# Jerry Ricks > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jerry_Ricks > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jerry_Ricks.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Ricks > Source revision: 1320576273 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American blues musician (1940–2007)}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Jerry Ricks | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Gerald Lawrence Ricks | alias = "Philadelphia" Jerry Ricks | birth_date = {{birth date|1940|5|22}} | birth_place = [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia), [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania), U.S. | origin = | death_date = {{death date and age|2007|12|10|1940|5|22}} | death_place = [Rijeka](/source/Rijeka), [Croatia](/source/Croatia) | genre = [Country blues](/source/Country_blues) | occupation = Guitarist, singer | instrument = | years_active = | label = | website = }} '''Gerald Lawrence "Jerry" Ricks''' (May 22, 1940{{spaced ndash}}December 10, 2007), often billed as '''"Philadelphia" Jerry Ricks''', was an American [country blues](/source/country_blues) [guitar](/source/guitar)ist and singer. ==Life and career== Ricks was born and grew up in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia), [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania), playing [trumpet](/source/trumpet) as a child. He started playing guitar in local [coffee shops](/source/caf%C3%A9) in the late 1950s. He worked as a booking manager for the Second Fret Coffee House in Philadelphia from 1960-1966, coming into contact with many key figures in the blues revival, including [Son House](/source/Son_House), [Lightnin' Hopkins](/source/Lightnin'_Hopkins), [Libba Cotten](/source/Libba_Cotten), [Jesse Fuller](/source/Jesse_Fuller), [Mance Lipscomb](/source/Mance_Lipscomb), and [Lonnie Johnson](/source/Lonnie_Johnson_(musician)). He recorded with [Mississippi John Hurt](/source/Mississippi_John_Hurt) in 1964.[http://www.wirz.de/music/ricksfrm.htm Jerry Ricks discography, ''Wirz.de'']. Retrieved 13 November 2016 In 1969, Ricks toured with [Buddy Guy](/source/Buddy_Guy) on a [State Department](/source/State_Department)-sponsored [East Africa](/source/East_Africa)n tour. After returning to the U.S. briefly to do field work in [Arkansas](/source/Arkansas) for the [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution), he moved to Europe in 1971. He lived in Europe for most of the 1970s and 1980s, only returning to the US in 1972 and 1973, when he recorded with [Hall & Oates](/source/Hall_%26_Oates) on ''[Whole Oats](/source/Whole_Oats)'' and ''[Abandoned Luncheonette](/source/Abandoned_Luncheonette)''.[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerry-ricks-mn0000336614/biography Biography by Richard Skelly, ''Allmusic.com'']. Retrieved 13 November 2016 In Germany, he recorded several albums with [Oscar Klein](/source/Oscar_Klein), and in Italy recorded with [Giulio Camarca](/source/Giulio_Camarca). His first solo album, in 1984, was recorded in [Zagreb](/source/Zagreb), at that time in [Yugoslavia](/source/Yugoslavia), and he also recorded albums in [Hungary](/source/Hungary), [Austria](/source/Austria) and [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland). He returned to live in the United States in the early 1990s.[http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/News/en-us/Finger-Pickin%E2%80%99-Delta-Blues-Leg.aspx "Finger-Pickin’ Delta Blues Legend “Philadelphia” Jerry Ricks, Dead at 67", ''www.gibson.com'', December 13, 2007]. Retrieved 13 November 2016 On February 17, 1991, he and John Oates performed "[Come Back Baby](/source/Come_Back_Baby)" at Hall & Oates' concert at the [Tower Theater](/source/Tower_Theater_(Pennsylvania)) in [Upper Darby](/source/Upper_Darby_Township%2C_Pennsylvania). His first American releases did not arrive until 1998, when [Rooster Blues](/source/Rooster_Blues) released his ''Deep in the Well''. The album was nominated for three [W.C. Handy Award](/source/Blues_Music_Award)s. ''Many Miles of Blues'' followed on the same label in 2000. In 2007, Ricks and his wife moved to [Kastav](/source/Kastav), [Croatia](/source/Croatia). He suffered a [stroke](/source/stroke) that year, and a benefit concert featuring [Shemekia Copeland](/source/Shemekia_Copeland) and [David Bromberg](/source/David_Bromberg) was held in the US to help pay his medical bills. He died on December 10, 2007, aged 67, in a hospital in [Rijeka](/source/Rijeka), Croatia. The biggest blues festival in Croatia, Kastav Blues Festival, was established in honour of Ricks. It has been held since 2008 and is still ongoing. Every year in the first week of August, eminent names of national, European and global blues musicians assemble in [Kastav](/source/Kastav), Croatia, to honour Ricks' influence. Ricks fathered two children: Jamie R. Ricks (June 11, 1963{{spaced ndash}}September 1, 2017) and visual artist Kellie L. Ricks (May 1964{{spaced ndash}}September 2020). ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080116072306/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gg0PNIOmeGrBjaLtqZ1Ojph74iXQ Blues Guitarist Jerry Ricks Dies at 67]. [AFP](/source/Agence_France-Presse) via [Google](/source/Google), December 12, 2007. {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricks, Jerry}} Category:1940 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Guitarists from Philadelphia Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:American expatriates in Croatia Category:20th-century American male musicians --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jerry Ricks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Ricks) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Ricks?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.