Pinetop Perkins RIP

03/22/2011
. (Gibson) Joseph "Pinetop" Perkins, the blues pianist whose eight-decade career included recordings with Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, B.B. King and others, passed away yesterday at his home in Austin, Texas, of an apparent heart attack. He was 97.

Perkins' hard, lively playing was made famous on his cover of "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," recorded at Sun Records in 1953. He replaced Otis Spann in Muddy Waters' band in 1969 and helped influence the sound of Waters' later recordings. After Waters died, Perkins formed the Legendary Blues Band with other members of Waters' band, garnering several Grammy nominations.

He continued to record until his death, winning a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album just last month for his work with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on Joined at the Hip, making him the oldest Grammy winner in history. more on this story

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