James & Lucky Peterson

James Peterson Artist Biography By Richard Skelly Alabama-Born And Florida-Based Guitarist Singer And Songwriter James Peterson Played A Gritty Style Of Southern-Fried Blues At Times Reminiscent Of Howlin' Wolf And Other Times More Along The Lines Of Freddie King. He Formed His First Band While He Was Living In Buffalo New York And Running The Governor's Inn House Of Blues In The 1960s. He And His Band Would Back Up The Traveling Musicians Who Came Through Including Blues Legends Like Muddy Waters Howlin' Wolf Big Joe Turner Freddie King Lowell Fulson And Koko Taylor. Peterson Was Born November 4 1937 In Russell County Alabama. Peterson Was Strongly Influenced By Gospel Music In The Rural Area He Grew Up In And He Began Singing In Church As A Child. Thanks To His Father's Juke Joint He Was Exposed To Blues At An Early Age And Later Followed In His Footsteps In Upstate New York. After Leaving Home At Age 14 He Headed To Gary Indiana Where He Sang With His Friend John Scott. While Still A Teen He Began Playing Guitar Entirely Self-Taught. Peterson Cited Musicians Like Muddy Waters Howlin' Wolf Chester Burnett Jimmy Reed And B.B. King As His Early Role Models. After Moving To Buffalo In 1955 He Continued Playing With Various Area Blues Bands And Ten Years Later He Opened His Own Blues Club. In 1970 Peterson Recorded His First Album The Father The Son The Blues On The Perception/Today Label. While He Ran His Blues Club At Night He Supplemented His Income By Running A Used-Car Lot During The Day. Peterson's Debut Album Was Produced And Co-Written With Willie Dixon And It Featured A Then-Five-Year-Old Lucky Peterson On Keyboards. Peterson Followed It Up With Tryin' To Keep The Blues Alive A Few Years Later. Peterson's Other Albums Included Rough And Ready And Too Many Knots For The Kingsnake And Ichiban Labels In 1990 And 1991 Respectively. The Album That Put Peterson Back On The Road As A National Touring Act Was 1995's Don't Let The Devil Ride For The Jackson Mississippi-Based Waldoxy Records. Throughout The '90s And Up To The Mid-2000s Peterson Was Also An Active Live Presence On The Tampa Florida Blues Scene And The 2000s Also Saw Peterson Record Another Duo Album With Son Lucky 2004's If You Can't Fix It On The JSP Label. Peterson Returned To Alabama In The Mid-2000s And Died Of A Heart Attack There On December 12 2010. A Master Showman Who Learned From The Best And Knew How To Work An Audience James Peterson Left A Legacy Not Only As An Accomplished Blues Guitarist But Also As A Crafty Songwriter Endowed With A Deep Gospel-Drenched Singing Style. Lucky Peterson Lucky Peterson Born Judge Kenneth Peterson December 13 1964 Buffalo New York Is An American Musician Who Plays Contemporary Blues Fusing Soul R&B Gospel And Rock And Roll. He Plays Guitar And Keyboards. Music Journalist Tony Russell In His Book The Blues - From Robert Johnson To Robert Cray Has Said "he May Be The Only Blues Musician To Have Had National Television Exposure In Short Pants." Peterson's Father Bluesman James Peterson Owned A Nightclub In Buffalo Called The Governor's Inn. The Club Was A Regular Stop For Fellow Bluesmen Such As Willie Dixon. Dixon Saw A Five-Year-Old Lucky Peterson Performing At The Club And In Peterson's Words "Took Me Under His Wing." Months Later Peterson Performed On The Tonight Show The Ed Sullivan Show And What's My Line?. Millions Of People Watched Peterson Sing "1-2-3-4" A Cover Version Of "Please Please Please" By James Brown. At The Time Peterson Said "his Father Wrote It". Around This Time He Recorded His First Album Our Future 5 Year Old Lucky Peterson For Today/Perception Records And Appeared On The Public Television Show Soul!. As A Teen Peterson Studied At The Buffalo Academy For Visual And Performing Arts Where He Played The French Horn With The School Symphony. Soon He Was Playing Backup Guitar And Keyboards For Etta James Bobby "Blue" Bland And Little Milton. The 1990s Were A Prolific Period For Peterson. Two Solo Bob Greenlee Produced Albums For The Chicago-Based Alligator Records 1989's Lucky Strikes! And The Following Year's Triple Play Remain His Finest Recorded Offerings. He Then Released Four More For The Record Label Verve Records I'm Ready Beyond Cool Lifetime And Move . While With Verve Peterson Collaborated With Mavis Staples On A Tribute To Gospel Singer Mahalia Jackson Called Spirituals & Gospel. Peterson Played Electric Organ Behind Staples' Singing. More Albums From Peterson Came After 2000. He Recorded Two For Blue Thumb Records Lucky Peterson And Double Dealin' And One For Disques Dreyfus Entitled Black Midnight Sun. In 2007 He Released Tete A Tete On JSP Records. In 2013 The Blackbird Music/55 Arts Club DVD Of Live At The 55 Arts Club Berlin Was Nominated For A Blues Music Award. Album If You Can't Fix It A Rare New Release From The Folk And Blues Reissue Specialist Label JSP James & Lucky Peterson's If You Can't Fix It Is The First Full-Length Collaboration By The Father And Son Bluesmen. Neither Man Overshadows The Other As They Take Turns Showcasing Their Own Songs And Each Man's Uniformly Fine Guitar Playing. The Best Track By Far Is James' Fiery "Cripple Man " One Of His Most Passionate And Driven Performances In Years On A Song That Has The Potential To Become A Modern Chicago-Style Blues Standard. Lucky's Standout Is The Epic "Too Young To Die " Which Evolves Into An Extended Guitar Duel Between Father And Son. In A Rather Unusual Turn For Traditional Electric Blues Recordings If You Can't Fix It Was Released In The Nascent SACD Super Audio CD Format Before It Was Available As A Standard Compact Disc. ~Review By Stewart Mason read less