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Lucky Peterson

Willie Dixon Took Him Under His Wing

Born Judge Kenneth Peterson in 1964, he became interested in blues at a very early age. His father, bluesman James Peterson, owned a club in Buffalo, NY, called The Governor's Inn. The club was a regular stop for blues legends such as Willie Dixon. Willie Dixon saw a five-year-old Lucky Peterson performing at the club and, in Lucky Peterson's words, "Took me under his wing." Months later, Lucky Peterson performed on The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show and What's My Line? Millions of people watched Lucky Peterson sing 1-2-3-4, which many music journalists call a cover of a James Brown tune. Lucky Peterson says his father wrote it. As a teen, Lucky Peterson studied at the Buffalo Academy of Performing Arts. There, he played the French Horn with the school symphony. But the world of lessons and musical theory held little interest for him. Soon, he was playing backup guitar and keyboards for Etta James, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Little Milton. The 1990s were a prolific period for Lucky Peterson. He released two solo albums for Chicago-based Alligator Records and four for the French label Verve. While with Verve, Lucky Peterson collaborated with Mavis Staples on a tribute to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, called Spirituals & Gospel. Lucky Peterson played organ behind Staples' singing. Both Staples and Peterson call this album one of their most satisfying. More albums from Lucky Peterson came after 2000. He recorded two for Blue Thumb Records, and one for Dreyfus. In 2007, he'll release a new CD on JSP records, called Tete a Tete. Today, Lucky Peterson lives in Dallas, TX. He still tours, but says he spends an increasing amount of time playing music for his church. He has four children. (quoted from wikipedia.org)

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