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Pinetop Perkins, RIP

Boogie woogie blues piano great Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins died on Sunday in Austin, Texas. He was 97. Along with 95 year old David "Honeyboy" Edwards, he was the last of the surviving generation of original Mississppi Delta bluesmen. Perkins replaced Otis Spann in Muddy Waters' band in 1969, and he remained remarkably busy in his '90s, still regularly playing concerts. He became the oldest Grammy award winner this year for best traditional blues album for Joined At The Hip, his collaboraton with Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. He recently admitted however, that in his old age he could not command the barrelhouse power that he once did: "I used to have bass rolling like thunder. I can't do that no more. But I ask the Lord, please forgive me for the stuff I done trying to make a nickel."

Previously: The Greatest and The King