05/23/2014 Blues Friday coming our way once again This time PINETOP PERKINS and “ How Long Blues?”I want to thank Juan Albo for the bio and info that precedes this great tune by Pinetop..Voice of Memphis Music & Cotton Row Music & Records also Juan Albo & Barry ShankmanCuriosities of the Blues the caresses of the flames of hell Pinetop Perkins began his career playing guitar and piano. But in the mid-40s, an incident with a showgirl in Helena Arkansas, attacked him with a knife, resulting in injuries to the tendons in his left hand, so he had to stop playing the guitar and follow only Piano. July 7, 1913 - March 21, 2011--Pinetop Perkins began playing blues in the late 1920s, and was widely regarded as one of the best -- and certainly most enduring -- blues pianists. He forged a style that influenced three generations of piano players, and continues to be the yardstick by which great blues pianists are measured. Born Willie Perkins in Belzoni, Mississippi in 1913, Pinetop started out playing guitar and piano at house parties and honky-tonks. He worked primarily in the Mississippi Delta throughout the 1930s and 40s, spending three years with Sonny Boy Williamson on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. Pinetop also toured extensively with slide guitar player Robert Nighthawk and backed him on an early Chess session. After briefly working with B.B. King in Memphis, Perkins barnstormed the South with Earl Hooker during the early 50s. The pair completed a session for Sam Phillips famous Sun Records in 1953. It was at this session that he recorded his version of Pinetops Boogie Woogie, a song originally written and recorded by pianist Clarence Pinetop Smith -- the influential blues pianist who had died from a gunshot wound at age 24 in 1929. Although referred to as Pinetop when he played on King Biscuit in the 40s, it was his sensational version of this song that secured his lifelong nickname. Although he has enjoyed success as a solo artist since the 1980s, Pinetop is known for holding down the piano chair in the great Muddy Waters Band for twelve years during the pinnacle of Muddys career. Replacing Otis Spann in 1969, Pinetop helped shape the Waters sound and anchored Muddys memorable combo throughout the seventies with his brilliant piano solos. In 1980, Pinetop and other members of Muddys crew struck out on their own and formed the Legendary Blues Band -- a group that recorded two records for Rounder and toured extensively, culling several GRAMMY® nominations. Perkins won a Grammy in February for best traditional blues album for Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie Big Eyes Smith. That win made Perkins the oldest Grammy winner. Perkins was driving his automobile in 2004 in La Porte, Indiana, when he was hit by a train. The car was destroyed, but at 91 years old, he was not injured seriously. At age 97, he won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album, Perkins became the winner older to win a Grammy, a month later, Perkins died on March 21, 2011 at his home in Austin. .Voice of Memphis Music & Cotton Row Music & Records also Juan Albo & Barry Shankman youtu.be/xAIn3RQ_joU
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 17:05:32 +0000
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