An Era is Passing

Pinetop Perkins, one of the last of the original legendary Mississippi Delta bluesmen, and considered one of the founders of Southern blues, has died at 97. Perkins was a highly infuential blues pianist who played with Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, and at one point in his career, went on tour with Ike Turner.
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Perkins won a Grammy last month for Best Traditional Blues Album for his "Joined At The Hip", which gave him the record for being the oldest person to ever win a Grammy Award. Perkins also won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2005, followed by another Grammy in 2008 for Traditional Blues Album.
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According to one music writer,"It was Pinetop, along with the likes of Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons and Little Brother Montgomery, who provided the basic format and ideas from which countless swing bands derived their sound. Although Pinetop never played swing, it was his brand of boogie-woogie that was shaped to form swing and, eventually, rock and roll."