John "Johnny" Ned Shines was born April 25, 1915 in Frayser (Frazier), Tennessee. He moved to Memphis at the age of six. An accomplished slide and finger-style player, as well as emotional vocalist, Johnny spent most of his youth in and around Memphis and the Delta area playing Jukes and parties. His first musical influence was Howlin' Wolf which earned him the nickname of "Little Wolf" at the start of his career. Shines met Robert Johnson (who eventually became his biggest influence) in Memphis in 1934 and traveled with him through the South, there also playing with Dave 'Honeyboy' Edwards, and north into Canada until Johnson's death in 1938.
After Johnson's death Shines settled in Chicago in 1941. His first recording session for Columbia in 1946 remained unissued for 25 years. He recorded for, among others, Chess Records; many of which were unreleased as Johnny Shines and some cuts which were released under the name "Shoe Shine Johnny". He was a frequent accompanyist at recording sessions and local gigs in Chicago in the 1950's. His early fifties recordings for the JOB label include one of the finest bottleneck blues ever recorded. Shines worked with Sonny Boy Williamson (Alex Miller) in the mid 50's. In 1958, He pawned all his equipment and quit the music business, after wrangling with the musician unions over royalties.
Shines was "rediscovered" working as a photographer in a blues club and ended up recording for the Vanguard label. The 1966 Vanguard release, "Chicago: The Blues Today", put his music career back on path. Shines began touring with the Chicago All Stars which included Lee Jackson, Big Walter Horton, and Willie Dixon.
Shines moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the late sixties. He continued to play Delta blues and remained one of the last living Delta blues artists. In the late seventies Johnny Shines toured and recorded with Robert Jr. Lockwood. He suffered a stroke in 1980 that hampered his playing, but still left him as a formidable performer.
In the early 1990's he appeared and played in the documentary "The Search For Robert Johnson" with Honeyboy Edwards, presented by John Hammond Jr. Johnny Shines died April 20, 1992, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.