Overview
- Perkins died Monday after a stroke at age 74, his brother Dale announced in a Facebook post confirmed by music outlets.
- He played on the Rolling Stones’ Black and Blue tracks Hand of Fate, Memory Motel and Fool to Cry, and recorded the solo on Worried About You later issued on Tattoo You.
- Recommended by Eric Clapton to replace Mick Taylor, he was a finalist for the Stones job before the band selected Ronnie Wood, a choice Keith Richards later tied to retaining an English lineup.
- His session highlights include Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Catch a Fire cuts Concrete Jungle, Baby We’ve Got a Date and Stir It Up, as well as Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark song Car on a Hill.
- An early staple at Muscle Shoals who co-founded Smith Perkins Smith, he later turned down an offer to join Lynyrd Skynyrd and in recent years faced brain-tumor diagnoses and a March 1 stroke.