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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Major Lance| image = Major_Lance.jpg| caption =| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Major Lance| alias =| birth_date = birth date|1939|04|04|mf=y|birth_place = Winterville, Mississippi , U.S. http://www.oldies.com/artist-view/Major-Lance.html Major Lance profile. Oldies.com.| death_date = death date and age|mf=y|1994|09|03|1939|04|04|death_place = Decatur, Georgia , U.S.cite news|url= http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/05/obituaries/major-lance-55-soul-singer-in-60-s.html? sec=& pagewanted=print|title=Major Lance, 55, Soul Singer in 60's|date=1994-09-05|publisher= The New York Times |accessdate=30 December 2009| origin =| instrument = Human voice|Vocals | genre = Soul music|Soul , Pop music|pop , R& B | occupation = Singing|Singer | years_active = 1959& ndash;1994| label = Mercury Records|Mercury Okeh Records|OKeh Dakar Records|Dakar Curtom Records|Curtom Volt Records|Volt Playboy Records|Playboy Osiris Columbia Records|Columbia Soul Records|Soul Major Lance (April 4, 1939, 1941cite web|url= http://www.tsimon.com/lance.htm|title=Major Lance|publisher=tsimon.com|year=2005|accessdate=April 5, 2012Soul music A-Z 1995 p. 185 or 1942,The golden age of American rock 'n roll: Volume 3; 2002 p. 556Rhythm and Blues, Rap, and Hip-hop p. 161 & ndash; September 3, 1994) was an United States|American Rhythm and blues|R& B singing|singer . After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and " Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um ", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul . Although he stopped making records in 1982, Major Lance continued to perform at concerts and tours until his death in 1994.
Early life
Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi and was one of 12 children. Billboard (magazine)|Billboard August 10, 1963 p. 16 There has been some dispute over Lance's birth year; some sources say he was born 1941On This Day in Music History p. 96 or 1942 (as Lance claimed), while his gravestone states he was born in 1939.cite web|url= http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi? page=pv& GRid=7129182& PIpi=19862746|title=Major Lance's Gravestone|publisher=Find a Grave|accessdate=April 5, 2012 'Major' was his given forename ; it was not a nickname or stage name. http://home.iprimus.com.au/stephenbardsley/major_lance.htm Biography at The Northern Soul Nightshift Lance was also a Baseball player .
Lance moved with his family on the northwest side of Chicago in the Cabrini-Green projects,''Knocking on Heaven's Door: Rock Obituaries''. 2006. p. 390 a high-crime area, as a child where he developed a boyhood friendship with Otis Leavill , both attending Wells High School.cite book | publisher=University of Illinois Press | author=Pruter, Robert | year=1992 | page=272 This was the same school Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler went to.Contemporary Black biography: Volume 43 p. 136 Mayfield called him a "sparkly fellow, and a great basketball player, which is probably how we met. His hero was Jackie Wilson , and he was always coming round and looking through my bag for songs that I'd written but didn't want to do with the Impressions. He was pretty good at picking them, too."cite web|url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-major-lance-1448552.html|title=Obituary: Major Lance|last=Williams|first=Richard|date=September 13, 1994|publisher=The Independent|accessdate=April 5, 2012
Lance and Otis both toke boxing and were also singing as members of the Five Gospel Harmonaires.cite web|first=|last=|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4724/biography|pure_url=yes|title=Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine |publisher=Allmusic.com|accessdate=26 February 2009Allmusic|class=artist|id=p306900/biography|pure_url=yes Biography of Otis Leavill Cobb by Andrew Hamilton at AllMusic. Accessed April 15, 2012 http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Major%20Lance.html Major Lance. Soulwalking.co.uk Both of them also worked together at a drug store.cite web|last=Jack Kirby|first=Michael|url= http://www.waybackattack.com/lancemajor.html|title=Major Lance|publisher=Way Back Attack|accessdate=April 6, 2012
Career
Beginnings
Lance and Otis Leavill formed a group named the Floats in the mid-1950s but broke up before recording any meterial. Lance became a featured dancer on a local Television|TV show named "Time for Teens",Doowop: the Chicago scene p. 197 and presenter Jim Lounsbury gacve him a one-off record deal with Mercury Records. Mercury released his single "I Got a Girl", written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, in 1959, which was not successful. Because of this, Lance worked at various jobs over the next few years.
