Grammy Lifetime Achievement Recipient (2005) Pinetop Perkins was one of the last great Mississippi bluesmen still performing in the 21st century. He made a living playing blues since 1926 and was widely regarded as one of the best blues pianists. He created a style of playing that influenced three generations of piano players and will continue to be the yardstick by which great blues pianists are measured.
His signature sound, the right hand playing horn lines while the left kicked out bass notes and lots of bottom, provided the basic format and ideas from which countless winning bands derived their sound, whole horn sections playing out what Pinetop’s right hand was playing.
Although Pinetop never played swing it was his brand of boogie-woogie that came to structure swing and eventually rock and roll. Pinetop was best known for holding down the piano chair in the great Muddy Waters Band for twelve years during the highest point of Muddy’s career.
Pinetop Perkins celebrated his 95th birthday with his release Pinetop Perkins and Friends (Telarc June 2008). There were 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.
In 2008 Perkins received a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas. Perkins continued to win the Blues Music Award for best blues-piano every year until 2003 when he was retired from that award which now bears his name: the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year.
March 21, 2011, Perkins died at his home in Austin, Texas.
Discography:
Boogie Woogie King, recorded 1976, released 1992 (1976)
Hard Again, Muddy Waters (1977)
After Hours (1988)
Pinetop Perkins with the Blue Ice Band (1992)
On Top (1992)
Portrait of a Delta Bluesman (1993)
Live Top, with the Blue Flames (1995)
Eye to Eye, with Ronnie Earl, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and Calvin “Fuzz” Jones (1996)
Born in the Delta (1997)
Sweet Black Angel (1998)
Legends, with Hubert Sumlin (1998)
Down in Mississippi (1998)
Live at 85!, with George Kilby Jr (1999)
Back on Top (2000)
Heritage of the Blues (2003)
All Star Blues Jam, with Bob Margolin and others (2003)
8 Hands on 88 Keys (2003)
Ladies Man (2004)
10 Days Out (2007)
Pinetop Perkins & Friends (Telarc, 2008)
Joined at the Hip, with Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (Telarc, 2010)
Genuine Blues Legends, Pinetop Perkins and Jimmy Rogers with Little Mike and the Tornadoes (2015)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
