kousaten
Futo ashi wo tomeru
Rainy blue mou owatta hazu nanoni
Rainy blue naze oikakeru no
Anata no maboroshi kesu you ni
Watashi mo kyou wa sotto ame
Ikisugiru kuruma no heddo raito ga
Hitori botchi no kage o tsukuru
Anata no shiroi kuruma sagashikakete
Futo hitomi o fuseru
Rainy blue mou owatta hazu nanoni
Rainy blue itsumade oikakeru no
Anata no maborosi kesu you ni
Watashi mo kyou wa sotto ame
Rainy blue mou owatta hazu nanoni
Rainy blue naze oikakeru no
Anata no maboroshi kesu you ni
Watashi mo kyou wa sotto ame
Ano koro no yasashisa ni tsutsumarete omoide ga
Nagareteku kono machi ni
It'a a rainy blue
It's a rainy blue yureru kokoro nurasu namida
It'a a rainy blue loneliness…
The lyrics of the song Ramblin' Blues by Johnny Shines seem to be a completely different language that is not commonly known. The lyrics in fact are in Japanese and it is possible that Shines was inspired to include this language because of his time serving in the Army during World War II. The opening lines describe an empty and rainy night, where the singer is remembering a sad story while waiting outside a telephone box for someone. The singer then reminisces about a past rainy day spent with someone - "Rainy blue, it's already over, why am I still chasing after you? Like erasing your illusion, today I too am under a gentle rainfall".
The lyrics then take a turn towards describing someone who is looking for someone or something, with the headlights of their car illuminating the shadows all around. The singer describes themselves watching this person through the rain. The final refrain repeats the melancholic feeling of the beginning of the song - "Rainy blue, it's already over, why am I still chasing after you? Like erasing your illusion, today I too am under a gentle rainfall. To the warmth of that time, the memories, now flow through this city, on a rainy blue. It's a rainy blue, a swaying heart drenched in tears. It's a rainy blue, loneliness..."
Line by Line Meaning
Hito kage mo mienai gozen rei ji
It's so early in the morning, shadows aren't even visible
Denwa BOX no soto wa ame
It's raining outside of the telephone box
Kakenareta daiaru mawashikakete
I spin a coin that was flipped
Futo yubi wo tomeru
I stop it suddenly with my finger
Tsumetai ame ni utarenagara
While being drenched in cold rain
Kanashii monogatari omoidashita
I remembered a sad story
Anata no kaeri michi kousaten
The intersection where you turn to go back home
Futo ashi wo tomeru
I stop my feet suddenly
Rainy blue mou owatta hazu nanoni
Rainy blue should have already ended
Rainy blue naze oikakeru no
Why do I keep chasing after rainy blue?
Anata no maboroshi kesu you ni
So that your illusion disappears
Watashi mo kyou wa sotto ame
I also have light rain falling on me today
Ikisugiru kuruma no heddo raito ga
The headlights of fast-moving cars
Hitori botchi no kage o tsukuru
Create a lonely shadow for me alone
Anata no shiroi kuruma sagashikakete
I search for your white car
Futo hitomi o fuseru
I suddenly look away
Ano koro no yasashisa ni tsutsumarete omoide ga
Memories wrapped in the kindness of that time
Nagareteku kono machi ni
In this flowing city
It'a a rainy blue
It's a rainy blue
It's a rainy blue yureru kokoro nurasu namida
It's a rainy blue, tears that soak a swaying heart
It'a a rainy blue loneliness...
It's a rainy blue, loneliness...
Contributed by Evelyn T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@patriciakimbrell3734
Great Blues 💙💙 Love the Music 💙🎸💙🎸💙🎸💙🎸💙🎸💙🎸💙
@bluessman9
One of the last great Delta blues singers and player. Too bad he's gone.Just awesome!!
@tommydahill437
Awesome. I first heard this when I was 16 and it still sends chills up my spine like nothing else I've ever heard.
@cobraferrariwars
That was pretty awesome. Thank you for posting.
@billdolwick2038
That man gets down on it
Ace Cannon 6/23
@slepycitron
Copulatively lustrous! Lemon, Patton, Johnson, James: he's up there with them.
@SaphirSouenEstherG
Shared on Google+ & Facebook, April 26, 2018
@kennyguitarallen5662
agree with all the comments,just brilliant
@geffcassuto
sounds like a national
@luiseduardoalcantara8332
Existe una primera versión eléctrica, años cincuenta.