Okeh Records
In 1962 he signed with OKeh Records on Mayfield's recommendation. Major was constantly showing up at the Okeh offices, offering to run errands for Carl Davis, telling him about the record he'd once made and how he and Curtis Mayfield were friends from their childhood. His first single, "Delilah", was not successful, but established his partnership with a writing and arranging team of Mayfield, Carl Davis (record producer)|Carl Davis , and Johnny Pate , often with members of Mayfield's group The Impressions on backing vocals. Together they developed a distinctive, Latin music|Latin -tinged sound which epitomised Chicago soul in contrast to music recorded elsewhere.
Listen|filename=Monkey_Time.ogg|title="The Monkey Time" (1963)|description= Monkey Time was Major Lance's first successful hit song, and became Okeh's first hit single for 10 years.|format= Ogg |pos=rightThe second Okeh single, "The Monkey Time" (also written by Curtis Mayfield ), was Major Lance's first hit,cite journal | title=Jet Magazine | year=1963 | month=September| volume=24 | issue=20 | page=65 became a #2 Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs|R& B chart and #8 pop music|pop hit in 1963. "The Monkey Time" became Okeh's first hit single for 10 years.cite book | last = DeCurtis | first = Anthony | authormask = | authorlink = | coauthors = | firstn = | lastn = | authorn-link = | editor = | editorn-last = | editorn-first = | editor-link = | editorn-link = | others = | title = The Rolling stone illustrated history of rock & roll: the definitive history of the most important artists and their music | trans_title = | url = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | format = | accessdate = | edition = | series = | volume = | date = | origyear = | year = 1992 | month = | publisher = Random House Digital, Inc. | location = | language = | isbn = | oclc = | lccn = | doi = | bibcode = | id = | page = 173 | pages = | nopp = | at = | chapter = | trans_chapter = | chapterurl = | quote = "The Monkey Time" not only became Okeh's hit in 10 years | ref = | laysummary = | laydate = | separator = | postscript = | lastauthoramp = "That was my introduction with working with Carl Davis," Pate said. "We had a ball, making some very great music."The Man Behind the Music: The Legendary Carl Davis p. 185
A succession of hits followed quickly, including "Hey Little Girl", "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" (his biggest hit, reaching #5 in the US pop chart and #40 in the UK, where it was his only chart success), "The Matador" (the only one not written by Mayfield), "Rhythm", "Sometimes I Wonder", "Come See", and "Ain't It A Shame".Cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955-2002|edition= 1st|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn= 0-89820-155-1|page=397Cite book|first= Tim|last=Rice|year=1985|title=Guinness British Hit Singles|edition=5th|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|location=London|isbn=0-85112-429-1|page=126
In 1965, Pate left OKeh and Mayfield began to concentrate on working with his own group. Lance and Davis continued to work together, and "Too Hot To Hold" was a minor hit, but they had diminishing success before Davis in turn left the company.
Touring in the United Kingdom
During the 1960s period, Lance toured in the UK, where he was supported by Bluesology , a band including pianist Reggie Dwight, later known as Elton John .Buckley, David. (2007) Elton: The Biography . p. 47.
Over the next two years he worked with several producers, with only "Without a Doubt" becoming a minor hit in 1968. Soon afterwards Lance left OKeh and moved to Dakar Records, where he had the Top 40 R& B hit "Follow the Leader." He then moved to Mayfield's Curtom Records|Curtom label, which resulted in his last two Top 40 R& B hits, "Stay Away From Me (I Love You too Much)" and "Must Be Love Coming Down." One of Lance's song recorded at Curtom called "Stay Away From Me" was listed #4 in Jet Magazine's "Soul Brothers Top 20".cite journal | title=Jet Magazine | year=1970 | month=October | volume=38 | issue=26 | page=65 He left Curtom in 1971, and recorded briefly for the Volt Records|Volt and Columbia Records|Columbia labels.
