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09-Mar-2020 | Lamont Butler


Lamont Butler

It was 50 years ago that a talented local musician named Lamont Butler started to create an album that would combine love, happiness and joy. Lamont’s only official release It’s Time For A Change has been very popular within deep record collectors but never saw the wider success it truly deserved. 

 

Born 1949 in Louisville, Kentucky; Lamont Butler was drawn to music and dance from the very beginning. He was the son of a well-known gospel, blues and R&B singer and pianist Clifford Butler Sr, receiving an early education in what’s required to be a touring musician.   Lamont would carry his dad’s equipment and help him set up at live gigs all over town but was never allowed to stay late. It wasn’t until he was 14-years old that he really became interested in singing, he started to hear melodies, see lyrics and really find his voice. Lamont joined a variety of groups as a backing singer predominately, where he performed in local churches and clubs around Louisville. It quickly became apparent that Lamont had a wonderful voice and was pushed to the front despite no being fully confident yet of his singing ability. Lamont performed on the gospel circuit for a number of years cutting his teeth with groups such as The Enterprise, The Dynamics and The New Beginnings eventually going solo with Lamont Butler and The Spirit of Truth. 

 

It was whilst he was singing and performing during this period that he started to write his own songs and think about putting together an album. With the support of his Dad and his family he was convinced to record the album at his Dad’s 4 track recording studio where he was able to bring together all of his influences from R&B, jazz, soul and of course Gospel. It’s Time For A Change was released nearly 10 years after Lamont started to pen the first tracks and it gained relative success. He toured the album around churches in Louisville with tracks such as Love One Another, Time For A Change and Ungodly War quickly becoming firm favourites within the churches of Louisville. Despite this popularity the album in Lamont’s own words “has only ever been released in Kentucky” and “never reached as many people as it should have”. This was partly due to the death of Lamont’s Dad who had been the guiding force behind the album and his career. At this point Lamont entered a period where he’d perform less regularly and ultimately dropped out of music seeking a living elsewhere. 

 

Miles Away Records are pleased to be working with Lamont and to be issuing a long overdue album reissue of It’s Time For A Change on LP and CD. Remastered with care by Nick Robbins at Sound Mastering and complete with in-depth sleeve notes from Lamont himself. 

 

Tracklist

 

Get Up And Praise The Lord

Brighter World

Thank You Lord

Love One Another 

Time For A Change

Come Into God’s World

Smile

Ungodly War