American blues guitarist “Philadelphia” Jerry Ricks, who mastered the sound of the 1930s' Delta Blues, died in a clinic in Croatia on Dec. 10. He was 67.
Mr. Ricks learned from and performed with blues greats such as Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Lightnin' Hopkins.
He and his wife, Nancy, moved to Kastav, Croatia last year after performing a concert in the country. His death was announced by the Croatian Music Union, which said he had been hospitalized in August after a stroke.
Mr. Ricks was born in Philadelphia and began playing guitar in the coffeehouse where he washed dishes.
He played throughout Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, recording albums in Germany, Hungary and Yugoslavia. In the 1990s, he returned to the United States to live in the Mississippi Delta before moving to Croatia.