In 1972, he relocated to England , so as to capitalize on the success of his older records among fans of Northern Soul music, in dance clubs which played mostly rare and obscure American soul and R& B records. According to one writer, "the Major's contribution was truly phenomenal and unforgettable...He was to become legendary as a UK club act, known to deliver 110% at every performance." In 1972 while in England he recorded an album, '' Major Lance's Greatest Hits Recorded Live At The Torch '', recorded at Golden Torch|The Torch , a club in Stoke on Trent ,cite web | url= http://www.discogs.com/Major-Lance-Major-Lances-Greatest-Hits-Recorded-Live-At-The-Torch/release/2602189 | title=Major Lance's Greatest Hits Recorded Live At The Torch | publisher=www.discogs.com | accessdate=January 16, 2012 which has been described as "perhaps the best Northern Soul album ever made".
Later Career
Lance returned to Atlanta in 1974, and recorded an updated disco version of "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" for Playboy Records . Billboard (magazine)|Billboard September 7, 1974 p. 18 He set up a new label, Osiris, with former Booker T and the MG's drummer Al Jackson, Jr.|Al Jackson , but again with little success, and his career hit a downward spiral. But he later found that his recordings had become popular on the beach music circuit in the Carolinas , where he continued to undertake live performances. He recorded a comeback album, ''The Major's Back , and several tracks for the Kat Family label.
Lance's final performance was in June 1994 at the 11th Chicago Blues Festival .
Personal life
Major Lance was married to Christine Boular Lance, and had nine children.cite web|url= http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/? date=19940904& slug=1928783|title=Major Lance, `Monkey Time' Singer|date=September 4, 1994|publisher=Seattle Times He was 6'6 foot tall.Rock N Roll Gold Rush: A Singles Un-Cyclopedia p. 250
Lance was arrested two times in his life. In 1965, Lance was arrested in violation of the Paternity Act. A Chicago Women, Para Lee Thomas, told she had a son named Ronnie Maurice Lance (born birth date and age|1964|01|13). She declared Lance who promised to pay her doctor and hospital bills around 375$, but defaulted in the payment. JudgeBenjamin J. Kanter issued for the arrest, setting Lance's bond at $1,000.cite journal | title=Jet Magazine | year=1965 | month=September | volume=28 | issue=23 | page=59 After recording briefly for the Motown Records subsidiary label Soul, he was convicted of cocaine possession in 1978 and served a four year prison term.The Guinness encyclopedia of popular music: Volume 3 p. 2070
In 1987, Lance was diagnosed with a heart attack , and became nearly blind from glaucoma.Kinda Music">cite web|url= http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/mlance.htm|title=Major Lance|publisher=Soulful Kinda Music|accessdate=April 6, 2012 As a result, he made no more recordings thereafter. In September of that year, he died in his sleepKinda Music"/> at the age of 55 of heart disease in Decatur, Georgia. He was survived by his family. He is buried at Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois.
Other media
On February 28, 1995, shortly after Lance's death, Sony released a CD Collection called "Everybody Loves a Good Time: Best of Major Lance". It features 40 recordings for OKeh from 1962-1967 on 2 discs. Allmusic reviewer Richie Unterberger gave the CD 4 and a half stars, calling it a "Delightful 40-song, double-CD compilation of Lance's best work for OKeh between 1962 and 1967, including all of the chart singles, quite a few misses and B-sides, five previously unreleased cuts, and some Curtis Mayfield songs from his debut LP."cite web | url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/everybody-loves-a-good-time-the-best-of-major-lance-r210369/review | title=Everyone Loves a Good Time: The Best of Major Lance | publisher= Allmusic | accessdate=December 9, 2011 | author=Unterberger, Richie Sony later released a shorter version of the CD Colletion simply named "The Very Best of Major Lance".
