Black Boy Shine (c. September 12, 1908 – March 28, 1952), born Harold Holiday, was an American Texas blues pianist, singer and songwriter.
[2] Adopting the stage name "Black Boy Shine", he later spent most of his life based in Houston,[3] more specifically the Fourth Ward, which ultimately influenced his style of playing the piano.
[4] Black Boy Shine was noted as a smooth singer and pianist, with an unusually sweet melodious vocal refrain and elegant playing.
[5] In the mid 1930s, Black Boy Shine frequently met up with another pianist, Moon Mullican, when performing around Houston.
In the 1920s and 1930s, there were numerous juke joints alongside the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, in which various black pianists performed in a similar manner.
[5] Blues musician Robert Shaw remembered Shine as "a smooth underworld figure and rated him the best of the Texas pianists.