Pinetop Perkins, a rollicking piano player who performed with bluesman Muddy Waters for more than a decade, has passed at 97. Perkins, born in Honey Island near the Delta town of Belzoni, Mississippi, died on Monday at his home in Austin, Texas, reportedly after suffering cardiac arrest.
He claimed three Grammy awards over his lengthy career, earning an award for lifetime achievement in 2005 and two more for best traditional blues album — first, in 2008 and then earlier this year for his collaboration with fellow Muddy Waters band alum Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Joined at the Hip. The Blues Foundation named its piano player of the year award for him after he won the category 12 times in a row, from 1992 to 2003. He received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2000, and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2003.
Perkins, whose real name was Joseph William Perkins, working in bands for Robert Nighthawk, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Earl Hooker before recording “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie” in 1953. A nickname was born. Later, he famously played alongside Waters from 1969-79, a stint that included an appearance in The Band’s legendary final concert in 1976, “The Last Waltz.” After helping to form the Legendary Blues Band in 1980, Perkins belatedly charged into his solo career in 1988 — famously issuing 15 albums in the next 15 years.
Here’s a look back at some of our favorite memories of Pinetop. Click through the titles for expanded reviews:
One Track Mind: Pinetop Perkins, with Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, “Grinding Man” (2010): Perkins, who like Smith made his bones playing with Muddy Waters, connects the dots between blues music’s rustic era pioneers like Robert Johnson and the gritty post-war urban sounds that succeeded them. A shared history, this common bond that goes deeper than blood, plays out terrifically on “Grinding Man,” as Perkins, still rolling and tumbling at the upright, takes over from Smith for a rare vocal turn. There’s no denying the power, and the purring sexuality, of the song. Over Pinetop’s many, many years, we’ve heard plenty of folks playing this kind of rough and randy blues music, but Perkins — to paraphrase fellow Waters alum Bob Margolin – is this kind of music.
Muddy Waters, Hoochie Coochie Man (1977): Recorded live at Montreal’s Rising Sun Club in January 1977, and later reissued by Just a Memory Records in ’99, “Hoochie Coochie Man” stands as one of the last testaments to the Gospel of Muddy. He was the bridge between country and city cool, an urban griot with Mississippi Delta dust on his boots. Yet, even at this late date (just five years before his death), Muddy is willing to get outside his own familiar vernacular. The night closes, for instance, with a stomping 11-minute version of “Kansas City” — written by Leiber and Stoller, of “Hound Dog” and “Stand By Me” fame. Perkins shares lead vocals.
Various artists, Classic Piano Blues (2008): Learn more about the original “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie,” performed by Clarence “Pinetop” Smith in 1928. It set off a craze — and, decades later, gave a name to Perkins’ style of playing. Tragically, Smith was later killed as an innocent bystander in a Chicago shoot out.
Mark Saleski remembers the first time he heard Pinetop: For many years, WBGH radio in Boston broadcast a wonderful blues show on Friday and Saturday nights, hosted by Mai Cramer. She taught me all I needed to know, from Muddy Waters and Little Walter to Magic Sam and Koko Taylor. One of Mai’s favorite artists was Pinetop Perkins. In fact, her show used to start off with his “After Hours,” a tune that never failed to transport me to a place I hadn’t been yet. This feeling was hard to pin down, but it seemed like I had been rushed through the rest of my life, survived worlds of hurt, and was finally sitting on my back porch, taking it all in. Weird. Especially for a young man living in suburbia.
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