Pinetop Perkins & Willie "big Eyes" Smith Joined At The Hip (2010)

It’s hard to believe this album wasn’t made a long time ago, actually, since blues pianist Pinetop Perkins and drummer and harmonica player Willie "Big Eyes" Smith have worked together frequently in the past 40 some years. Perkins replaced the legendary pianist Otis Spann in Muddy Waters' band in 1969 when Smith was the drummer in the ensemble, and later Perkins and Smith formed the Legendary Blues Band in the 1980s. Perkins was 96 years old when the sessions for Joined at the Hip were recorded, but one wouldn’t know it, and Smith, now out from behind the drum kit (his son, Kenny Smith, plays drums here), concentrates on his harp blowing and handles most of the vocals. The result is a solid Chicago blues record, one that feels like it could have been tracked anytime in the past four decades…

4-Time WC Handy Award Winner, premier shuffle drummer of the Muddy Waters, Legendary Blues Band and Muddy Waters Reunion Band fame, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith is back with his second release on Juke Joint Records. On this studio outing, Willie isbacked by a stellar, all-star group of veteran musicians. With blues straight from his heart, Willie Smith and the band take you to the good times and sounds of a south-side Juke Joint on a Saturday night.