Lloyd Lambert

Lloyd Lambert (born June 4, 1928 in Thibodaux , Lafourche Parish , Louisiana , † October 31, 1995 in New Orleans , Louisiana) was an American band leader and bassist in the genres of R&B and jazz . His most important recordings are the studio work for Guitar Slim on Specialty Records .

At the age of nine, Lloyd played the piano professionally, together with his father Adam, who was the guitarist in Teddy Johnson's jazz band. Teddy's band was booked for many concerts in the New Orleans area, where they accompanied artists such as Kid Howard and Kid Clayton .

At the age of 14 Lambert learned to play the trumpet and joined Hosea Hill 's Serenaders. Hill did not play an instrument himself, but was an important music impresario in Thibodaux, including running the Sugar Bowl club. While the Serenaders still played swing in the early 1940s , over the course of the decade they changed their style to rhythm and blues , following the musical tastes of the black audience. At the beginning of the 1950s, Lambert changed instruments again and has played bass ever since .

In May 1953, the Serenaders made a guest appearance at the Dew Drop Inn, an important music club in New Orleans. In the course of this engagement, the band became a member of a local musicians' union, the Musicians Mutual Protection Union. Since Hosea Hill was not a musician, the Union requested a name change. The result was the “Lloyd Lambert Orchestra”, which at the time consisted of Lambert on bass, Lawrence Cotton on piano, Joe Tillman , Gus Fontennette and Clarence Ford on saxophones, Oscar Moore on drums and John Gerald on trumpet. In addition, the band was introduced to the young pianist Ray Charles at the Dew Drop Inn , with whom they toured for some time. The most important acquaintance, however, was the one with Guitar Slim , whose permanent band would be the Lloyd Lambert Orchestra.

Hosea Hill signed Guitar Slim and brought him to Thibodaux, where he could rehearse with Lambert's band and perform in the area. With Slim's growing success, the band expanded to include the entire United States. Although the bassist and bandleader was critical of the musical abilities, especially the timing, of his frontman, he appreciated his qualities as an entertainer and adjusted the band accordingly to the imponderables of accompanying Guitar Slim's R&B. Slim's hit The Things That I Used to Do , which was released on Specialty Records in 1954 , featured the band Lloyd Lamberts, reinforced by Ray Charles on the piano, reached number one on the R&B charts and became a million-seller.

At a concert in Florida with Guitar Slim and BB King , Lloyd saw an electric bass for the first time and was one of the first musicians from the New Orleans area to buy an electric bass from Gibson . However, Lloyd had difficulty finding a suitable amplifier whose loudspeakers in larger function rooms were not constantly overloaded and thus broke.

Lambert's band played on all Specialty releases of Guitar Slim, but also accompanied other artists of the label, including Little Richard on its second recording session in November 1955. Lloyd Lambert was able to make a single under his own name with the instrumental pieces King Cotton and Heavy Place sugar by the label.

1956 followed the band Guitar Slim to Atlantic Records . Three quite unsuccessful singles and three years later the guitarist died unexpectedly. Lambert managed to keep the band together and had Hosea Hill book him as the backing band behind Nappy Brown . Soon, however, there was a falling out between Hill and Lambert.

Instead of going back to Thibodaux with the band, Lambert tried his luck as a studio musician with the Duke-Peacock label in Houston . There he was hired for eight years in Arnett Cobb's jazz band , which is why he had to get used to the double bass again. In Houston, he played at NASA parties on the occasion of successful rocket launches. In 1973 Duke boss Don Robey sold his label and Lambert went back to New Orleans, where he played with Snookum Russell and Thomas Jefferson . In 1981 he took over his own Dixieland combo.

In 1988 he helped again with the comeback of James "Thunderbird" Davis as R&B bassist on his album Check Out Times . He also accompanied Snooks Eaglin . Lloyd Lambert died of cancer on October 31, 1995 and was buried near his colleague Guitar Slim in his birthplace Thibodaux.

Discography

• 1955 - King Cotton / Heavy Sugar , Specialty 553

literature

• Jeff Hannusch: The Soul of New Orleans. A Legacy of Rhythm and Blues . Swallow Publications, Ville Platte 2001, ISBN 0-9614245-8-3 , Lloyd Lambert: Playing the Good Notes, pp. 116-119 (American English).