PINETOP PERKINS |
84 year-old
(William) Pinetop Perkins began his professional career in Mississippi
Delta jukes during the late 1920s, and -- with Sonny Boy Williamson
-- was a regular on the King Biscuit flour hour radio show.
Best-known for his stint as Muddy
Waters' pianist (where he replaced Otis Spann), he left him in
1980, joined the Legendary Blues Band, and went on to a career
of his own. As he's moved into his 80s, he's gotten even more
active, recording three CDs in the last year alone, and being
nominated for several W.C. Handy awards.
Perkins' technique is fairly simple,
the left-hand does simple boogie stuff, but it's a good change
of pace from the pyrotechnic Chicago-style electric blues. Says
the Chicago Reader's David Whiteis, "If you think the blues
has run out of surprises, Perkins is the man to see." |