Daryl Davis and his band pay tribute to rock n’ roll and boogie woogie piano legend Pinetop Perkins at the Mainstay in Rock Hall, Maryland on Saturday August 15 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
In 1985, the legendary boogie woogie pioneer Pinetop Perkins selected Daryl Davis to succeed him in the piano and vocal slot of the Muddy Waters Legendary Blues Band. Davis also played in Chuck Berry’s band as did Perkins who was one of the last of the great Mississippi bluesmen.
Perkins began playing blues in the late 1920s, and was widely regarded as one of the best – and certainly most enduring – blues pianists. Perkins forged a style that has influenced three or four generations of piano players, and was the yardstick by which great blues pianists were and are still measured. Perkins performed up until his death at age 97 in 2011. Daryl Davis, who was heavily influenced by Perkins, played at several of the memorials.
Davis was born in Chicago, the electric blues capital of the world, and received a Bachelors in Music from Howard University in jazz. He went on to work with such artists as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley’s Jordanaires, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Platters, The Drifters, The Coasters, Bo Diddley, Percy Sledge, and Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave), to name a few. Pinetop Perkins and Johnnie Johnson, another great boogie woogie and blues pianist, both praised Davis’s authenticity in playing a style that was popular 20 years before he was born.
Davis was asked play as part of a tribute to Pinetop Perkins at the Montana Folk festival right not long after Pinetop’s death – Perkins had been scheduled to play the festival. At the time, Davis said, “I’m very honored and very, very pleased to do it. Pinetop gave me a whole career. He was a big influence on me, and he gave me a job touring all over the country, learning the industry of music while playing with the world-famous Legendary Blues Band.”
According to Davis, Perkins was a professional who loved to perform in front of an audience. “This man was always, always ready to play, even at 97. Even when he was at home on nights he was not booked to play, he would go out to these clubs in Austin and sit in with bands, when most 97-year-olds are living in bed or in a nursing home. I think that’s what kept him alive for so long. He had some health problems, he smoked constantly, but they say you don’t stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing and Pinetop proved that.”
Perkins’ blues sound will live on long past his death, Davis said, because original blues music always will be in demand. “Blues music relates to the common man and that’s why it will always be around,” Davis said. “It may not be on the top-40 charts every decade but it will always be around because it relates to the common person, sort of like country music. It tells a story.”
This tribute to Pinetop Perkins with Daryl Davis and his band (drums, bass, guitar, sax and piano) is part of the Mainstay’s ongoing MainstayBlues Series.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website www.mainstayrockhall.org.
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