Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He worked with many important blues and rock musicians of his time and was given many awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and was added to the Blues Hall of Fame.

Life and career

Pinetop Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi, and grew up on a plantation in Honey Island, Mississippi. He started his career as a guitarist but hurt the tendons in his left arm during a knife fight with a chorus girl in Helena, Arkansas, in the 1940s. Because he could no longer play the guitar, he switched to playing the piano. He also moved from Robert Nighthawk’s radio program on KFFA to Sonny Boy Williamson’s King Biscuit Time. However, he continued working with Nighthawk, playing on a song called "Jackson Town Gal" in 1950.

In the 1950s, Perkins joined Earl Hooker and began touring. He recorded a song called "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" at Sam Phillips’ Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. The song was written by Pinetop Smith, who first recorded it in 1928. Perkins did not write the song; he learned to play it by listening to Smith’s records. Perkins once said, "They used to call me 'Pinetop' because I played that song."

Later, Perkins moved to Illinois and left the music business until Hooker encouraged him to record again in 1968. In 1969, Perkins replaced Otis Spann in the Muddy Waters band after Spann left. After working with that group for ten years, Perkins formed the Legendary Blues Band with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. The band recorded music from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

Perkins briefly appeared in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, playing a short musical role outside Aretha’s Soul Food Cafe. He had an argument with John Lee Hooker over who wrote the song "Boom Boom." He also appeared in the 1987 movie Angel Heart as part of guitarist Toots Sweet’s band.

Perkins played on many recordings but did not have an album focused only on his music until After Hours, released in 1988 by Blind Pig Records. The tour for that album included musicians Jimmy Rogers and guitarist Hubert Sumlin.

In 1995, Perkins’ common law wife, Sara Lewis, passed away, which led to a period of sadness and drinking. In 1998, he released an album called Legends, featuring Hubert Sumlin. In 2001, Perkins performed at the Chicago Blues Festival with Ike Turner, who said Perkins inspired him to play piano.

In 2004, Perkins was in an accident when his car was hit by a train in La Porte, Indiana. His car was damaged, but he was not seriously hurt. He lived in Austin, Texas, until his death and often played music at Momo’s, a venue on Sixth Street.

The song "Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins," performed by Perkins and Angela Strehli, was based on a common misunderstanding that he wrote "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie." As Perkins aged, his hearing worsened.

On March 21, 2011, Perkins died at his home in Austin, Texas, from cardiac arrest at the age of 97. Many memorial events were held in his honor across the United States. The Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi, held a special jam session for his fans on March 31, 2011. An open-casket funeral was held in Austin on March 29, 2011, and was attended by musicians like Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Bob Margolin.

Perkins was buried in the McLaurin Memorial Garden cemetery in Clarksdale on April 2, 2011, after a final open-casket celebration. The funeral was led by Henry Espy, the first Black mayor of Clarksdale. Perkins’ favorite meal, a McDonald’s Big Mac and apple pie, was displayed at the altar.

At the time of his death, Perkins had more than 20 performances scheduled for 2011. He once told an interviewer, "I can’t play piano like I used to either. I used to have bass rolling like thunder. I can’t do that no more. But I ask the Lord, please forgive me for the stuff I done trying to make a nickel." Perkins and David "Honeyboy" Edwards were the last surviving original Delta blues musicians. Perkins was also one of the last bluesmen to have known Robert Johnson.

Legacy

Bruce Iglauer, the founder of Chicago's Alligator Records, said Perkins was "the best blues piano player." He also noted that Perkins' career lasted more than 80 years and that Perkins represented an entire generation of musicians. Perkins influenced blues musicians like Ike Turner, who learned to play piano from him. Turner said, "Pinetop was the beginning of rock 'n' roll, because he taught me what I played." Perkins worked with other blues musicians, including Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker, and B.B. King.

To honor Perkins, the Pinetop Perkins Foundation holds yearly workshops for young musicians interested in blues and jazz. These workshops usually take place in Clarksdale, Mississippi, but were held online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The workshops include special classes with top musicians in blues and jazz and end with a performance at the Ground Zero Blues Club by the students. Another part of the foundation helps aging musicians by providing financial support through the Pinetop Assistance League. This program aims to help elderly musicians cover housing and medical costs so they can live comfortably and with dignity.

Perkins was named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2000. In 2003, he was added to the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2005, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, Perkins, along with Henry Townsend, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and David "Honeyboy" Edwards, won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas. He was also nominated in the same category for his solo album Pinetop Perkins on the 88's: Live in Chicago.

At age 97, Perkins won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Joined at the Hip, which he recorded with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. This made him the oldest person to win a Grammy Award, surpassing comedian George Burns, who had won in the spoken word category 21 years earlier.

Documentaries

Perkins has been featured in two documentaries: Born in the Honey (2007) and Sidemen: Long Road to Glory (2016). He also appeared in Clint Eastwood's 2003 documentary, Piano Blues.

Selected discography

• 1976: Boogie Woogie King, recorded in 1976 and released in 1992
• 1988: After Hours
• 1992: Pinetop Perkins with the Blue Ice Band
• 1992: On Top
• 1993: Portrait of a Delta Bluesman
• 1995: Live Top, with the Blue Flames
• 1996: Eye to Eye, with Ronnie Earl, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Calvin "Fuzz" Jones
• 1997: Born in the Delta
• 1998: Sweet Black Angel
• 1998: Legends, with Hubert Sumlin
• 1998: Down in Mississippi
• 1999: Live at 85!, with George Kilby Jr
• 2000: Back on Top
• 2003: Heritage of the Blues: The Complete Hightone Sessions
• 2003: All Star Blues Jam, with Bob Margolin and others
• 2003: 8 Hands on 88 Keys: Chicago Blues Piano Masters
• 2004: Ladies Man
• 2007: 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads, with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the Muddy Waters Band, recorded live
• 2007: Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down – with Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and James Cotton
• 2008: Pinetop Perkins and Friends
• 2010: Joined at the Hip, with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
• 2012: Heaven, with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on one track and liner notes by Justin O'Brien
• 2015: Genuine Blues Legends, Pinetop Perkins and Jimmy Rogers with Little Mike and the Tornadoes

• Carey Bell's Blues Harp (Delmark, 1969)
• Last Night (BluesWay, 1973)

• 2 Bugs and a Roach (Arhoolie, 1969)

• Live at Mr. Kelly's (Chess, 1971)
• Can't Get No Grindin' (Chess, 1973)
• "Unk" in Funk (Chess, 1974)
• The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album (Chess, 1975)
• Hard Again (Blue Sky, 1977)