
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 25, 1993                   TAG: 9306250098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CLUB OWNER, R&B CHAMPION ARTHUR RUCKER DIES AT 73

Arthur James Rucker, who brought some of America's biggest rhythm-and-blues stars to Roanoke in the 1950s and 1960s, died at his home Monday. He was 73.

Otis Redding, James Brown, Fats Domino, Jackie Wilson and other national acts came to the Star City Auditorium and the Club Morocco because Rucker booked them there.

He managed the Club Morocco on Roanoke's famous Henry Street in the late 1950s and moved it to Sixth Street Northwest around 1960. In an interview last year, Rucker said that he and his wife and business partner, Leander, entertained James Brown, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, and other musicians at their home.

Rucker also invited young Roanoke musicians to jam at his club. They included jazz players who still perform here and in other cities, and members of two of the city's most popular home-grown bands - the Chevies and Premiers.

Byron Morris, a Maryland engineer and jazz saxophonist, wrote in the Roanoke Tribune last year that Rucker mentored a whole generation of black musicians in Roanoke.

His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Hamlar-Curtis Funeral Home chapel.

by CNB