Nick Lucas, né Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese (1897-1982) was an American singer and pioneer jazz guitarist, remembered as "the grandfather of the jazz guitar", whose peak of popularity lasted from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s. In 1922 he gained renown with his hit renditions of "Picking the Guitar" and "Teasing the Frets" for Pathé Records. In 1923, the Gibson Guitars proposed to build him a concert guitar with an extra deep body. Known as the "Nick Lucas Special," it has been a popular model with guitarists since. In the same year, he began a successful recordng career for Brunswick and remained one of their exclusive artists until 1932. By the late 1920s, Lucas had become well known as "The Crooning Troubadour" due to the success of the recordings he made for Brunswick Records. In 1929, he co-starred in Gold Diggers of Broadway. Thanks to his great success, he was provided with his own orchestra which was billed on his records as "The Crooning Troubadours". This arrangement lasted until December 1931. Lucas eventually left Brunswick in 1932 to go freelance. He made two recordings for Durium Records in 1932 for their Hit of the Week series. These would prove to be his last major recordings. Nick Lucas spent the rest of his career performing on radio as well as in night clubs and dance halls. He made a number of recordings for various small or independent labels. By the end of his career, he had sold over 84 million records. This wonderful rendition was recorded in 1930.
