Obituary

Lamar “King Bee” Chase was born in California in 1953, into the family of a school-teacher and a policeman. Lamar played drums and then bass for a while, before focussing on guitar at the age of 14. He first learned by ear, playing along to jingles and theme tunes on TV.

Later Lamar played with John Lee Hooker, J.J. Malone, Lowell Folson, Tower of Power, Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, Pointer Sisters, while performing around the USA. On playing with the legends he said they would always help younger musicians, giving them time on stage if they had the talent, although "Hooker used to tell me to shut-up a lot!"

A song with 'King' in the title was a regular part of Chase's early sets. A fellow blues man, Cool Papa Sadler, suggested it should be his 'Blues Name' - and it stuck. In the 80s he became the leader of his own Lamar Chase Band, touring the USA.

In 1989, Lamar wanted to take his band around europe, and began in Amsterdam, on the suggestion of his drummer's wife, who had been there before. The band transformed into "Mam's Bad Boys", first finding large audiences in the Netherlands in 1990.

Lamar continued to play around the world in various bands up until his death in 2023.