By The Beachwood Pinetop Perkins Affairs Desk
Pinetop Perkins, 97, a blues pianist who worked with such legendary musicians as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and B.B. King, died March 21 at his home in Austin from cardiac arrest,” the Washington Post reports.
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The piece below appeared in the Beachwood on June 5, 2008.
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It’s Pinetop Perkins Week here in Chicago: the legendary blues pianist – about to turn 95 – played during lunch at the Chicago Cultural Center on Tuesday, performed on Chicago Tonight last night, and is on the bill at the Chicago Blues Festival today and at the House of Blues tonight. He also has a new record out this month on Telarc. And he’s got a cool-ass name.
Here’s to you, Pinetop Perkins.
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PinetopPerkins.com:“Pinetop Perkins is one of the last great Mississippi bluesmen still performing. He began playing blues around 1927 and is widely regarded as one of the best blues pianists. He’s created a style of playing that has influenced three generations of piano players and will continue to be the yardstick by which great blues pianists are measured.”
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Down In Mississippi:
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“Pinetop is perhaps best known for his work with Muddy Waters. In 1969, Muddy designated Pinetop to replace the great Otis Spann in his legendary band. Pinetop helped shape the Waters sound and anchored Muddy’s memorable combo throughout the 1970’s with his brilliant ivory work.”
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“The last job I had I learned how to drive tractor, and after the landlord killed my dog in Clarksdale, I was thinkin’, “I might be next!” I loved that dog. So I took off.”
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From Wikipedia:
“Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi. He began his career as a guitarist, but then injured the tendons in his left arm in a fight with a choirgirl in Helena, Arkansas. Unable to play guitar, Perkins switched to the piano.”
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At Pinetop’s MySpace page:
– Chicken Shack
– Got My Mojo Workin’
– Grindin’ Man
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From Reuters:
Pinetop Perkins Accepts Grammy Award for Traditional Blues: Bluesmen finally get their due at the Grammys
Two bluesmen in their 90s won the first Grammys of their colorful careers on Sunday, a reminder that there’s more to the music industry than fresh-faced youngsters.
Pianist Willie “Pinetop” Perkins, 94, and guitarist David “Honeyboy” Edwards, 92, won the traditional blues Grammy for their appropriately titled album Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas.
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New Release (From PinetopPerkins.com):
“Pinetop Perkins celebrates his 95th birthday with his friends and Telarc Recordings with a new release Pinetop Perkins and Friends, slated for June 3rd. There are very few direct ties left to the golden age of post-World War II American blues – that seminal period in the 1940s and ’50s when the acoustic sounds of the Mississippi delta migrated northward and gave way to the more electric groove of northern locales like Chicago and St. Louis. With the passing of John Lee Hooker and Robert Lockwood Jr. in recent years, almost no one can claim any first-hand connection to seminal figures like Muddy Waters or harpist Sonny Boy Williamson.
“Pinetop Perkins is among the few. Perkins, now in his 90s, has been playing blues and boogie piano for more than six decades. In that time, he’s had numerous encounters and collaborations with the aforementioned legends, as well as titans like Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker, B.B. King, Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf.
“Pinetop is joined by a dozen high-caliber musicians, many of them legendary in their own right, all of whom hold him in the highest regard. Included on the star-studded guest list are Eric Clapton, Willie Kent, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan and many more.”
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Comments welcome.
Posted on March 23, 2011