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Pinetop Keeps His Mojo Working

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By CURTIS ROSS

cross@tampatrib.com

Published: January 8, 2009

Updated:

Pinetop Perkins doesn't fit the stereotype of the hard-bitten, tough-talking blues man.

"He is a gentle man and a gentleman," according to guitarist Bob Margolin, who first played with Perkins in the '70s when both were in Muddy Waters' band.

Perkins "takes what the world hands him, doesn't get angry and makes the best of it as well as he can," Margolin says. "He's very inspiring."

It's not just Perkins' disposition that's inspiring to Margolin.

Perkins is a genuine blues legend, with roots stretching back to Mississippi, where he was born Willie Perkins in 1913.

After years of house parties and honky-tonks, Perkins played with Sonny Boy Williamson on the legendary King Biscuit Time radio show out of Helena, Ark. He toured with Robert Nighthawk and B.B. King, and recorded his signature piece, "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," at Sam Phillips' Memphis studios in 1953.

Perkins is best known for his stint in Muddy Waters' band, which he joined in 1969, replacing Otis Spann.

Four years later, Margolin, then 23, joined Waters' band and toured and recorded with it for the next seven years.

On stage, Margolin was stationed between Waters and Perkins.

"That was a lot of blues to rain down on me," Margolin says. "I'm still wet from it."

This edition of the band was part of Waters' late-life resurgence, which came about when Johnny Winter produced 1977's "Hard Again," followed by 1978's "I'm Ready," 1979's "Muddy 'Mississippi' Waters Live" and 1980's "King Bee."

Margolin has heard tales of earlier Waters bands in which "everyone carried guns and threatened each other," but says things were much more relaxed during his tenure.

"Those blues men that I worked with were very open-hearted," Margolin says. "They wanted me to play the music as well as I could. There was a lot of pressure to get the real old-school timing right."

The players' attitude, Margolin says, was "if you can play you can play. They don't judge you with your eyes."

Margolin formed a special bond with Perkins.

"He was the oldest and I was the youngest, but we became very close friends," Margolin says.

Both left Waters' band in the early '80s but remained friends.

Margolin has lived up to his "Steady Rollin'" nickname, given to him, he says, by a "speed-rapping" DJ introducing the Muddy Waters band. Although he didn't launch his own recording career until 1988, he has toured with his band since 1981, winning fans for his devotion to the Chicago blues sound.

Perkins, now 95, also has flourished in later years. He's received Grammy nominations for his past three albums, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy ceremonies last year.

He doesn't tour far and wide, but when he does, Margolin says, it's a treat.

"If you look at him, he looks 95 years old," Margolin says. "You can see every one of those years - until he gets on the bandstand, sits down at the piano and plays and sings. He takes on a strength and power that are just amazing."

ON TOUR

Pinetop Perkins with the Steady Rollin'

Bob Margolin Band

WITH: Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues

WHEN: 8 tonight

WHERE: Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa; (813) 971-0666

COST: $20

Reporter Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568.

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