BluesWax
Sittin' In With
Pinetop Perkins
By James Walker
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Pinetop
Perkins
Photo by Scott
Allen
In last week's
issue we covered the celebration of Pinetop Perkins' Homecoming at Hopson's
Plantation. Recently BluesWax
Contributing Editor James Walker sat down with the legendary piano
player to talk about his new CD, Ladies Man, Muddy Waters, and more.
Enjoy.
A documentary film crew came specifically to Kankakee,
Illinois on Saturday, September 11, for the performance. The fans in front of
the stage were as enthusiastic as any I saw all summer! The occasion --
91-year-old living Blues piano legend, Joe
Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, was performing at the second Blues On
The River Festival.
Rich Neier and Bob Bult of Chicago Blues Breakdown, an
independent media company dedicated to Blues media productions, filmed Perkins
performing in the autumn days of a long career. "Everything the man says
and does from here on is gold," said Neier. "We want to preserve it
if we can."
Sure, that could be Perkins' last performance, but don't
throw dirt on his grave just yet. Karen Brault, keyboardist and vocalist
for After Midnight Blues, says, "I did get to meet Pinetop. He may
be up in years, but the man can still flirt! I got a big kick out of
that."
Joining Big Bill Morganfield halfway through his set,
Perkins' vigor was amazing! Constantly smiling and carefully watching Big Bill
to make sure they were synchronized, Perkins brought out a smile by singing,
"I don't want it all/ I just want a little bit/ a teeny-weeny bit of
your love," then ending the song with strokes on the piano of
"shave and a haircut, two bits!"
Big Bill looked over at Pinetop for a cue. Pinetop could not
be heard over the roar of appreciative fans, but his lips could be read as he
mouthed, "Mojo." Morganfield knew what that meant: let's do one of
his daddy's [Muddy Waters] most famous songs, "I Got My Mojo
Workin'." Perkins led it off on piano and the band jumped in for a romping
version.
All I want to know is, where can I get a copy of that film!
When I called Mr. Perkins on a Wednesday night (August 25)
for a pre-festival interview, I had been told to speak slowly and clearly as
his 91-year-old hearing wasn't the best. He told me he was playing solitaire.
"I like that," Perkins said, leaving me wondering whether he was
subtly dealing me out. "But," he continued, "I'll do my best to
answer a few questions."
James Walker for BluesWax:
I wanted to ask about your new album.
Joe Willie
"Pinetop" Perkins: It's going to be a good one. B.B. King
will be on it and a whole bunch of people - who all I don't know.
BW: The album
is called Ladies Man.
PP: Ladies Man?
Oh, that one's out already. [Note: Ladies Man was released on MC Records
was released August 24, and Perkins is already looking forward to his next CD].
BW: So you've
got another one coming out after Ladies Man?
PP: Yeah, another
one is coming out.
BW: What are
your hopes for these albums? [Note: Rumor has it a Grammy nomination may be in
the works for Ladies Man)
PP: I hope I can
make a penny or two off of'em. [chuckles]
BW: Well, yes.
Are you comfortable in your old age?
PP: Well, I'm
doing fairly good. Nothin' extry. I'm 91 years old - that's up there.
BW: Yes sir,
it is. It is absolutely amazing.
PP: I thank the
Lord for being here.
BW: You are a
religious man from what I've read.
PP: Oh yeah, I
pray to Him all the time to forgive me for the stuff I done trying to make
people happy to make a dollar here. I hope He listen to me.
BW: I read
where you don't play on Sundays.
PP: Oh, no no. If
I do anything on a Sunday, I play a few church hymns. My daddy was a Baptist
preacher. My mother was a religious woman. She always told me to remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy. I try to do that all the time. I don't fish on
Sunday, I don't play no Blues on Sunday, I don't play no solitaire - I just
talk to the Lord.
BW: That's
refreshing to find somebody that still respects Sundays.
PP: Well, my
daddy - I hear he was a good preacher, but I never did get a chance to hear him
preach because him and my mother busted up when I was 'round 'bout 6 or 7 years
old. And I came up the HARD way, man! Plowing with mules for fifty cents a day,
and I thought I was doing something. I was, I was workin'! Whole day - fifty
cents, yeah man!
