This is the 2nd in my Delta Blues Series celebrating my favorite
genre of music.
Pinetop Perkins was born in 1913 in Mississippi and began
playing guitar at an early age. However, his guitar career was cut
short when he got into a fight with a choirgirl and injured the
tendons in his left arm. Unable to play guitar any longer, Perkins
was forced to switch to piano.
Perkins made quite a name for himself as a blues musician
traveling all over the U.S. He finally settled in Illinois and
"retired" in the 1950's.
He was persuaded back in the business in 1968. In 1969 he joined
up with Muddy Waters and played with his band for over a decade. He
then left with several other musicians to form the Legendary Blues
Band with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, recording through the late
1970s, 80s and early 90s.
Perkins was driving his automobile in 2004 in Indiana, when he
was hit by a train. The car was wrecked, but the 91-year-old driver
was not seriously hurt. In 2005, Perkins received the Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, Pinetop received a Grammy for
Best Traditional Blues Album for "Last of the Great Mississippi
Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas"
Perkins currently lives in Austin, Texas. Even now at age 95,
Pinetop usually performs a couple nights a week at a local
club.
The cache is approximately 85-100 feet from the parking pull
off.