David Wayne Perkins (born 1951) is an American rock and R&B guitarist, singer, songwriter and session musician. According to a 2017 feature about him on the Alabama website AL.com, he is "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 has contributed his skills to a long roster of high-profile artists, including Bob Marley and Joni Mitchell. Early life and family Perkins was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the oldest of six children, a brother and four sisters. Both of his parents sang and played guitar. Perkins taught himself to play at age 12. Music career Early years as a session guitarist 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 called "Quinvy's" 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." With Smith Perkins Smith 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, Family, and Vinegar Joe with Robert Palmer. With the Wailers While in Kingston in the Island Basing Street recording studios, Perkins had been working on the second Smith Perkins Smith album for Island when Chris Blackwell stopped him. "He said there was a Wailer project he wanted me to play on"