BW: There's people that would not believe that,
would they?
PP: Naw, they
wouldn't believe it, but I know it because I did it! In later years I learned
how to drive a tractor. I went down there around Clarksdale, Mississippi - a
place out there called Hopsons Planting Company. I made that tractor do
everything out there but talk! (chuckles). Yeah, I could drive them tractors.
BW: What did
you learn from Muddy Waters, playing with him all those years?
PP: Well, I
learned all that stuff [songs] that he knowed. All he had to do was call it
off, and I knew exactly everything he wanted put in there. Yeah, I was with him
eleven years, man. He carried me everywhere - all over the place.
BW: What do
you remember about Muddy the most?
PP: He knew how
to carry you around to different places. All them places overseas - I can't
'call the name of'em - but we went everywhere over there. The last place we
played in was Africa. Boy, I hated that place because we ain't got no flies
over here - over there they got flies, now! (chuckles) They would light in your
plate, boy, and die. I throwed that stuff away - they got some flies over
there!
BW: In
Kankakee on September 11, you are going to be playing with Muddy's son,
"Big" Bill Morganfield.
PP: Oh yeah, all
right. He's from Mobile, Alabama. I been knowin' him since he was a kid. Yeah,
I've known Bill a long time.
BW: Do you
have favorite Blues songs that you play?
PP: Well, I do
"Big Fat Mama" - people like that. When it get down to the Blues,
there's Leroy Carr - he did that thing "How Long Blues" - they like
that, too.
BW: Thank you
for talking to me. It was an honor for me. I'll let you get back to your
solitaire.
PP: I'm gonna try
to see can I beat him. Then I'm going down to the club. [Buck's Workingman's
Pub, the LaPorte, Indiana bar he co-owns with Andy "Buck" Levandoski,
Perkins' friend and legal guardian] I'll see if I can sell a few CDs. We got
some boys playing down to the club tonight.
BW: Okay,
well, don't stay out too late.
PP: Oh naw, naw,
I got to get out of here tomorrow to New York [for more gigs and recording with
George Kilby].
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Ladies Man
By Pinetop Perkins
Click On Cover To Order!
Pinetop Perkins is on the road most weeks. This weekend
he is playing Friday, November 5 at McNears Mystic Theatre in Petaluma,
California, and on Saturday, November 6 at Crystal Bay Club Casino in Crystal
Bay, Nevada.
James Walker is a contributing editor at BluesWax.
He may be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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This Week in BluesWax:
Pinetop Perkins
- In the E-zine:
Pinetop Perkins sits down with BluesWax's James Walker. Find out what
this true living legend is up to these days!
- On the News
Page: Eighth Annual Maple Blues Awards Nominees; Lamont Cranston To
Open New House of Blues; Leadbelly Seminar and Tribute Concert; Clapton's Me
And Mr. Johnson Sessions DVD; Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD Out; Sonny Boy
Terry News; Bandana Blues Radio News; Alan Lomax Book News; The Best of the
Delta Blues; Renee Austin News; Iowa Blues Hall of Fame News; and more!
- On the Photo
Page: Dig on some great shots of Robert Randolph & the Family Band!
- On the Blues
Bytes page: Bob Margolin raves about the third volume of The
American Folk Blues 1962-1969. Find out why in this great review!
- On the Blues
Beat page: T-Bone is stalking Robert Randolph! Find out why as he
reviews what might be the best show on the road!
- Under BluesWax
Picks: Beardo reviews Dan Treanor and Frankie Lee's African Wind; Mark
Hummel reviews Sue Foley's latest, Change; Pete Lauro finds a big winner
in The Jelly Roll all-Stars' Must Be Jelly; plus reviews of Mavis
Staples' Have A Little Faith, Paul Reddick's Villanelle, and the
latest from the Black Keys.
- One
Year Ago Today In BluesWax: Beardo was sittin' in with James Blood
Ulmer. Click through to read this cool interview!
- Don't forget to play the Blues Trivia
Game: Remember, everyone who plays is in the drawing for the prize!
This week's prize: John Kay & Friends Live at The Renaissance Center DVD.
Listen and watch this legendary rocker go back to his Folk and Blues roots,
along with a little Steppenwolf! Play now to win this great DVD courtesy of
John Kay.
