Misplaced Pages

#961038

72-423: Black Cat Bones were a British heavy blues rock band that existed with various lineups from 1966 to 1970, when they became Leaf Hound . The band had English musicians Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke in its lineup, both of whom later helped form Free in 1968 with Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser ; Kirke and Rodgers then helped found the more successful British rock supergroup Bad Company in 1974. Rod Price

144-487: A Lone Ranger model acoustic guitar. His mother taught him basic chords, and he was soon playing bluegrass guitar in the family band. Mack recalled that when he was "seven or eight years old" an uncle from Texas introduced him to blues guitar and that when he was about ten years of age, an "old black man" named Wayne Clark introduced him to " Robert Johnson style guitar". He soon taught himself to merge finger-picking country guitar with acoustic blues-picking, to produce

216-464: A [vibrato arm]." Reportedly, the device was given its common nickname, " whammy bar ", in recognition of Mack's early demonstration of skill with it in "Wham!". While some of Mack's signature performance elements had appeared in early rock saxophone and keyboard solos, a seamless combination of all was essentially unheard in rock guitar before Mack. Rock historian Dave Stephens rates Mack's overall guitar sound "highly distinctive, dare I say, unique; in

288-452: A biography of Southern Rock guitar legend Duane Allman , guitarist and early Allman associate Mike Johnstone recalled the professional impact of Mack's rock guitar proficiency when he and Allman were starting out: Now, [in 1963], there was a popular song on the radio called 'Memphis'—an instrumental by Lonnie Mack. It was the best guitar-playing I'd ever heard. All the guitar-players were [saying] 'How could anyone ever play that good? That's

360-400: A brisk melodic blues solo within a rockabilly/ Memphis soul framework, augmented by a rock drum-beat. It represented a significant advance in rock guitar virtuosity, beyond both the prevailing chords-and-riffs standard of Chuck Berry and the "inherently simple" melodic solos of earlier rock guitar icons, e.g., Link Wray , Duane Eddy and Hank Marvin . Mack recalled that, upon recording

432-421: A collaboration with his blues-rock disciple, guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan . Vaughan persuaded Mack to return to the studio, with Vaughan in production and backup roles, but Mack's return was postponed by a lengthy illness that Mack attributed to "so much drinkin' and carryin' on". In 1985, Mack staged a "full-fledged comeback" with the blues-rock album, Strike Like Lightning (co-produced by Vaughan and Mack),

504-476: A few years earlier, when his keyboardist, Denzil "Dumpy" Rice, who normally sang and played the Berry tune, missed a performance. Mack didn't know the tune's lyrics, but when the audience called for it, he improvised a highly embellished electric guitar instrumental grounded in Berry's melody. He made the instrumental a regular feature of his live act, calling it simply "Memphis". As recorded in 1963, "Memphis" featured

576-525: A form of heavy rock. Jimmy Page , who replaced Beck in the Yardbirds, followed suit with Led Zeppelin and became a major force in the 1970s heavy metal scene. Other blues rock musicians in the 1970s include Dr. Feelgood , Rory Gallagher and Robin Trower . Beginning in the early 1970s, American bands such as Aerosmith fused blues with a hard rock edge. Blues rock grew to include Southern rock bands, like

648-433: A great honor to be able to [inspire other artists]. What you do in this business, your whole thing is givin' stuff away. But that makes you feel good, makes you feel like you've really done something." Mack was closely identified with the distinctive-looking Gibson Flying V guitar that first appeared in 1958. When he was seventeen, he bought the seventh Flying V off the first-year production line, naming it "Number 7". Mack

720-908: A hybrid style which, Mack said, "sounded like rockabilly , but before rockabilly". His musical influences remained diverse as he refined his playing and singing styles. In his pre-teen years, Mack was mentored by blind singer-guitarist Ralph Trotto, a country - gospel performer. Mack would skip school to play music with Trotto at the latter's house. Mack cited country picker Merle Travis , blues guitarist T-Bone Walker , R&B guitarist Robert Ward , and pop/jazz guitarist Les Paul as significant guitar influences. Significant vocal influences included R&B singers Jimmy Reed , Ray Charles , Bobby "Blue" Bland , and Hank Ballard , country singer George Jones , traditional black gospel singer Archie Brownlee , and soul music singer Wilson Pickett . Mack recorded tunes associated with most of these artists. Mack's career-long pattern of switching and mixing within

