~ Pinetop Reflections
I first saw Pinetop Perkins in 1974 when the Muddy Waters Band played at my high school in the north suburbs of Chicago. Since then Pinetop has been a constant and positive force in my life. I would see him perform with Muddy close to 100 times. I was at the Soundstage "Blues Summit" filming, and at the Alligator session for Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, both which featured Pinetop. I first took Pinetop into the recording studio in 1980 to play on a Big Leon Brooks CD. Though I had been a fan of Pinetop, I look at this experience as the start of our friendship, and it was the first of many recording sessions we would do together. I would move to Arizona in the early 1980s and in 1991 I opened a blues club called the Rhythm Room where I would bring Pinetop to perform annually. Sometimes he would be coming through with his own band, but most of the time he came by himself and I would have my band back him. I was with Pinetop when he received 2 of his three Grammys. The first time was in 2005 when he got his lifetime achievement Grammy. There was a wonderful private luncheon ceremony at a ballroom at the Biltmore. Each of the many inductees had their entourage, and I felt honored to there as part of Pinetop's. This entourage included his manager, Patricia Morgan, Pinetop's lifelong friend Ike Turner, Kim Wilson, Paul Oscher, Mark Carpentieri of M.C. Records, and Elvin Bishop. We all felt so proud of Pinetop. The next day was the televised Grammy's ceremony, and I was on Pinetop wheelchair duty (which was a great honor). Well we had planned over an hour to get Pinetop to his seat so that at a specific determined time they would announce his award and the camera would zoom in. Well the security was not very wheelchair friendly, and despite Patricia Morgan's frantic attempts to cut through the red tape, we were made to wait at various security points. We cut it so close. So if you can imagine that on the commercial break with just a couple minutes to go, Patricia is clearing the way while I am wheeling Pinetop through the isle at top speed to get him to the 2nd row in the area where all the celebrities were strategically seated. Through all this rush, Pinetop was cool as can be. We got him to his seat, and he when it was his time, he waived to the camera and smiled for all the world to see! A few years later Pinetop got his second Grammy for his part in the CD Last Of The Delta Bluesmen. I remember a great moment at the Grammy after-party when Kim Danielson (My girlfriend of that time) and I took Pinetop outside for a smoke. I remember how lucky we felt as we watched this happy and satisfied man, puffing on his cigarette, and recalling stories of playing with Robert Nighthawk years ago in the deep south. After just receiving the highest musical honor, it was an amazing contrast of this man's experiences. It was also a joy to feature Pinetop as part of Willie "Big Eyes" Smith CD "Way Back" (which I produced). In 2009, we performed a spell-binding set together at the Bisbee Blues Festival. The last time that I saw Pinetop was in December of 2010 when we played at the Rhythm Room. During that time, Pinetop went out of his way to say "I love you" to me, which I am sure he says to many people, but it sure meant the world to me.
- Bob Corritore, Blueswax ezine
