Pinetop Perkins, 1913-2011

“I grew up hard. I picked cotton and plowed with the mule and fixed the cars and played with the guitar and the piano.”
 — Mississippi Delta blues pianist Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins died yesterday at his home in Austin, Texas. He had played with the likes of Muddy Waters and B.B. King and reportedly taught Ike Turner to play the piano. He released his last album, Joined at the Hip, a duet with harmonica player Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, last year. Perkins was 97.