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.
Too Wet To Plow
Johnny Shines Lyrics
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And I was looking out at the rain
Well I was standing at my window
People, looking out at the rain
Well, deep down in my heart
There was nothing but aching pain
Well it seemed like a million years
Well it seemed like a million years
Woo, since I sit down and wrote to you
Well every now and then I wonder
Why I love you the way I do
Sometimes, sometime I think, babe
You don't love me anyhow
Woo, sometime I think, baby
You don't love me anyhow
Well, but it's too late, too late now, darling
Well is he too wet to plow
The lyrics to Johnny Shines's song Too Wet To Plow depict a narrator standing at his window, looking out at the rain, with a heart full of pain. He reflects on how long it has been since he wrote to the one he loves and wonders why he loves them so much. The singer then admits that sometimes he thinks his lover doesn't love him back, but it's too late for him to give up on their relationship. The last line, "Well is he too wet to plow," seems to be a question the singer is pondering, perhaps in reference to the inclement weather making it difficult to work in the fields.
The mood of the song is melancholy and introspective, with the singer grappling with his emotions and the state of his relationship. The rain serves as a metaphor for the singer's tears and the pain he feels in his heart. The lyrics suggest that the singer is committed to his lover despite feeling uncertain about their feelings towards him.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I was standing here at my window
I was physically present at the window of my house
And I was looking out at the rain
I observed the rainfall through the window
Well I was standing at my window
I maintained my position at the window
People, looking out at the rain
I was like any other person watching precipitation from indoors
Well, deep down in my heart
Emotionally, within my innermost being
There was nothing but aching pain
I experienced only intense sorrow
Well it seemed like a million years
It had been an extremely long time
Since I sit down and wrote to you
Last I composed a message directed to you
Woo, since I sit down and wrote to you
Wow, it has been quite some time since I wrote to you
Well every now and then I wonder
Occasionally I speculate
Why I love you the way I do
I contemplate the reasons behind my feelings for you
Sometimes, sometime I think, babe
At times I speculate, my sweetie
You don't love me anyhow
You do not harbor any amorous feelings towards me
Woo, sometime I think, baby
Wow, occasionally I ponder, my dear
You don't love me anyhow
You do not love me, in any way
Well, but it's too late, too late now, darling
However, it is now beyond the point of reconciliation, sweetheart
Well is he too wet to plow
Is the land too soaked to farm?
Writer(s): John Ned Shines
Contributed by Adeline L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.