Historical October 1982 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Bluesmen Johnny Shines and Robert Junior Lockwood will be performing together in St. Louis Oct. 23 in a concert sponsored by the Arts Ministry of Grace and Peace Fellowship. Old friends from their musical schoolgrounds in Tennessee and Arkansas, both have been singing blues since the thirties, taking separate paths through bars, speakeasies, clubs, and recording studios until, early in 1979, they decided to combine their mutual wealth of talent and experience.
The concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Memorial Presbyterian Church, 201 S. Skinker at Wydown. Johnny Shines was influenced greatly by the rural style of the Mississippi Delta as he learned from Robert Johnson, a legendary character in the history of blues. Shines and Johnson traveled together until 1937, during which time Johnny acquired knowledge of the bottle-neck idiom of guitar-playing and developed a high degree of interaction between voice and instrument.
It is these characteristics, combined with Johnny’s powerful and deeply emotional singing, which comprise his distinct contribution to modern blues.
In 1969 he joined with Walter Horton, Sunnyland Slim, Willie Dixon, and Clifton James to form the Chicago Blues All-Stars.
This accomplished group toured jazz and folk clubs across the United States and Europe.
Since leaving the All-Stars, Johnny Shines has performed solo in major music festivals across this country.
He has been described as “the ultimate Delta bluesman, combining the classic styles he learned as a youth into a very personal style, fluent, creative, and forcefully talented as both singer and guitarist.” The fact that Robert Junior Lockwood also learned from Robert Johnson, his stepfather, establishes the groundwork for his partnership with Johnny Shines. Lockwood’s musical career has also been similar to Johnny’s, moving from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago where he played with artists such as Eddie Boyd, Roosevelt Sykes, and Muddy Waters and recorded on the Mercury, Checker and Decca labels. Lockwood now lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Shines, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The charge for admission will be $3, payable at the door.
Please plan to attend this concert, for it promises to be an exceptional and dynamic performance of ‘blues at its best.
Original photograph caption
Original photograph accompanying Blues in St. Louis, about Johnny Shines and Robert Junior Lockwood. The Neighborhood Paper, October 1982, page 3. Photographer not credited; individual left/right identities are not specified in the caption.
Originally published in The Neighborhood Paper, October 1982.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1982_10.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
