Pinetop Perkins, one of the last musicians with roots to the Delta blues of 1930s, passed away on Monday. Born on July 7, 1913, as Willie Perkins in Belzoni, Mississippi, he began his musical career as both a guitarist and a piano player but moved away from the guitar after an arm injury in the 1940s. During this era he gained some notoriety by joining Sonny Boy Williamson on the King Biscuit Time radio show. He went on to record and perform in the south over the next few decades, including a stretch with the jazz/blues guitarist Earl Hooker. Still, Perkins may be best known for his twelve year stint in the Muddy Waters Band, which began in 1969. In the years to follow, he continued to perform and record with many alumni of that group and also became a band leader in his own right. Perkins’ maintained an active musical career well into his 90’s and won the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for 2010’s Joined at the Hip, which he recorded with fellow Muddy Waters vet, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.

Services for Pinetop Perkins will be held on Monday, March 28, 2011 at the Cook-Walden Funeral Home in Austin, Texas, with visitation from 5:00 – 6:30PM. Antone’s Blues Club will then host A Celebration of Life at 8:00PM.