Lamar Morris (September 30, 1938 – June 1, 2023) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer and musician. Between 1966 and 1973, he was a solo artist on the

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

label, charting in the Top 40 of

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

with "If You Love Me", which peaked at number 27.

Early life and career

Lamar Morris was born on September 30, 1938, in

Andalusia, Alabama Andalusia is a city in and the county seat of Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 8,805. History Andalusia was first settled in 1841 after flooding of the Conecuh River and the surrounding lowland ...

. Morris participated in both the 1968 and 1972 Presidential campaigns of

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

, for which he performed several songs including " Stand Up For America" and " Wallace in the Whitehouse". Morris was also a member of

The Bama Band The Bama Band is an American country music group composed of Lamar Morris (vocals, guitar), Wayne "Animal" Turner (guitar), "Cowboy" Eddie Long (steel guitar), Jerry McKinney (saxophone), Vernon Derrick (fiddle), Ray Barrickman (bass), Billy Earh ...

Hank Williams, Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style has been described as a blend of rock, blues, and country. He is the son of countr ...

's backing band. He wrote the song " Eleven Roses" for Williams.

Personal life and death

On June 24, 1960, Morris married Lycrecia Ann Guy (born 1941), half-sister of

They since divorced. In 1996, he married Cathy Diane Ross. Lamar Morris died in

Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama. The population was 76,143 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Auburn metropolitan area, Alabama, Aubu ...

on June 1, 2023, at the age of 84.

Charted singles

References

1938 births 2023 deaths People from Andalusia, Alabama American country singer-songwriters MGM Records artists Country musicians from Alabama Singer-songwriters from Alabama {{US-country-singer-stub