Lamonte McLemore
{{short description|American vocalist}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Lamonte McLemore
| image = The 5th Dimension 1971.JPG
| caption = McLemore (top) with The 5th Dimension, 1971
| image_size =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Lamonte McLemore
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1939|09|17}}
| birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| instrument =
| genre = Pop music
| years_active =
| label =
| associated_acts = The 5th Dimension
| website = {{URL|http://www.lamontephotography.com}}
}}
Lamonte McLemore (born September 17, 1939) is an American vocalist, composer, and photographer. He was a founding member of The 5th Dimension, a popular vocal group of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Personal life
McLemore married Lisa Harvey and had a daughter named Ciara. In 2014, he wrote and published his autobiography with Robert-Allan Arno, From the Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension - A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography, and Music.{{cite web|title=From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension|url=https://www.amazon.com/Hobo-Flats-5th-Dimension-Photography/dp/0692307362#reader_0692307362 |first1=Lamonte|last1=McLemore|first2=Robert-Allan|last2=Arno|date=2014|access-date=6 July 2016|publisher=Amazon.com}}{{cite web|title=Interview with Lamonte McLemore|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUi4vkorFKA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/PUi4vkorFKA |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|date=10 June 2015|access-date=6 July 2016|publisher=YouTube.com}}{{cbignore}}
Biography
McLemore was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
He is a professional photographer for Playboy, Ebony, Jet, People, and Harper's Bazaar magazines.{{cite web|title=Lamonte McLemore Photography Website |url=http://www.lamontephotography.com/|access-date=21 June 2016}}
=Baseball=
McLemore was the first African American athlete to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals. After he moved to Los Angeles, he was a minor league strong-arm pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a short time.{{cite web |title=Lamonte McLemore |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/lamonte-mclemore-41 |website=The HistoryMakers |access-date=10 February 2020}}
=Photography=
After he graduated from high school, McLemore enlisted in the United States Navy, and worked as an aerial photographer. He co-founded Halmont Graphics with Cliff Hall, and worked there as a photographer beginning in 1958. McLemore was the first African American photographer hired by Harper's Bazaar magazine and was the photographer for Stevie Wonder's first album cover. McLemore has been a photographer for Jet and Ebony magazines for over forty years. It was because of his photo shoot at the Miss Black Beauty Pageant in the mid-1960s that he met Marilyn McCoo and Florence LaRue which ultimately led to The 5th Dimension being created.
=Songwriting=
He co-wrote two songs recorded by The 5th Dimension, A Love Like Ours (with Bob Alcivar){{cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/b880|title=Lamonte McLemore, Bob Alcivar - A Love Like Ours|website=45cat.com}} and The Singer (with Elliot Willensky).{{cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/965us|title=Elliot Willensky, Lamonte McLemore - The Singer|website=45cat.com}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Laura J. |date=5 January 2020 |title=Cliff Hall, an inventor who photographed Los Angeles high society, dies at 94 |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-05/cliff-hall-inventor-car-designer-corwin-photographer-los-angeles-black-community-dead-at-94 |work=Los Angeles Times |location= |access-date=}}
}}
{{The 5th Dimension}}
{{Grammy Award for Record of the Year}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLemore, Lamonte}}
Category:Musicians from St. Louis
Category:Singers from Missouri
Category:20th-century American composers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American male singers
Category:African-American composers
Category:African-American male composers
Category:African-American photographers
Category:American photographers