Perkins was born on July 7, 1913 in Belzoni, Mississippi. He started tinkling the ivories in his teens as well as playing guitar, although his six-string talents were stunted after he was mistakenly stabbed in the left arm by an angry chorus girl in Helena, AR, resulting in severed tendons Inspired by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith's "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," Perkins adopted his hero's nickname as a form of eternal tribute, eventually becoming as indelibly associated with Smith's song as its creator. In the 1940s, Perkins hooked up with singer and slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk, playing on Nighthawk's KFFA radio show in Helena. He was later lured away by harmonica icon Sonny Boy Williamson to join his group, appearing with the harp legend on the famed "King Biscuit Time" radio program. Eventually reuniting with Nighthawk, Perkins headed north to Chicago with the guitar player, cutting a number of tracks for Chess Records beginning in 1949. Perkins also toured and recorded with Nighthawk protÚgÚ Earl Hooker, including some early sesions on Sam Phillips's seminal Sun Records label, where Perkins waxed his own take on "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" for the first of many times. Perkins rose to further blues prominence when he was tapped in 1969 to replace Otis Spann in the Muddy Waters band, where his propulsive, rolling keyboard style was an essential element of the group's style throughout the 1970s.

It wasn't until after some four decades of making music that the piano player emerged as an artist in his own right in the mid-1970s, first with the Waters backing group, dubbed The Legendary Blues Band, on a series of releases on the Rounder label. Since then, Perkins has cut a plethora of his own sessions, released on a variety of imprints such as Alligator, Blind Pig, Earwig, Telarc and Shanachie Records. His 1992 album on the Antone's label, Pinetop's Boogie Woogie, found Perkins backed by such fellow blues masters as harp star James Cotton, and guitarist Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Jimmy Rogers, Hubert Sumlin and Luther Tucker. Perkins has also appeared on a number of the Antone's Anniversary Anthology releases. At a time when many blues veterans are no longer with us, Perkins provides a direct link to the deepest roots of the music. On Live At Antone's, Vol. 1, Perkins keeps the eternal flame of the blues burning brightly with a historical performance now being made available to the public for the first time.

Albums by artist:
Live Vol. 1
Pinetop's Boogie Woogie

Listen:
To listen to sample tracks, click the album of choice above.

Artist's Links:
Off Beat Interview