Penniman figured he met Esquerita in 1951, although musicologists Pierre Monnery and Jay Halsey place the meeting a couple of years later, since “One Mint Julep” wasn’t recorded by the Clovers until 1952. Regardless, it was a night that changed American music. It wasn’t just the way Esquerita pounded out a percussive rhythm with his left hand that impressed Penniman. He overlaid it with the high-and-loose honky-tonk treble plinking that he likely learned from the country songs he loved to hear on the radio.
“He was one of the greatest pianists and that’s including Jerry Lee Lewis, Stevie Wonder, or anybody I’ve ever heard,” Penniman said. “I learned a whole lot about phrasing from him. He really taught me a lot.”
