Pinetop Perkins Pinetop's Boogie Woogie

Best known as Muddy Waters' pianist after Otis Spann left, Joe Willie 'Pinetop' Perkins also spent time with the King Biscuit Time radio program, played (and recorded) with the likes of Earl Hooker, and Robert Nighthawk, and was a founding member of the Legendary Blues Band after Muddy's seventies' band split from their leader. He has a new album on Antone's Pinetop's Boogie Woogie which is a well played and recorded collection of Chicago style blues. He is backed by members of the Fabulous Thunderbirds (harpist Kim Wilson sounds particularly good here), James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin, Luther Tucker, Willie Smith and Calvin Jones. There is plenty of strong band work and soloing, and Pinetop's solid two handed piano provides more than a solid foundation.

Unfortunately, Pinetop's low-key vocals are not nearly as strong or colorful as his keyboard work and his treatment of jump blues like Eddie Vinson's Kidney Stew, and Louis Jordan's Caldonia, are not memorable. His laconic, low-key singing is more successful on Sunny Road, and is most effective on Jimmy Reed's You Don't Have to Go, and his own Ida B. (which reminds me of Robert Nighthawk's Anna Lee). The impact of these recordings is also diminished by the fact Pinetop has recorded many of the songs before.

This review originally appeared in Issue 178 of Jazz & Blues Report from 1992. I made some minor changes to this review. I likely received a review copy from the label or a publicist. 

Muddy Waters Paris 1972

Muddy Waters
Paris 1972
Pablo

A part of Norman Granz’ Jazz at the Philharmonic Series of recordings (that includes albums by Ray Charles and Cannonball Adderley) this is a valuable new live recording of Muddy waters from a quarter-century past. He’s with his then working band of Pinetop Perkins/piano, Mojo Buford/harp, Calvin Jones/bass, Willie Smith/drums and Louis Myers on guitar, filling in for then ailing Sammy Lawhorn, and relegating himself to a mostly supporting role.

This is a “what you see is what you get” sort of recording. Muddy sounds in good form, singing robustly and plays a fair amount of slide guitar , Pinetop Perkins shows what a fine backing pianist he is, and even Mojo Buford, not my favorite of Waters’ harp players, acquits himself well on his steady, if unspectacular accompaniments. The material should be fairly familiar, with Clouds in My Heart, Hootchie Cootchie Man, Blow Wind Blow, Honey Bee, Walkin’ Blues and Got My Mojo Workin’.

Produced in cooperation with Waters’ estate, this is a lively, highly entertaining addition to Waters’ discography.

I likely received a review copy from Fantasy Records who owned the Pablo catalog. This review appeared originally in the July-August 1997 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 223). Here is Muddy in 1976 performing "Rollin' and Tumblin'."

Aaron Moore - Boot ‘Em Up!

Delmark Records posted in Facebook that pianist Aaron Moore has passed away. Here is my review of his Delmark album, Boot ‘Em Up!, that was published in the November/December 1999 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 242). 
Chicago pianist Aaron Moore worked with many legendary artists in Chicago’s scene, but did not appear on record until recently. Delmark has issued Boot ‘Em Up! This is a lively album of original traditionally based piano blues, all written by Mr. Moore. He is supported by James Wheeler on guitar, Robert Stroger on bass and Willie Smith on drums. Roosevelt Sykes and Memphis Slim are Moore’s most obvious influences, and he does suggest somewhat the late Mr. Sykes, if he is not quite of the level of that master. He reworks traditional blues melodies and themes in a fresh way. For example, You Look So Good to Me bears some resemblance to Jimmy Reed’s Take Some Insurance Out, while the rocking title track seems related to several of Sykes’ uptempo romps and Real Thrown Down reworks the Down Home Blues melody. The rhythm section keeps a propulsive swinging beat, and James Wheeler adds nifty guitar fills and breaks. This contributes to the attractiveness of Moore’s unpretentious, genuine performances here.

