It’s easy to glance over headlines and note the death of someone you’ve never heard of. For most people, that’s the case with Joe Willie Perkin – better known as Pinetop Perkins to blues fans around the world – who died at age 97. But to not know Perkins seriously undermines the influence he has had on the music world.
Perkins was a Mississippi Delta blues piano player – check that – the Mississippi Delta blues piano player. Straight out of a blues song, Perkins was born on a cotton plantation. He wanted to be a guitar player, but his arm was hurt in a stabbing, forcing him to the piano full time.
He would go on to play with virtually every blues great, including Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Sonny Boy Williamson, Ike Turner, Earl Hooker and many others. The blues world rarely saw a musician of his caliber, and his work is found on hundreds of recordings, credited and uncredited. Because he didn’t start recording under his own name until the 80s, Perkins is often forgotten when the names of great blues artists are brought up.
Perkins legacy did not diminish over the years – only growing. Last month, he won a Grammy for best traditional blues album.