# Lucky Peterson, bluesman with a prodigious gift on both organ and guitar, has died at 55: Videos, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2020/05/21/lucky-peterson-bluesman-with-a-prodigious-gift-on-both-organ-and-guitar-has-died-at-55-videos-photos/
- Published: 2020-05-21T11:06:52+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Lucky Peterson, a keyboardist, guitarist and singer whose blues career kicked 
off with a novelty hit at age 5, eventually sprawling over dozens of albums and 
thousands of high-octane gigs, died in Dallas, Tx. on May 17. He was 55.**

His death was announced [on his Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/LuckyPetersonMusic/photos/a.154262927954185/2953262278054222/?type=3&theater).
Blues guitarist Shawn Kellerman, his longtime friend and band mate, said the cause
was a stroke.

Peterson radiated exuberant charisma as a performer, with the ability to lock into
a deep groove at any tempo. His singing, robust and rugged, showed the influence
of Chicago blues, and he took pride in rousing audiences both at home and abroad.
He had an especially strong fan base in France, where he was a perennial festival
draw.

“Lucky was a child prodigy as an organist, but he also became a hell of a guitarist,”
Michael Bourne, host of the Blues Break on WBGO, attests by email. “When I play 
some of the always incendiary instrumentals he recorded, I can’t always tell whether
he’s playing guitar or organ — and usually he’s burning both!”

Judge Kenneth Peterson was born on Dec. 13, 1964, in Buffalo, NY. He came from a
line of bluesmen: his grandfather had owned a juke joint in Alabama, and his father,
James Peterson, was a self-taught guitarist.

James Peterson also owned a club called The Governor’s Inn House of Blues, a Buffalo
institution and regular stop for artists like Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters
and Buddy Guy. The Peterson family lived upstairs from the club, and Lucky began
playing music as a toddler, initially sitting in on drums with his father’s band,
Jesse James And The Outlaws.

Then came the fateful day that he heard organist Bill Doggett in the club, falling
hard for the sound of a Hammond B-3. His father promptly set him up with lessons,
enlisting Buffalo native Dr. Lonnie Smith. “I thank my father, I thank God and I
thank Dr. Lonnie Smith for bein’ there,” Peterson said last year, in _Blues Blast_
magazine, “and doin’ what he did to get me started.”

[[

Lucky quickly got into the habit of playing organ behind bands that appeared at 
his father’s club. One of them was Willie Dixon, the prolific singer and record 
producer who had a key role in scouting talent and organizing sessions for Chess
Records. Dixon took young Lucky to Chicago, where he recorded an album, _Our Future:
5 Year Old Lucky Peterson._

One song from the album, “[1-2-3-4](https://www.youtube.com/embed/KnF7UNVOpEs),”
was patterned after James Brown’s “Please, Please, Please.” Released as a single,
with Dixon’s “Good Old Candy” on the flip side, it became a hit, breaking into Billboard’s
R&B Top 40 in 1971. The novelty of Lucky’s tender age proved an irresistible hook,
landing him on _The Ed Sullivan Show_, _The Tonight Show, Soul Train_ and more.

By age 8, he was doubling on guitar. At the Buffalo Academy For Visual and Performing
Arts, he also played French horn in the orchestra and sang in the choir. The Petersons
moved around during his childhood, leaving Buffalo for St. Petersburg, Fla., then
New York City, then back down to Tampa, where James opened the After Dark Club.

Lucky was living in Tampa, at 17, when he caught the attention of Little Milton,
with whom he toured for a few years. He spent another three years backing Bobby “
Blue” Bland. Then, working with producer Bob Greenlee at Alligator Records, he released
his debut album, _Lucky Strikes!_

The album was a success, leading to a follow-up, _Triple Play_, before Peterson 
was signed to a major label. He released a clutch of albums for Verve in the 1990s,
beginning with the aptly titled _I’m Ready_.

Among his other releases were a 3-CD set called _Organ Soul Sessions, _for EmArcy,
and _If You Can’t Fix It, _which featured his father. A 2010 Dreyfus album called
_You Can Always Turn Around _won the Grand Prix du Disque award — essentially the
French version of a Grammy — for Best Blues Album.

[[

Lucky Peterson performing at the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival.

Peterson worked often with his wife, Tamara Tramell Peterson, a singer who came 
up in the Dallas / Fort Worth scene. She was a part of his touring band and has 
appeared on most of his albums in recent years; a few, like _Darling Forever _and
_Whatever You Say_, prominently feature her as a coheadliner.

In addition to his wife, Peterson is survived by a daughter, Lucki Peterson; two
sons, Kenneth and Jaimon Peterson; a stepson, Tamaron Stovall; and a sister, LaShawn
Peterson.

Given that so many heroes of the blues have soldiered on into their 80s, the loss
of Peterson is sure to sting, despite a considerable head start. His most recent
album, released last fall, was titled _50 – Just Warming Up! — _a proud acknowledgment
of his half-century career, and a promise that will now sadly go unfulfilled.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.wbgo.org/sites/wbgo/files/styles/medium/public/202005/
Lucky-Peterson-03_preview-copy.jpeg?w=640&ssl=1)

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