Al Miller's In Between Time

Harmonica player and singer, Al Miller, is a contemporary of Paul Butterfield, Charlie Musselwhite and Mike Bloomfield who was among the first wave of white Chicago bluesmen. He worked with Chicago Slim and Johnny Young, was in a band The Wurds which was the first white blues band signed by Chess, spent a couple years in San Francisco working with Bloomfield, and returned to the Windy City. In the early 1990s he recorded a debut CD, “Wild Cards” for Delmark which featured Willie Kent, Dave Spector, Tad Robinson and Steve Freund. In 1999 and 2000 he assembled some of Chicago’s finest talent including John Primer, Dave Spector, Willie Smith, Ken Saydak, Billy Flynn, Harlan Terson and Kenny Smith, which Delmark has just released as … In Between Time.

This album is one of straight-ahead Chicago blues. As Scott Dirks says in the liner booklet, “Al Miller isn’t out to reinvent the wheel, or shoehorn disparate genres into an ill-fitting blues hybrid and call it “original … .” He mixes in a few idiomatic originals with covers of songs by Johnny Young, Jimmy McCracklin, Percy Mayfield, Elmore James, and Eddie Taylor. The varying line-ups share one thing in common, and that is playing old school blues, whether a slow blues and rocking shuffle. 

Whether listening to Miller reprise Johnny Young’s My Baby Walked Out with Barrelhouse Chuck contributing two-fisted piano; or John Primer channeling Magic Sam (on vocal as well as guitar) for a strong rendition of B.B. King’s I Need You So Bad, this recording shines. Miller is an able vocalist, but his harp really shines such as his original Old Friends, with a nice latin groove. The title track is a Muddy Waters flavored original with Billy Flynn on slide followed by a rollicking take of Johnny Young’s instrumental I Got It, with more tough harmonica from Miller. 

On A Better Day, Flynn channels Earl Hooker’s wah-wah slide guitar on a recording that evokes Hooker’s recording, You Gotta Lose. Another Johnny Young cover, Tighten Up On It, has more explosive harmonica. It is followed by John Primer taking the vocal on Elmore James’ 1839 Blues, on an accompaniment (Ken Saydak on piano) suggesting Otis Spann’s Hungry Country Woman. Billy’s Boogie is a lively feature for Flynn’s fretwork followed by Flynn channeling Bo Diddley on Miller’s cover of Little Walter’s Make It Alright. Rob Waters adds organ as Miller imaginatively reworks Percy Mayfield’s uptown Bachelor Blues into a Chicago blues, while Primer is featured in a tribute to one of his mentors, Sammy Lawhorn, on Primer’s Lawhorn Special.

Al Miller is a capable singer and an excellent harmonica player. He is complemented by some excellent players on a mix of originals and covers of songs that have not been over-recorded. With a generous helping of over an hour of music, … In Between Time is an exceptional, straight-ahead, Chicago blues recording.

Delmark sent me a review copy of this.  

Hubert Sumlin at 2010 Pocono Blues Festival

2010-0724 Pocono Blues Day 2-2173, originally uploaded by NoVARon.

Just found out that Hubert Sumlin just passed away at the age of 80. The 2010 Pocono Blues Festival was the last time I saw Hubert when he was part of an All Star Chicago blues review that included Willie Smith on harmonica (and Willie recently passed away) and Bob Stroger, in the back, was on bass.

Hubert was best known for his association with Howlin' Wolf as well as on sessions with such other blues legends as Sunnyland Slim. He was alas one of the nicest folks you could ever want to meet which is why he was beloved in the blues community.

