James & Lucky Peterson - The Father, The Son, The Blues (1972)

Lucky Peterson was born as Judge Kenneth Peterson; December 13, 1964 in Buffalo, New York. 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 Peterson "under his wing." In 9691 he recorded his first album, "Our Future: 5 Year Old Lucky Peterson". Viewed as a child prodigy, Peterson got to perform on "The Tonight Show", "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "What's My Line?" in 1971, singing "1-2-3-4", a cover version of "Please, Please, Please" by James Brown. The song reached #40 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart.

In 1972 Lucky and father James recorded their first album together, "The Father, The Son, The Blues". It would be another dozen years before Peterson released a new album. In 1984 the now 19 year old issued "Ridin'" on Isabel Records (Evidence re-released in 1993 with a different cover). Alligator Records signed Lucky in the late 80s. The label released two LPs on him ("Lucky Strikes" in 1989 and "Triple Play" in 1990.)

In 1992 Lucky jointed Verve's subsidiary Gitanes Jazz Productions, resulting in five full albums ("I'm Ready", "Beyond Cool", "Lifetime", "Move" and "Lucky Peterson"). While on Verve, Peterson also collaborated with Mavis Staples on a tribute to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, called "Spirituals & Gospel" on which Peterson played electronic organ behind Staples' singing.

He started label-hoping in 2001 with the release of "Double Dealin'" on Blue Thumb. During this period he began a long standing relationship with JSP Records commencing with his second collaborative LP with father James ("If You Can't Fix It"). As of 2017 Lucky has four solo albums, three more collaborative albums (with Bernard Allison, Larry McCray and Carl Weathersby on "Triple Fret", with Andy Aledort on "Tête A Tête", and with daughter Tamara on "Darling Forever") and one "best of" collection for JSP. In between this activity Lucky released two LPs for Dreyfuss Jazz ("Black Midnight Sun", "You Can Always Turn Around"), two for Blues Blvd (with Tommy McCoy on "Lay My Demons Down" and the live "I'm Back Again") and one for Jazzbook ("Son Of A Bluesman").