Born: October 19, 1911 | Died: 1985
Willie Lee Perryman, who performed during his career as Piano Red and as Dr. Feelgood, was a self-taught pianist who played in the barrelhouse blues style. (The term barrelhouse was used to describe a loud percussive type of blues piano suitable for noisy bars or taverns.) His performing and recording careers emerged during the period of transition between completely segregated race music and rhythm and blues, which was marketed to white audiences.
Perryman was born on October 19, 1911, on a farm where his parents, Ada and Henry Perryman, sharecropped near Hampton. He was part of a large family, though sources differ on exactly how many brothers and sisters he had. Perryman was an albino African American, as was his older brother Rufus, who also had a blues piano career as Speckled Red....