Lamar Williams (January 14, 1949, Gulfport, Mississippi – January 21, 1983) was an American musician, most known as the bassist for The Allman Brothers Band and Sea Level.
After jamming with a Biloxi group known as the Fungus Blues Band, Williams joined the Allman Brothers Band in late 1972 after the death of original bassist Berry Oakley, and played in the band at the peak of their commercial success. When Williams auditioned, or ‘tried out,’ for the bass player gig with the Allmans, three songs in drummer Butch Trucks suddenly declared, “Enough of this tryout shit, let’s rehearse.” William’s style was more traditional than Oakley’s lead guitar-like approach, and freed the band’s drummers to be more adventurous.
Williams was found to have lung cancer in 1981, caused (his doctors believed) by exposure to Agent Orange during his stay in Vietnam. He died less than two years later, aged 34.