I was very fortunate to attend an Austin City Limits taping on Sunday evening. This was my third in the past ten years. I saw Roky Erickson last November and got to see Hank Thompson & Ray Price with Junior Brown in 1999. I seem to have a knack for catching legendary musicians late in their careers.
This time it was “Pinetop” Perkins and Bettye LaVette. Ninety-five year old Perkins was up first. He arrived at the stage in a wheelchair and was helped up onto it by an ACL employee. He made it across the stage on his own and seated himself at the piano wearing an impressive red suit and hat. The backing band consisted of many local veteran musicians including Chris Layton, Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff, Gary Clark Jr. and also included another Blues legend, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, on harmonica. “Big Eyes” has played with “Pinetop” Perkins for many years both on drums and harmonica. I didn’t know this until I started checking him out after the show, but they were both in Muddy Waters band and formed their own Legendary Blues Band, appearing behind John Lee Hooker in The Blues Brothers. Wikipedia claims he’s the only other musician shown clearly on camera in that scene. Time to go check out The Blues Brothers again. KUT did an award winning documentary on Perkins last summer. It was kind of hard to hear Perkins over the band. They turned up his mike after the first song. He’s definitely showing his age, something to be expected at 95, but it was definitely a honor to be able to see him play, one of, if not the, last boogie woogie piano players. In a really weird coincidence, “Down in Mississippi” came on the stereo in the coffee shop where I’m working this morning.
Here’s the set list:
CHICKEN SHACK
DOWN IN MISSISSIPPI
HOW LONG
BIG FAT MAMA
MOJO
Bettye LaVette was up next after a long intermission between bands.
I hadn’t heard of LaVette before the taping, but I won’t have any problem remembering her after that performance. It was easily the best performance I’ve seen at Austin City Limits. Her range is impressive. Her stage presence is formidable and her backing band was tight, tight, tight. Guitarist Brett Lucas was completely amazing. I highly recommend checking him out with his own band or with LaVette. LaVette did a medley of some of her older songs in the middle of her set, telling a short story to go with each one. I loved “You’ll Never Change” even though she said it flopped when it was released in 1963. LaVette was nominated for a Grammy this year for Scene of the Crime
Here’s her set list:
THE STEALER
TAKE ME LIKE I AM
CHOICES
JOY
DOWN TO ZERO
MEDLEY: MY MAN, YOU’LL NEVER CHANGE, LET ME DOWN, EASY, HE MADE A WOMAN OUT OF ME
TALKING OLD SOLDIERS
YOU DON’T KNOW ME AT ALL
PICK UP THE PIECEES
BATTLE OF BETTYE LAVETTE
HEAVEN
SLEEP TO DREAM
I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVE NOT GOT
No word yet on when the episode will air. I heard possibly October. I’ll post once I find out.