R.I.P. Pinetop Perkins

Via Life.com

R.I.P. Pinetop Perkins

March 21, 2011

Mississippi native, Delta blues pianist and 2004 Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement winner Joe Willie Perkins “Pinetop Perkins” has passed away today at the age of 97.

Being a self-taught musician, he had told the Associated Press:  “I didn’t get no schooling.  I come up the hard way in the world.”  Despite this, his music was said to have influenced artists like Ike Turner and the Rolling Stones. 

According to Pinetop’s bio on his website: 

Pinetop also received a National Heritage Fellowship in 2000 from the National Endowment of the Arts. He has been featured in the documentary Piano Blues, directed by Clint Eastwood for the Martin Scorsese PBS series, The Blues. In addition, he continued to win the Blues Music Award for best blues piano every year until 2003, when he was retired from the running and the award was renamed the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year.

The iTunes store has a collection of some of his music, including the 2010 Grammy winning album "Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith" via Telarc.  Did you enjoy his music?