Lafayette Leake

Lafayette Leake (June 1, 1919 – August 14, 1990) was an American blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.

Biography Leake was born in Winona, Mississippi, in 1919. Information about his early years is sparse, but in the early 1950s he joined the Big Three Trio (replacing Leonard Caston) and began his association with Chess Records, where he worked closely with bassist, producer, and songwriter Willie Dixon.

Leake played piano on One Dozen Berrys, Chuck Berry's second album, released in 1958 by Chess. He was then on Berry Is on Top; Leake (not Berry's longtime bandmate Johnnie Johnson) played the prominent piano on the classic original rendition of "Johnny B. Goode", as well as "Rock and Roll Music". Leake played on numerous other Chess sessions from the 1950s through the 1970s, backing many Chess musicians, including Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, and Little Walter.

During the 1960s, Willie Dixon formed the Chicago Blues All-Stars, with Leake as resident pianist. Leake toured and recorded with this group until the mid-1970s. and recorded "Hidden Charms" with Dixon in 1988.

Besides being a respected performer, Leake was a composer.

Leake fell into a diabetic coma in his home in Chicago, where he remained undiscovered for several days, dying in hospital on August 14, 1990.

Major recordings Might is Right! (1960) Yambo/Weis Feel So Blue (1978) Black & Blue (France), reissued as Easy Blues (2002) With Chuck Berry One Dozen Berrys (Chess, 1958) Berry Is on Top (Chess, 1959) With Bo Diddley Hey! Good Lookin' (Checker, 1965) With John Lee Hooker The Real Folk Blues (Chess, 1966) More Real Folk Blues: The Missing Album (Chess, 1966 ) With Howlin' Wolf The Real Folk Blues (Chess, 1956-64 ) With Magic Sam Black Magic (Delmark, 1968) The Magic Sam Legacy (Delmark, 1968 ) With Sonny Boy Williamson The Real Folk Blues (Chess, 1947-64 )