Cal Lampley (March 4, 1924 – July 6, 2006) was an American composer and record producer.
Lampley was born in Dunn, NC.[1] as the second child of Hettie Marina and William Lorenzo Lampley, and had a brother named William Elwood. He graduated with a B.S. from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. His first known music contribution was as an organist of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, which was pastored by Rev. Charles Jones and whose congregation included Frank Porter Graham, President of the University of North Carolina. The church became the first in Chapel Hill to integrate when some members of the Navy B-1 band began attending services and social events there and church-sponsored events at the Forest Theatre. B-1 was composed of the first African Americans to serve in the modern Navy at general rank, and most of its members had NC A and T connections and knew Lampley from Greensboro's lively music scene.[2] Lampley himself served two and a half years in the Army Infantry.[3]
Lampley moved to New York City in 1946 to continue his education at the Juilliard School of Music.[4] With an Artist Diploma in 1949 in piano after three years under the direction of piano teacher Irwin Freundlich and composer Richard Franko Goldman, Lampley debuted his performance as a pianist at the Carnegie Hall concert in 1950.
