MAJOR LANCE 
In 2007, Kent Records put together a CD called The Right Tracks, covering 29 of the recordings that Billy Butler made at Okeh Records. Writing for Allmusic, Richie Unterberger gives the CD 4½ stars and says: “First and foremost, [Billy] Butler, though far less celebrated than his older brother Jerry Butler, was a fine singer and songwriter in his own right, producing consistently good pop-soul discs that were rather reminiscent of the Impressions (and, at times, Major Lance, another Chicago soul artist with strong connections to Curtis Mayfield). In addition, if you are a fan of Mayfield’s mid-’60s work with the Impressions and as a songwriter/producer, this has some of his best overlooked work in the latter capacity.”
(July 2014)
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One of the hallmarks of the bandmembers in early punk rock bands is picking new names for themselves. Not everyone did that, and most musicians perform under their own names. For the record, as best I can tell, Frank Zappa, Fats Domino, Major Lance, Kris Kristofferson, and Stonewall Jackson are using their real names (with Fats being a nickname, though Major and Stonewall are not). Grace Slick is her married name; she was born Grace Wing. Most though not all of the one-name performers are also using one of their real names, with slight spelling changes and anglicizing here and there: Madonna, Prince, Jewel, Cher, Björk, Enya, Beck, Donovan, Morrissey, Liberace, Sade, Seal, Shakira, Rihanna, Adele, Dido, Melanie, Beyoncé, etc. (March 2017) |