Lloyd Lambert

Lloyd Lambert (June 4, 1928 – October 31, 1995) was an American R&B and jazz bandleader and bassist who played and recorded for over 50 years.

Early years

Lambert's first job came at age nine playing piano with Teddy Johnson's band. He said, "My father used to play guitar with Teddy and they were good friends. Teddy told my dad, 'Prof he sounds pretty good. Bring your son out every Saturday when we get these little jobs.' Teddy had a good band, he used to hire a lot of musicians out of New Orleans like Kid Howard and Kid Clayton." Lambert stayed with the Johnson band until he was 14 years old.

1950s

After instruction on trumpet from his father, Lambert joined and toured the south with Hosea Hill's Serenaders. Hill was a scion of a family that owned land and farmed sugar cane. He opened the Sugar Bowl bar in 1932 in Thibodaux. Although not a musician, he formed Hosea Hill's Serenaders with Thibodaux's best musicians as the bar's house band. On nights when the band did not play at the bar he booked them at other nearby venues and in New Orleans. Hill often booked acts in conjunction with friend and business associate Frank Painia, who owned the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans. He took over Painia's management of flamboyant singer and guitarist Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones when Painia ran into trouble with his booking license.

In 1953, Lambert switched to bass and the Serenaders became the Lloyd Lambert Orchestra, touring briefly with a young Ray Charles. Guitar Slim had been playing with bands Frank Paina and promoter Percy Stovall put together. Huey "Piano" Smith, who had accompanied Slim, took him to meet Johnny Vincent, talent scout and producer with Specialty Records. After Slim signed with Specialty Records Lloyd Lambert's outfit began backing him on the road and in the studio. Since Lambert's band already had pianist Lawrence Cotton, Smith was forced out. Released in 1953, Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Do" topped the US Billboard R&B chart for six weeks and became the best selling R&B record in 1954. Lambert played on all of Guitar Slim's Specialty recordings and the majority of his work on Atlantic.

The Lloyd Lambert Orchestra toured with Guitar Slim until his death in 1959. The first electric bass was introduced by the Fender guitar company in 1951, and the Gibson company brought one out in 1953. Though Lambert played upright on "The Things That I Used To Do", all of his later work with Guitar Slim was on electric bass. Lambert later claimed, "I was the first guy in the state of Louisiana to play one". Lambert recalled at the time he played with "every kind of band." Wallace Davenport and Lillian Boutte.

Lambert put together his own Dixieland band in 1981, playing at the Maison Bourbon jazz club, and working in the French Quarter into the 1990s. He also toured worldwide with Lillian Boutte. "I never try to shine," he said of his style, "I just go up and do the job."