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"Chicago Rick" Lussie
1999 Inductee
First I would like to thank Tom Gary and the others for the
Iowa Blues Hall of Fame concept, and for my nomination as an initial
member.
I was born and raised in the Chicago area. I began playing the guitar in
1956 and soon after I formed a band with my friends.
We
were exposed to the Blues through radio station WOPA that played the
latest Blues records and did live broadcasts from the West Side clubs.
We would go to the clubs and soon met Magic Sam. He would let our
band sit in and through him I met most of the great Chicago Blues
musicians.
In the early ‘60s, I came to Des Moines to attend Drake University. I
met some other Drake students and we began playing at local clubs. We
played mostly standards, Rock, and I threw some Blues into the mix. Our
saxophone player, Howard Gray, mentioned he owned a Key Club on
Center Street called the Sepia Club. We were playing downtown one night
and on our break I asked Howard if we could go to his club. We went to
the Sepia Club and I never went back that night to finish the gig!!!
I played on Center Street for two or three years. During my vacations
and in the summer, I would go back to Chicago. One summer, I played with
Eddy Clearwater, and the next summer I toured with Luther
Allison, both friends I met through Magic Sam.
One night while playing on Center Street, bassist Ronnie McClain
and keyboard player Harlan Thomas, asked if I wanted to join
their band, the Soul Brothers. The band also included Gene
Jackson on drums and Willis Dobbins as vocalist. We played at
the Collins Club on Center Street, Vic’s on Keo Way, The Harper House,
The Sports Page Lounge on Cottage Grove, and The San Francisco Club on
Ingersoll. By that time, guitarist George Davis and vocalist Anita
Cooper were with the group. The Soul Brothers were a very popular
band and remained together for seventeen years. Unheard of in the music
business!! Back then, bands usually played as housebands for four to
five nights a week. We played R&B, Soul, and Blues. Outside
interests, job transfers and Disco developed, and the band was dissolved
in the early eighties.
In the late eighties, Harlan Thomas, George Davis and I formed the Platinum
Blues Band. Joining us were Rick Mosqueda on drums, Vince
Thomas on bass and Steve Clark on guitar. The Platinum Blues
Band played the Blues At Two Rivers Pub, Bagg's on University, and
Wellman's on Ingersoll. During those years I was also a special
education supervisor for the Des Moines Public Schools.
I am a founding member of the Central Iowa Blues Society and assisted
them with their Blues In The Schools project. I have recently
retired and look forward to getting out more to listen and play with the
younger Blues musicians. I am deeply appreciative of this award and
recognition.
"Chicago Rick" Lussie
December 1999
FEATURE PHOTO BY LORI
BOWLING
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