Gulfport a second home for son of late Allman Brother bandmate

Lamar Williams Jr. said it’s been a few years since he last visited the Gulf Coast. And there’s good reason why the Macon, Ga., native hasn’t been to Gulfport in a few years — he’s been performing with his own band as well as doing lead singing duties in Oteil Burbridge and Friends as well as Les Brers, the Allman Brothers Band alumni group that features Burbridge and original ABB members Butch Trucks and Jaimoe.

But Gulfport will always be Williams’ second home.

“Both sides of my family live in Gulfport — my mother’s family and my father’s family,” he said. “My mom and dad moved to Macon after dad got the job.”

Brother for life

Williams is the son of Lamar Williams Sr., the Gulfport native who replaced Berry Oakley in the Allmans after Oakley died in a motorcycle accident in 1972, just a few blocks away from the spot where bandmate Duane Allman also was killed while riding a motorcycle in 1971.

Lamar Williams Sr., who grew up with Jaimoe in Gulfport, made his debut on the Allmans’ 1973 album “Brothers and Sisters,” the follow-up to 1972’s “Eat a Peach.” Although Oakley had recorded the bass parts for “Wasted Words” and “Ramblin’ Man,” Lamar Williams made a name for himself through tracks such as “Southbound” and “Jessica.”

He is mentioned on the Gulfport Boogie Blues Trail marker. Lamar Williams Sr. died of cancer in 1983.

Southbound

Although Williams, 38, grew up in Macon, he said he would spend the summers with his grandparents in Gulfport.

“We never had any family in Georgia, it was all about the Brothers,” Williams said. “Every summer, I would be here in Gulfport — I’m staying in a house off of (U.S.) 90 and all of the sudden I heard a train bust out, and it made me nostalgic because it reminded me of those days when I would stay at my grandmother’s.”

Williams said this is only the second time he’s been back to the Coast since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

“Last year was my first year back and things are different,” he said. “I was looking for a lot of stuff that isn’t there anymore, but you can tell it’s all moving in the right direction.”

Ramblin’ Man

Williams is on a hiatus with Les Bres and Oteil and Friends, as Burbridge is fulfilling his duties alongside Bob Weir and John Mayer in the Dead and Company.

“We have some more Les Brers shows lined up for the fall, and I’m working on a solo album right now,” he said.

He said it’s an honor to play in a band with his father’s old friends.

“It gives me goosebumps and chills just thinking about it — it’s so special it brings tears to my eyes,” he said. “Just being around Butch and Jaimoe, now don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t hold my dad’s jockstrap, but when I’m with them, it makes me feel like my dad and the way they treat me, it’s special, man.”

Les Brers plays to sellout crowds across the country as the band carries the spirit of the Allmans, who called it quits in 2014.

“The music of the Allman Brothers Band is still fresh — that’s what’s still appealing about it. I’m seeing the millennials come to the shows, and they are in the spirit, man — blues music does not get old,” Williams said.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Gulfport a second home for son of late Allman Brother bandmate."