01	Anna Lee						05:40
	02	Down In Mississippi						04:42
	03	Kansas City						04:12
	04	Five Long Years						05:56
	05	Pinetop's Boogie Woogie						04:18
	06	Hi-Heel Sneakers						04:27
	07	How Long Blues						06:17
	08	Just a Little Bit						03:51
	09	Thinks Like a Million						05:36
	10	Pinetop's Blues						06:48

Recorded at The Studio, Portland, Maine during July, 1999

Pinetop Perkins, piano and vocals
Denny Breau, acoustic and electric guitars
Michael "Mudcat" Ward, acoustic bass
Per Hanson, drums
with special guest
Corey Harris, acoustic, steel and electric guitar, and wood block
Sugar Ray Norcia, harmonica

1. Anna Lee - Corey Harris, steel guitar
2. Down in Mississippi - Corey Harris, electric guitar: Sugar Ray Norcia, harmonica
3. Kansas City - Corey Harris, electric guitar
4. Five Long Years
5. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Corey Harris, acoustic guitar
6. Hi-Heel Sneakers - Sugar Ray Morcia, harmonica
7. How Long Blues - Corey Harris, acoustic guitar; Sugar Ray Morcia, harmonica
8. Just a Little Bit - Corey Harris, electric guitar and wood block
9. Thinks Like a Million - Corey Harris, acoustic guitar; Sugar Ray Norcia, harmonica
10.Рinetop's Blues - Corey Harris, electric guitar; Sugar Ray Norcia, harmonica

Produced by Randy Labbe


At a time when most 86 year olds are living in retirement villages in Florida, Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins is a genius to behold. Since his 1988 recording debut as bandleader at the tender age of seventy-five, Pinetop has broadcast a discography more complete than many musicians assemble in a lifetime! Like his previous Telarc release, Born In The Delta, Pinetop's Back On Top successfully captures Pinetop's effervescent personality so well, that it's hard to listen without seeing him winking and pointing his right index finger when he's finished a song.
For his part in the enduring musical history of the blues of the twentieth century, Perkins truly deserves every honor presented him. (If he continues to cop the W.C. Handy Award, the Blues Foundation should simply re-name it the Pinetop Perkins Award.) He has played in every storied blues locale and accompanied every famed blues player. From pounding nightly boogie-woogie relief for the workers in the lumber and levee camps in rural Mississippi in the 1930s to accompanying Robert Nighthawk on KFFA radio in Helena, Arkansas, in the 1940s to recording his seminal "Pinetop's Boogie" for Sam Phillips' Memphis Sun label in 1953, to patiently woodsheddin' in Chicago for years until he got the call to replace Otis Spann in the acclaimed Muddy Waters band from 1969 until 1980, Perkins has a resume like no other. Pretty impressive for a man who originally started out as a guitar player until a knife-wielding woman severed the tendons in his left arm and made chording nearly impossible.
In this decade alone, he has traveled the world both solo and as a member of the Muddy Waters Tribute Band, headlined major festivals here and abroad, and been presented with Lifetime Achievement honors at many of the stages he plays. He continues to push himself so vigorously that it's hard to find a festival lineup without Pinetop Perkins listed as one of the headline acts. Nor is it uncommon to see Pinetop walking the festival grounds shaking hands with music fans of all ages. At every show I attend, fans approach Pinetop as royalty and address him as "Mr. Perkins" when they pass CD jackets to him to sign.
As he paints musical landscapes on Pinetop's Boogie Woogie or Kansas City or Anna Lee or Five Long Years. Pinetop skillfully encapsulates years of authentic blues experiences in the songs. It's a time capsule, Pinetop style. Whenever I hear his soulful delivery and tender key work on Leroy Carr's 1928 smash, How Long Blues, I know I'm hearing a version very close to the original that Pinetop heard in his teenage years.
Supporting musicians are also-flat-out awestruck when this perennial W.C. Handy award-winning blues pianist strikes a key. As one told me, "Within a note, you know you're there."
Boogie-woogie queen Honey Piazza admits, "There's no way I should win a Handy Award when there's a Pinetop Perkins doing what he does."
Boston pianist David Maxwell observes, "The way Pinetop takes what he has and makes something of it is the true mark of a master. I have a lot of respect for the way he approaches music. Just when you don't expect anything, he hits the spot."
High marks go to the production team for capturing Pinetop with stunning clarity. As it should be at this juncture in his musical legacy, Perkins' voice and piano are spotlighted at the forefront. The easy, conversational elements of Pinetop's musical approach are clear and evident in this quiet, semi-acoustic recording which may be the best Pinetop recording yet. In the hands of Pinetop, listeners can enjoy the cool conversation between his piano, Denny Breau's and guest Corey Harris' restrained guitars, and Sugar Ray Norcia's gentle and engaging harmonica. Premier acoustic bass player Mudcat Ward and the rock-solid drum and brush work of Per Hanson further complement the album's low-keyed musical dialogue that defines real blues.
That feel for the real blues is what keeps former Muddy Waters' bandmate Bob Margolin touring with Pinetop. "He's magical. He's a simple, uncomplicated, soulful person with the ability to move people because his music is very simple, deep, and direct. Working with the Muddy Waters Tribute, I stand only about three feet away from him while he plays, so I can really watch him perform."
The eyes are the windows to the soul. But with Pinetop Perkins, I believe it's his hands that light the way. Weather-beaten like old leather, wrinkled like the skin of some aging fruit, and dark as an eggplant, Perkins' hands author volumes about his life and tell as much about the man as the man himself. For while the hands of most eighty-six-year-olds sit folded and content, Perkins' fingers must have visited the fountain of youth, for they defy time whenever they caress the keys.
- Art Tipaldi
(A senior writer for Blues Revue Magazine. He is also a contributing writer for the Boston Blues Society and Blues Connection.)




Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
There is one word to describe the legendary Pinetop Perkins's performance on Back on Top, and that word is mellow. Mellow like a hot summer day, mellow like a bottle of amber ale, mellow like sleeping in on a Saturday morning. Not that it's boring. Oh, no. Special guests Corey Harris (guitar) and Sugar Ray Norcia (harmonica) may be younger than Perkins by several decades apiece, but they're still hard pressed to keep up with him; the man's got even more tricks up his sleeve than he's got years on his junior compatriots. Whether he's lazing through "Five Long Years" (and giving Harris plenty of room to explore a blistering guitar solo) or keeping things hopping with "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," Perkins remains at the top of his form, despite the fact that he's pushing 90. Would that we were all so active, creative, cheerful, and, above all, mellow at that age. Perkins is truly one of a kind. --Genevieve Williams