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Wayne Perkins
David Wayne Perkins (September 6, 1951 – March 16, 2026) was an American rock and R&B guitarist, singer, songwriter, and session musician. A 2017 feature about him on the Alabama website AL.com described him as "arguably the greatest guitarist Alabama ever produced".
Perkins may be best known for his work with the Rolling Stones, who almost brought him into the band. However, he contributed his skills to a long roster of high-profile artists, including Bob Marley and Joni Mitchell.
Perkins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 6, 1951 to James Milford Perkins and Jewel Earline Perkins, née Miller. He was the oldest of six children, a brother and four sisters. Both of his parents sang and played the guitar. Perkins taught himself to play at age 12.
At 15, Perkins played his first gig as a session musician, in Bob Grove's Prestige Recording Studio in Birmingham. At 16, he left school and started performing in local bands and released singles with a band called the Vikings with Charles Nettles.
In 1968, drummer Jasper Guarino helped Perkins land a steady job as a session guitarist in a studio owned by Quin Ivy in Muscle Shoals. Perkins was salaried at $100 a week. This led to work at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with such names as David Porter and the Soul Children, Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro, Dee Dee Warwick, Ronnie Milsap, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Jimmy Cliff, Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood and Marlin Greene.
During his time at Muscle Shoals, Perkins was asked to join Lynyrd Skynyrd. Even though that band's lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, was a very close friend, Perkins did not take the offer, though he came close. He later said, "They didn't need me and I had a lot of other stuff coming my way."
Perkins left session work to form a band called Smith-Perkins-Smith, which recorded an album released in 1972. Chris Blackwell signed the trio to Island Records and they became the label's first American act. The group toured in England with Free, as well as Fairport Convention, Argent, Uriah Heep, Audience, Family, and Vinegar Joe with Robert Palmer.[citation needed]
While in London, Perkins had been working on the second Smith-Perkins-Smith album at Island's Basing Street recording studios when Chris Blackwell stopped him. "He said there was a Wailer project he wanted me to play on" – Catch a Fire, the 1973 album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, which went platinum. Perkins provided lead guitar overdubs on three tracks on Catch a Fire: "Concrete Jungle", "Stir It Up", and "Baby We've Got a Date". "His contributions to the pioneering LP weren't actually mentioned on the original liner notes — indeed most listeners assumed they were hearing Peter Tosh — but Perkins received credit later."[better source needed]
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Wayne Perkins
David Wayne Perkins (September 6, 1951 – March 16, 2026) was an American rock and R&B guitarist, singer, songwriter, and session musician. A 2017 feature about him on the Alabama website AL.com described him as "arguably the greatest guitarist Alabama ever produced".
Perkins may be best known for his work with the Rolling Stones, who almost brought him into the band. However, he contributed his skills to a long roster of high-profile artists, including Bob Marley and Joni Mitchell.
Perkins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 6, 1951 to James Milford Perkins and Jewel Earline Perkins, née Miller. He was the oldest of six children, a brother and four sisters. Both of his parents sang and played the guitar. Perkins taught himself to play at age 12.
At 15, Perkins played his first gig as a session musician, in Bob Grove's Prestige Recording Studio in Birmingham. At 16, he left school and started performing in local bands and released singles with a band called the Vikings with Charles Nettles.
In 1968, drummer Jasper Guarino helped Perkins land a steady job as a session guitarist in a studio owned by Quin Ivy in Muscle Shoals. Perkins was salaried at $100 a week. This led to work at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with such names as David Porter and the Soul Children, Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro, Dee Dee Warwick, Ronnie Milsap, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Jimmy Cliff, Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood and Marlin Greene.
During his time at Muscle Shoals, Perkins was asked to join Lynyrd Skynyrd. Even though that band's lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, was a very close friend, Perkins did not take the offer, though he came close. He later said, "They didn't need me and I had a lot of other stuff coming my way."
Perkins left session work to form a band called Smith-Perkins-Smith, which recorded an album released in 1972. Chris Blackwell signed the trio to Island Records and they became the label's first American act. The group toured in England with Free, as well as Fairport Convention, Argent, Uriah Heep, Audience, Family, and Vinegar Joe with Robert Palmer.[citation needed]
While in London, Perkins had been working on the second Smith-Perkins-Smith album at Island's Basing Street recording studios when Chris Blackwell stopped him. "He said there was a Wailer project he wanted me to play on" – Catch a Fire, the 1973 album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, which went platinum. Perkins provided lead guitar overdubs on three tracks on Catch a Fire: "Concrete Jungle", "Stir It Up", and "Baby We've Got a Date". "His contributions to the pioneering LP weren't actually mentioned on the original liner notes — indeed most listeners assumed they were hearing Peter Tosh — but Perkins received credit later."[better source needed]