A Blues Fix Mix CD - Volume One, Track Seventeen

We're just about to wrap up our Blues Fix Mix CD.......this week's and next week's will conclude Volume One.  We've tried to provide a pretty wide base of blues styles for listeners, but we haven't had much blues piano to speak of, so far......I did put more in my later volumes, but for Volume One, we only have one track and Track Seventeen is it.

Although I've never posted much about blues piano, I have several favorites artists and several favorite tunes.  The one I decided to put on here is not from my favorite blues piano player, but it is one of my favorite blues performances.  It is such an exuberant performance that it just had to be included.  It's from the first volume of the Antone's Tenth Anniversary Anthology (the same album that featured Otis Rush's "Double Trouble," Track Nine) and it's from Pinetop Perkins and friends playing the old favorite, "Caldonia."

Perkins started out as a guitarist, but was involved in a fight with a chorus girl, who injured his left arm with a knife.  He moved to piano and in his early years backed Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williamson on their respective radio shows, and later backed a young Earl Hooker.  He appeared on hundreds of recordings and replaced Otis Spann in Muddy Waters' band in the late 60's, serving with Waters for ten years.

As busy as he was over most of his career, he didn't record his own album until the late 80's.  He was fairly prolific from that point, however, and remained active until he passed away in March of 2011 at age 97  There's a nice DVD that covers his career called Born In The Honey that is worth finding (there's also a live CD included in the package).

For this rousing cover of "Caldonia," Perkins is joined by guitarists Luther Tucker and Jimmie Vaughan and harmonica master James Cotton.  It's such an easy, freewheeling performance that you can't help but smile while you listen.  Enjoy!