Biography
Born on 4 June 1928 in Thilbodaux, Louisiana, USA, and deceased on 31 October 1995, blues bassist Lloyd Lambert earned his chief reputation directing the group behind Guitar Slim at the height of the latter’s nationwide success during the 1950s. His earliest musical preparation centered on trumpet, yet his initial professional opening came with Hosea Hill’s Serenaders. Once Guitar Slim obtained a Specialty Records contract, Lambert assembled a touring unit drawn chiefly from that same pool of former Serenaders members. The electric bass he played—an instrument still novel at the time—appeared on every side Slim cut for Specialty and Atlantic, while Lambert simultaneously supplied support for Little Richard and Ray Charles. He also released a Specialty single of his own, the instrumental “Heavy Sugar.” After Guitar Slim’s passing in 1959, Lambert spent a period on the road with Nappy Brown before relocating to Houston. Session duties for the Duke and Peacock labels occupied most of the 1960s. He eventually returned to New Orleans and, in 1981, launched his own Dixieland ensemble, which held a regular engagement at the Maison Bourbon for the balance of the decade. In subsequent years he assisted in restoring the performing career of James “Thunderbird” Davis, who had once served as an opening act for Guitar Slim. Cancer ended Lambert’s life in 1995.