Lazy Bill Lucas (May 29, 1918 – December 11, 1982) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician who was part of the birth of the

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

scene in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. He then took his talents to

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, becoming an important part of that city's blues history until his death.

Early career

Born William Lucas to sharecroppers in Wynne, Arkansas, United States, Lucas's family was always looking for better living conditions and worked their way north to Southern

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, then to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

in 1940 and Chicago the year after. As a youngster, he sang on the streets of

Advance, Missouri Advance is a town located at the intersection of State Highway 25 and State Highway 91/Route C in northern Stoddard County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,349 at the 2020 census. Advance was founded ''circa'' 1882. The town is pro ...

, where the mostly white audience preferred

hillbilly ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural area, rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, ...

songs, but in St. Louis in 1940, he teamed up with blues singer

Big Joe Williams Joseph Lee Williams (October 16, 1903 – December 17, 1982) was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. Performing over five decades, he recorded the songs "Baby, Pl ...

and started singing for a black audience. Until 1946, Lucas played guitar on the streets, often at the side of

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp s ...

. Later that year, he formed a trio with

Willie Mabon Willie James Mabon (October 24, 1925 – April 19, 1985) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer, songwriter, pianist, and harmonica player. He had two number one hits on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' R&B chart, "I Don't Know (Will ...

and Earl Dranes, joined the Musicians Union, and enjoyed a two-week gig at the Tuxedo Lounge. For several years, he played in various blues combos and played in various clubs, bars and street settings. During this time, he played with

Johnny "Man" Young Johnny "Man" Young (January 1, 1917 – April 18, 1974) was an American blues singer, mandolin player and guitarist, significant as one of the first of the new generation of electric blues artists to record in Chicago after the Second World ...

, Jo Jo Williams,

Homesick James Homesick James (April 30, 1910December 13, 2006) was an American blues musician known for his mastery of the slide guitar. He worked with his cousin, Elmore James, and with Sonny Boy Williamson II. Early years Homesick James was born in Somervi ...

, Little Hudson,

Snooky Pryor James Edward "Snooky" Pryor (September 15, 1919 or 1921 – October 18, 2006) was an American Chicago blues harmonica player. He claimed to have pioneered the now-common method of playing amplified harmonica by cupping a small microphone in hi ...

, and

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

. In 1950, Lucas switched from guitar to piano and worked as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

for various blues bands, and appeared on records by Little Willy Foster,

and

. In 1954, while leading the trio Lazy Bill and His Blue Rhythms, he secured a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with

Chance Records Chance Records was a Chicago-based label founded in 1950 by Art Sheridan. It specialized in blues, jazz, doo-wop, and gospel. Among the acts who recorded for Chance were The Flamingos, The Moonglows, Homesick James, J. B. Hutto, Brother Joh ...

, who gave him one recording session. The company released one 78 rpm

phonograph record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

– "She Got Me Walkin'" b/w "I Had a Dream". In 1955 he headed an ensemble billed as Blues Rockers, who issued a single via

Excello Records Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. History It recorded such artists as Louis Brooks, Lightnin' Slim, ...

. The recording took place in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, with Lucas on vocals and piano, P.T. Hayes playing the harmonica, Earl Dranes on guitar and Jo Jo Williams supplying guitar, bass and drums.

Later career

As the 1950s progressed, work became harder to find, and during the 1960s, Lucas tried to get into the

folk-blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

scene but could not secure any contracts. From 1964 and well into the 1970s, Lucas straddled two careers: playing in various groups led by George "Mojo" Buford and playing solo or leading his own small groups. In 1970 he played in a revue, ''Dat Feelin, scripted by Black activist Milton Williams, at Minneapolis'

Guthrie Theatre The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions among Sir Tyrone Gut ...

, to show the range and history of

Afro-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

music. The same year Lucas appeared at the Wisconsin Delta Blues Festival, and the

Ann Arbor Blues Festival Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival is a music festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that started in 1972 from the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, which itself began in 1969. Although the festival has had a tumultuous history and suspended operations in 20 ...

. In France, record producer Michel Engelhard released two LPs, ''Lazy Bill Lucas'' (1969, vocals and solo piano) and ''Lazy Bill and His Friends'' (1970), in which he was featured with musicians George "Mojo" Buford (harmonica) and Jo Jo Williams (guitar). In 1973, he released an album of vocals and solo piano on Philo Records. In 1979, Lucas, who had played live on the radio in the 1960s, started hosting his own regular radio show, ''The Lazy Bill Lucas Show'' on

KFAI KFAI (90.3 FM) is a noncommercial community radio station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, broadcasting to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The station broadcasts programming for many of the diverse ethnic groups of the region, inc ...

in Minneapolis. Lucas died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...

in Minneapolis in December 1982, at the age of 64.

Discography

Singles

*Lazy Bill and His Blue Rhythms: "She Got Me Walkin" b/w " I Had A Dream" :

1148 (1954) *Blues Rockers: "Calling All Cows" b/w " Johnny Mae" :

2062 (1955)

Albums

*''Lazy Bill'' ''Lucas'':

Wild Records Wild Records is a record label based in Los Angeles, California(business side) . Started by Reb Kennedy, the label specializes in Rockabilly, Rock and Roll, Blues, Soul music, Soul, and other Traditional music, roots music. History Wild Records ...

12MO1 (1969) *''Lazy Bill and His Friends'': Lazy Records 12MO2 (1970) *''Lazy Bill Lucas'': Philo Records 1007 (1974) *''Have Mercy'': Cold Wind Records (1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Bill 1918 births 1982 deaths Chicago blues musicians African-American pianists American blues pianists American male pianists 20th-century male pianists American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Blues musicians from Arkansas People from Wynne, Arkansas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American pianists Singers from Arkansas Guitarists from Arkansas Guitarists from Illinois African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers