Pinetop Perkins

Pinetop Perkins
Perkins at the Riverwalk Blues Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, October 1, 2006
Background information
Birth name	Joseph William Perkins
Born	(1913-07-07)July 7, 1913 Belzoni, Mississippi, United States
Died	March 21, 2011(2011-03-21) (aged 97) Austin, Texas, United States
Genres	Piano blues Boogie-woogie Delta blues Chicago blues
Occupation(s)	Pianist, singer
Instruments	Piano, vocals, keyboards
Years active	1920s–2011
Labels	Blind Pig Records
Website	Pinetop Perkins Foundation.org

Joseph William Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011), known by the stage name Pinetop Perkins, was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock and roll performers in American history and received numerous honors during his lifetime, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Blues Hall of Fame.

Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi. He began his career as a guitarist but then injured the tendons in his left arm in a fight with a chorus girl in Helena, Arkansas. Unable to play the guitar, he switched to the piano. He also switched from Robert Nighthawk's radio program on KFFA to Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time. He continued working with Nighthawk, however, accompanying him on "Jackson Town Gal" in 1950.

In the 1950s, Perkins joined Earl Hooker and began touring. He recorded "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" (written by Pinetop Smith and originally recorded by him in 1928) at Sam Phillips's Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennessee. ("They used to call me Pinetop," he recalled, "because I played that song.")

Perkins then relocated to Illinois and left the music business until Hooker persuaded him to record again in 1968. Perkins replaced Otis Spann when Spann left the Muddy Waters band in 1969. After ten years with that organization, he formed the Legendary Blues Band with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, recording through the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.