Willie Lee "Piano Red" Perryman was born on October 19, 1911 in Hampton, Georgia into a family of 8 other siblings. (Including his much older brother Rufus "Speckled Red" Perryman, who was also an albino African-American barrelhouse pianist.) He was born an albino African-American with red hair, crossed eyes, and incredibly poor eyesight. When he was about 13 years of age, Red's mother bought a piano specifically for Willie and Rufus. Red would "bang around it", but he soon progressed far past "banging around". Soon enough Red was getting regular gigs around Atlanta in clubs performing for many whites as well as blacks. His repetoire consisted of everything from current pop tunes to down home blues. Red's music buddies back then included Barbecue Bob, Charlie Lincoln, Curley Weaver, and Blind Willie McTell. In 1936, Red was introduced to Vocalion Records by Blind Willie and recorded 2 songs with McTell: "What Makes You Worry Me So?" and "Pushing That Thing". He also recorded 6 songs solo: "Slick Woman Blues", "Southern Railroad Blues", "Ten Cent Shot Blues", "You Ain't Got A Chance", "That Woman Of Mine", and "Hard Luck Brought Me Down". Unfortunately, none of these records were issued, nor have they been discovered at all. Red speculates that they may have melted during a hot Summer while sitting on Vocalion's shelves. Between 1936 and 1950 Red made no efforts to record. However, he continued to perform around Atlanta while he wasn't working at his job as an upholsterer.In 1950, after his 14 year hiatus from the recording industry, Red "debuted" on RCA Victor with four sides: "Jumpin' The Boogie", "Let's Have A Good Time Tonight", "Red's Boogie", and "Rockin' With Red". The last of those four tunes was a huge success and an alleged gold record. For the next ten years Red recorded for RCA Victor, their R&B subsidiary Groove, Checker Records, and conducted a radio show from his backyard in a little "shed". In 1961, Red's show started going by the name "Dr. Feelgood & the Interns" and moved to OKeh records. In 1964, he moved to Columbia Records and recorded some great sides with his magnificent band. Unfortunately one record from 1964 sessions, "I Need You", was lost.
For 10 years (1969-1979) Red was the house pianist in Underground Atlanta's club/large tourist attraction, Muhlenbirnk's Saloon. Throughout the 1970s, Red was quite popular in Atlanta and at college frat parties. In 1974 Red played the Montreux Jazz Festival.In 1976, he joined Jimmy Carter's campaign and played in support of his presidency. 1977- Red played the Berlin Jazz Festival and during Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's innaguration in Germany. In the 1980s Willie was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame, played at The Georgia Grassroots Music Festival, began touring again, opened for Peter Tosh & The New Barbarians (on seperate occasions), and presented with the Pioneer Award by The Georgia Music Association.
In 1984, Red was diagnosed with Cancer and was in an out of the hospital. One year later in 1985, Red recorded "Wrong Yo-Yo" with country singer Danny Shirley and grazed the hit charts one last time.Piano Red passed away at 1:00 AM on July 25, 1985. Exactly 35 years after he recorded "Rockin' With Red".....
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