Here is Hubert and Sunnyland Slim

Hubert jamming with some well known admirers

Billy Boy's Heartfelt Tribute to the First Sonny Boy

Its been sixty years ago that John Lee Williamson, best known as the original Sonny Boy Williamson, was murdered. His death left a major impression on his fellow Chicago musicians and was a topic many volunteered to Paul Oliver when he visited the United States in the early 1960s and interviewed many blues musicians. One of those affected by Sonny Boy’s death was William ‘Billy Boy’ Arnold, who as a youngster met and given a lesson by his idol. Now Arnold pays tribute to the blues pioneer on his new Electro-Fi recording, “Billy Boy Sings Sonny Boy,” performing 14 songs of Williamson and three originals that are very much in the same style. Backed by a band that includes Billy Flynn on guitar and mandolin, Bob Stroger on bass and Willie Smith on drums, with Mel Brown guesting on both piano and guitar, Arnold revives such well known blues that Sonny Boy made popular like ‘Half-a-Pint’ (‘Sloppy Drunk Blues’), ‘Good Morning Little School Girl,’ ‘Cut That Out,’ and ‘Sugar Mama,’ along with such choice numbers as ‘Mellow Chick Swing,’ ‘Polly Put That Kettle On,’ ‘Black Gal Blues,’ ‘Tell Me Baby,’ and Billy Boy’s own ‘Squeeze Me Tight,’ which sounds based on Sonny Boy’s ‘Rooted Groundhog Blues’. Arnold brings a relaxed vocal style and his harp playing still shows his indebtedness to Sonny Boy’s choked, crying style. Listening to his direct delivery of the ironic ‘Decoration Day Blues,’ on which Sonny Boy lamented the death of a girl friend. The irony was Williamon was murdered on Decoration Day. Another fine performance is the lively ‘Polly Put the Kettle On,’ with its easy swing and a swinging solo by Flynn that evokes Willie James Lacey who played on many of Sonny Boy’s latter recordings. Stroger and Smith keep the backing simple and Brown’s guitar and piano fills out on several tracks the understated, but most effective backing throughout. Arnold’s heartfelt love of Sonny Boy is evident throughout and the backing complements his own delivery resulting in this very charming and moving musical remembrance.

A Celebration of Pinetop Perkins

Pianist Joe Willie ‘Pinetop’ Perkins keeps going, seemingly as musically vigorous in his nineties as much younger blues acts. Born in the Honey, The Pinetop Perkins Story is an hour-long bio-documentary produced by Peter Carlson who put together Don’t Start Me Talking: The Junior Wells Story. A narrative provides the details on Pinetop’s life including the circumstances of his youth and later emergence as a star on the blues circuit. Blended in are some stock still pictures of southern plantation, town and juke scenes, some acting to recreate Pinetop’s youth, along with interviews of Pinetop along with his admirers and some performance clips from a variety of shows including King Biscuit Festival, the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise and some footage of him with The Nighthawks. Admirers include his colleagues with Muddy’s band such as Paul Oscher, who recalled when Pinetop replaced Otis Spann in Muddy’s band and, guitarist Bob Margolin and drummer Willie Smith. Others talking about Pinetop include Lonnie Brooks, Bobby Rush who tells a hilarious story about Pinetop who had some wisdom for men out on the town, Ike Turner recalling Pinetop’s influence and stature as a pianist, and Kim Wilson. Its an affectionate and loving performance that is as ingratiating as its subject. The DVD does not have any extras and does not seem divided into chapters, for those who that matters. It also comes with a CD of live performances, mostly Chicago performances with one studio track from a Bob Corritore that covers the same ground as his available recordings with versions of Chicken Shack, Mojo, How Long Blues, Ida B and the rollicking Down in Mississippi. Pinetop affably handles the material backed by Little Frank Krokowski on guitar, Bob Stroger on bass and Willie Smith on drums. The packaging erroneously credits Pinetop for Memphis Slim’s Grinder Man Blues, and Magic Sam for Rosco Gordon’s Just a Little Bit, titled here Little Bit of Your Love. Certainly a documentary that fans of the blues, especially Pinetop’s fans, will certainly enjoy.