Piano Red

about

William "Willie" Lee Perryman (October 19, 1911 - July 25, 1985), who was usually known professionally as Piano Red and later in life as Dr. Feelgood, was an American blues musician, the first to hit the pop music charts. He was a self-taught pianist who played in the barrelhouse blues style. His simple, hard-pounding left hand and his percussive right hand, coupled with his cheerful shout brought him considerable success over three decades. Willie Perryman was born on a farm near Hampton, Georgia. He was an albino African American, as was his older brother Rufus, who also had a blues piano career as "Speckled Red". Rufus, 19 years older than Willie, had left home before his little brother and took up the piano. They never recorded together. However, the family had a piano originally bought to give Rufus a musical education, and as a child Willie watched Rufus play on it. In 1918 the family moved to Atlanta. Perryman cited Fats Waller as his main influence. By the early 1930s, he was playing at house parties, juke joints, and barrelhouses in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, often working with other Georgia bluesmen, including Barbecue Bob, Curley Weaver, and Blind Willie McTell. He also began performing before white audiences in the resort town of Brevard, North Carolina, and by 1934 had begun to play at white clubs in Atlanta, developing a repertoire of pop standards. Around 1936 he began to be billed as "Piano Red", and made his first recordings with McTell in Augusta for

top songs

albums

Atlanta Bounce

▥

Live And Feelin' Good (The Blues Collection Vol.68)

Worlds Of Jazz - The Jazz Piano

▥

Born to Hustle

Blues, Blues, Blues

The Blues Collection 68: Live and Feelin' Good

Live And Feelin' Good

The Lost Atlanta Tapes

▥

That's All Right (When the Sun Goes Down series)

▥

The Essential Dr Feelgood Piano Hits

▥

Diggin' The Boogie 1950 - 1956

Rock 'n' Roll Piano

similar artists