So long 2011

I don’t really like seeing those lists that come out at the end of the year listing everybody who has died in the past year...but I feel that I want to mention some of the musicians that passed on this year.

We lost a lot of good ones, especially in the Blues: David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Pinetop Perkins, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, and Hubert Sumlin.

Honeyboy was one of the last of the early Delta bluesmen. Born in 1915, he knew many of the early bluesmen and was friends with Robert Johnson. He was supposedly there the night Johnson was poisoned. He played music and toured up until a month before his death at the age of 96.

Pinetop Perkins, born in 1913, filled the piano seat for Muddy Waters after Otis Spann left. Perkins played with Muddy for a decade before he left to form the Legendary Blues Band which also had another Muddy alumnus, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, who also passed away this year.

Willie was one of the drummers for Muddy off and on through the 1960s and 1970s. He left the Muddy Waters bands and formed the Legendary Blues Band with other members of Muddy’s band including Pinetop Perkins. Along with the drums, Willie also played harmonica.

Hubert Sumlin was not the first guitar player for Howlin’ Wolf, but he played with Wolf the longest, and was the best known. Hubert played on most of Wolf’s hits and was a big influence on a lot of the British “Blues” guitarists.

Honeyboy playing Sweet Home Chicago

Honeyboy and Hubert Sumlin

Hubert playing with Howlin’ Wolf - Smokestack lightning

Hubert and Wolf again, (just because I’m a big fan)

Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes: Smith

In the Ukulele world, we lost Bill Tapia who had started playing music at the age of 10, in 1918. Although he didn’t record an album until 2004, in his long career he had played with such artists as Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Sol Ho’opi’i , and King Bennie Nawahi

 

Bill Tapia – Young at Heart

Bill Tapia – Crazy

Other people we lost this year, Don Kirshner, Clarence Clemons, Ceseria Evora, Eddie Kirkland, George Shearing, Gary Moore, Phoebe Snow, and Lloyd Knibb among others. I’ll try to get to some of these later…