When I was ten years old, I remember my older cousins introducing me to some special new music that I would just love to repeatedly hear. This attractive and magnetic soulful sound captured the special sauce coming out of the windy city of Chicago.

Not the Muddy Waters blues of the 1950s, but the stylized R&B capturing fresh fans of a new 1960s generation. You had Major Lance, the Five Stairsteps, The Dells, and later The Chi-Lites.

Lance was the one who first caught my attention. He was born in Chicago in 1942. He passed from heart failure in 1994 at age 52. Major Lance was incarcerated for 3 years in the late 1970s for selling cocaine.

When the former Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia dropped a hint several years ago that she had music props in her gene pool, it took me awhile to connect all of the dots!

Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um was Major Lance's biggest hit. #1 on the 1964 R&B Charts. His 2nd biggest hit was 1963's "The Monkey Time," peaking at #2 on the national R&B charts.

Lance recorded most of his musical output on the Okeh label. Two songs were recorded on Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label:

1. "Stay Away From Me (I Love You Too Much)" Curtom 1953
2. "Must Be Love Coming Down" Curtom 1956 

With the 2026 election in Georgia of the USA's first African American female governor, many more will learn that Major Lance is the father of Keisha Lance Bottoms.

History is full of amazing stories. Its the ones that are real that fascinate us the most. Discover more about Major Lance in the interview following his performance.

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