William Perryman
b.1911-d.1985
In the early to mid-fifties, William Perryman, a self-taught pianist from Hampton, Georgia, struck up a lifelong friendship and professional relationship with white deejay Zenas Sears, a blues disc jockey on WGST. Sears took over the management (and eventually, the ownership) of WATL, he changed the call-letters to WAOK and introduced an all-R&B format. He hired Perryman to host a radio show from 3 to 4 p.m. in the afternoon, which was broadcast from a small structure in the artist's backyard, outfitted with a piano and microphones and connected directly to the studios at WAOK. “The Piano Red Show" became "The Dr. Feelgood Show," which would continue to air on WAOK until around 1967. Perryman and his band, who kept busy with engagements at colleges all over the Southeast, played off of the new name by performing in white medical uniforms. In 1969 Perryman stopped touring and began a regular engagement at Muhlenbrink's Tavern in Underground Atlanta, where he would perform six nights a week for the next ten years until the downtown entertainment complex closed its doors in 1979. During the course of the '70s and early '80s he recorded and released several albums, toured Europe five times, supported the Carter presidential campaign, and opened a show for reggae star Peter Tosh at the Fox Theater. He was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1983. The following year, Perryman (who never smoked or drank alcohol) was diagnosed with cancer, and died in 1985 at the age of 74.