PINTOP PERKINS & FRIENDS NOMINATED FOR BEST TRADITIONAL BLUES ALBUM

2007

https://www.grammy.com/artists/pinetop-perkins/5615

Blues Revue

Back in the 1970s when I was a young man, I was crazy for the Chicago blues. There was a local band called the Honolulu Doggs that knew how to play the real stuff and so, while the rest of Waikiki was doing cocaine and “The Hustle,” I was down at the Dragon Lady (currently Wave Waikiki) six nights a week listening to the Doggs do the Willie Dixon songbook, plus Little Walter, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. They were Hawaii’s version of the Strongstorm, so I don’t want to hear about how I missed the One Knite.

Heaven arrived in 1976 or ‘77, when Muddy Waters played every night for a week at the Kool Jazz Fest at the Waikiki Shell. My boss, a concert promoter, lost his okole on the fest, which drew half houses every night, but I loved seeing such legends as Earl “Fatha” Hines, Ray Brown, Milt Hinton, Dizzy Gillespie and especially the Muddy Waters Band.

As if that wasn’t enough euphoria for a 20-year-old man, Muddy’s band showed up at the Dragon Lady, a Korean dry hustle joint by day, every night and jammed until 4 a.m. Drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, harp player Jerry Portnoy and guitarist Bob Margolin were always there, and bassist Calvin Jones and guitarist Guitar Jr. showed up a couple of times. But piano man Pinetop Perkins was always the first one to show up. The Doggs usually didn’t have a piano, just a B-3 organ, but they got a Fender Rhodes the second night because when Pinetop sat down he didn’t get up and the organ player was left out. The thing I got from Muddy’s band, who would later be billed the Legendary Blues Band was that they lived to play the blues. They were just incredible, night after night.

Although it’s a little rougher, a little looser, the new “Pinetop Perkins and Friends” album, featuring such guitar greats as B.B. King, Eric Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan reminds me of those magical nights at the Dragon Lady. Pinetop, who lives in Austin, will be 95 years old on July 7, but he can still play that boogie woogie blues. That he’s had an amazing life in music comes out loud, but not always clear, on an album that sounds like a jam amongst friends. Expect another Grammy nomination for this national treasure.

“Pinetop Perkins and Friends” comes out June 3 on the Telarc label, though if you’re on Sixth Street before then. I’d bet you can coax Pine who’s usually at Nuno’s, to sell you an advance copy.

How cool is it for Austin that a living blues legend is out there on the street almost every night of the week?

Michael Corcoran, Austin American Statesman

"A superb blend of perennial Pinetop tunes and others he rarely if ever attempts, the record features such luminaries as B.B. King (on `Down In Mississippi', dappling his trademark liquid riffs from `Lucille' and engaging Pinetop in some spirited talk-song repartee), and a typically soulful and understated Eric Clapton on a doleful medley of `How Long Blues' and `Come Back Baby'." -- No Depression - May June 2008

Forget those "Viva Viagra" commercials. What you need is whatever these old blues guys take every day to stay so vital. Case in point: Among the friends helping out 94-year-old Pinetop Perkins on his latest album is a guitarist several years his junior. In other words, a guy nearly as old as he is. The duet between the pianist and B.B. King on Perkins' "Down in Mississippi" is a casual meeting between old friends, but these guys are still playing their hearts out, even if their voices have lost some lung power. Perkins pounds the keys as the song opens, and King's guitar fills in the background are graceful and understated. As they trade vocal lines, Perkins and King exude a warmth that comes from the joy of performing. You can't expect a record like "Pinetop Perkins and Friends" to break new ground - many of its selections are among the most popular in the blues songbook - but it's a joy to hear the soulful sound of Perkins at the keyboard, even reprising a warhorse like "Sweet Home Chicago." Sure, the idea of a guy Perkins' age trying to summon the young-blood machismo of "Got My Mojo Working" and "Hoochie Coochie Man" might make you smile. But Perkins pokes fun at himself, alluding to his age in an offhand aside in the former song, all the while sparring with slide guitarist Eric Sardinas. In the latter song, Jimmie Vaughan plays the foil to Perkins as they celebrate his heritage. (Perkins played that Willie Dixon song as a member of Muddy Waters' band.)

There's help from Eric Clapton on guitar and Nora Jean Bruso on vocals for a medley of Leroy Carr's "How Long Blues" and Ray Charles' "Come Back Baby," a slice of latenight midtempo blues. Other guests who show up to play with Perkins include drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and bassist Willie Kent, the latter of whom passed away before this record was released. -- Blues Revue, June July 08