Pinetop Perkins

Infobox musical artist
Name = Pinetop Perkins

---

Img_capt =
Img_size = 150
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Joe Willie Perkins
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1913|7|7
Belzoni, Mississippi, United States
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Piano
Genre = Piano blues
Boogie-Woogie
Chicago blues
Occupation = Pianist, Singer
Years_active = 1920s – Present
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.pinetopperkins.com/ pinetopperkins.com]
Notable_instruments =

Pinetop Perkins (born Joe Willie Perkins; July 7 1913) is an American blues musician.

Biography

Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0674031/bio IMDb database birth information] ] 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, and also switched from Robert Nighthawk's KFFA radio program to Sonny Boy Williamson's "King Biscuit Time". He continued working with Nighthawk, however, accompanying him on 1950's "Jackson Town Gal".

In the 1950s, Perkins joined Earl Hooker and began touring, stopping to record "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" (written by Pinetop Smith) at Sam Phillips' studio in Memphis, Tennessee. ("They used to call me Pinetop," he recalled, "because I played that song." [ [http://www.nea.gov/honors/heritage/Heritage00/Perkins.html Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins] , 2000 NEA National Heritage Fellowships] ) However, Perkins was only 15 years old in 1928, when Smith originally recorded "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie".

Perkins then relocated to Illinois and left music until Hooker convinced him to record again in 1968.

When Otis Spann left the Muddy Waters band in 1969, Perkins was chosen to replace him. He stayed for more than a decade, then left with several other musicians to form the Legendary Blues Band with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, recording through the late 1970s, 80s and early 90s.

Although he has appeared as a sideman on countless recordings, Perkins never had an album devoted solely to his artistry, until the release of "After Hours" on Blind Pig Records in 1988. [ [http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=44 Blind Pig Records website notes - accessed January 2008] ]

His robust piano is fairly presented in "On Top" (1992), an easy-going recital of blues standards with his old Waters' associate, Jerry Portnoy on harmonica.cite book
first= Tony
last= Russell
year= 1997
title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
edition=
publisher=Carlton Books Limited
location= Dubai
pages= p. 154
id= ISBN 1-85868-255-X]

In 1998 Perkins released the album "Legends" featuring guitarist Hubert Sumlin.

Perkins was driving his automobile in 2004 in La Porte, Indiana, when he was hit by a train. The car was wrecked, but the 91-year-old driver was not seriously hurt. Perkins now lives in Austin, Texas. He usually performs a couple nights a week at Nuno's on Sixth ST. In 2005, Perkins received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2008, Perkins received a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for ' together with Henry James Townsend, Robert Lockwood, Jr. & David Honeyboy Edwards. He was also nominated in the same category for his solo album, '.

The song "Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins", performed by Perkins and Angela Strehli, plays on the common misconception that Perkins wrote "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie":::"Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins"::"I got a question for you"::"How'd you write that first boogie woogie"::"The one they named after you"

Discography (selection)

* 1976: "Boogie Woogie King"
* 1977: "Hard Again" (Muddy Waters)
* 1988: "After Hours"
* 1992: "Pinetop Perkins with the Blue Ice Band
* 1992: "On Top"
* 1993: "Portrait of a Delta Bluesman"
* 1995: "Live Top" (with the Blue Flames)
* 1997: "Born in the Delta"
* 1998: "Sweet Black Angel"
* 1998: "Legends" (with Hubert Sumlin)
* 1999: "Live at 85!" (with George Kilby Jr)
* 2000: "Back On Top"
* 2003: "Heritage of the Blues: The Complete Hightone Sessions"
* 2004: [http://www.mc-records.com/html/pinetop_perkins.html "Ladies Man"]
* 2008: "Pinetop Perkins and Friends"

Gallery

ee also

*Chicago Blues Festival
*List of Boogie-Woogie musicians
*List of Chicago blues musicians
*Blues Hall of Fame
*List of boogie woogie musicians
*List of blues musicians
*Long Beach Blues Festival
*Kentuckiana Blues Society

References

External links

* [http://www.pinetopperkins.com/pabio.htm Official biography]
*imdb name|0674031
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:g9fpxqwgldse~T1 All Music Guide]
*http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/pinetopperkins.txt
* [http://www.oraclesmusic.com/reviews/review_0057_delta_bluesmen.php CD Review of Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesman - Live in Dallas]