TGIF! Pinetop @ Bowdoin, '94

I ain't even kidding. Thank God it's Friday.

And I am fucking back!

Hard drive has now returned home after being sent out for repairs, which included being tied down to the bedposts and puking pea soup at Maximilian Schell. Demons exorcised...and 60 gigs of music files, some irreplaceable, up in smoke.

I could bitch (more than I have already) or I could spin some frigging blues and make it all better. Besides, there are some real survivors out there...

About 15 years back, the ultra-obscure Deluge Records out of Waterville, Maine (you want to talk "obscure?" I'm from that area and I've never heard of them...)released Pinetop Perkins' Live Top, capturing a Perkins set at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Not surprisingly, their live release has remained off the radar since its release.

And what a shame. Live Top is one of those releases that come out of nowhere, that you give a spin to almost as an after-thought, puts the love down on you and leaves you wondering "where did that come from?"

At 97, Pinetop's the last man standing from the old Delta players. He's still playing and remains a musician of singular class and charm. In October of '94, when he was still a young upstart of 81, he was touring with the Blue Flames, who back him on this set. The Blue Flames were Doug Wainoris on guitar, David "D.W." Gill on harp, Jack Tukey on bass, Bob "Bongo" Noyes on drums, and Jake Isaacson on piano).

Despite its obscurity, Live Top strikes me as some of the best material I've come across with Perkins as a bandleader. His playing through a nicely-balanced setlist is frisky and strong and his presence is undeniably, classically Pinetop.


Pinetop Perkins
Live Top
Deluge Records
Del-D-3010, 1994


1. Chucken Shack
2. After Hours
3. High Heeled Sneakers
4. Hoochie Coochie Man
5. Murmur Low
6. Five Years
7. I Had My Fun
8. Down in Mississippi
9. Low Down Dirty Shame
10. Got My Mojo Working
11. Caledonia
12. I Almost Lost My Mind


Link


Peace, Mudcatz