792-689: A more aggressive sound common to rock. In the UK, the style was popularized by groups such as the Rolling Stones , the Yardbirds , and the Animals , who put several blues songs into the pop charts. In the US, Lonnie Mack , the Paul Butterfield Blues Band , and Canned Heat were among the earliest exponents. Some of these bands also played long, involved improvisations as were then commonplace on jazz records. In

SECTION 10

#1732891657962

864-474: A multi-genre (but country-flavored) LP with a vocal emphasis. It included only one track showcasing his guitar virtuosity, "Asphalt Outlaw Hero". The Hills of Indiana attracted little attention. Mack had begun missing the fun of small-town performance venues early in his time with Elektra and soon soured on the fantasy of rock celebrity status. "[It had] a lot to do with how much value you put on money as opposed to what makes you happy. I wasn't happy. So one of

936-427: A series of compilations. In the mid-1960s, however, Mack's commercial prospects were stymied by Fraternity's thin financial resources and, even more, by the arrival of the overwhelmingly popular British Invasion only two months after release of The Wham of that Memphis Man . "It looked like the guitar wizard was ready to bust out when the music world was turned on its ear. [In] February 1964, The Beatles appeared on

1008-613: A then-perceived "peculiar running quality" at "a million notes per minute". By 1963, the year of "Memphis" and "Wham!", Mack's ability to rapidly "exploit the entire range" of the guitar with "top-quality technique" and "pristine" phrasing was considerably above the rock music standard. In "Memphis", "Wham!", "Chicken Pickin", "Suzie-Q", and other early-1960s instrumentals, he augmented rock guitar's then-prevailing chords-and-riffs accompaniment style with brisk leads combining melodies, runs, and "mature blues chops". His pattern of alternating between agile melodic leads and rhythmic chordal riffs

1080-486: A tour featuring guest appearances by Vaughan, Ry Cooder , Keith Richards , and Ronnie Wood , and a concert at Carnegie Hall with Albert Collins and Roy Buchanan . In 1986, Mack joined Buchanan and Dickey Betts for the Great American Guitar Assault Tour. He released three more albums over the next four years, including his last, in 1990, a blues-rock LP entitled Lonnie Mack Live! – Attack of

1152-475: A variety of sources, Mack similarly influenced guitarists Joe Bonamassa (blues rock), Eric Clapton (blues rock), Duane Allman (Southern rock), Gary Rossington (Southern rock), Steve Gaines (Southern rock), Dan Toler (Southern rock), Mike Bloomfield (blues rock), Jerry Garcia (psychedelic rock), Jimi Hendrix (psychedelic blues rock), Keith Richards (blues rock), Jimmy Page (blues rock), and Danny Gatton (blues rock; jazz rock). Mack said: "It's

1224-399: A whole different level. You had to really play now. [B]efore Lonnie, the sax guys did all of the lead work. He made the guitar the preeminent lead instrument. Mack's early-1960s guitar tracks are said to have set the stage for blues-rock guitar and Southern rock guitar, styles that first enjoyed broad popularity a few years later. From Legends of Rock Guitar (1997): [Mack] is essentially

1296-775: Is Cream 's " Crossroads ". Although it was adapted from Robert Johnson 's " Cross Road Blues ", the bass "combines with drums to create and continually emphasize continuity in the regular metric drive". Rock music uses driving rhythms and electric guitar techniques such as distortion and power chords already used by 1950s electric blues guitarists, particularly Memphis bluesmen such as Joe Hill Louis , Willie Johnson and Pat Hare . Characteristics that blues rock adopted from electric blues include its dense texture, basic blues band instrumentation, rough declamatory vocal style, heavy guitar riffs , string-bending blues-scale guitar solos, strong beat, thick riff-laden texture, and posturing performances. Precursors to blues rock included

1368-595: The Blue Horizon blues record label, Kossoff, Kirke and Stuart Brooks backed veteran blues pianist Champion Jack Dupree on his 1968 album When You Feel the Feeling You Was Feeling , and played on his concurrent UK tour. Kossoff and Kirke left the band soon after. Guitarist Rod Price and drummer Phil Lenoir replaced Kossoff and Kirke. Along with Short and the Brooks brothers, they recorded Barbed Wire Sandwich ,

1440-688: The Chicago blues musicians Elmore James , Albert King , and Freddie King , who began incorporating rock and roll elements into their blues music during the late 1950s to early 1960s. 1963 marked the appearance of American rock guitar soloist Lonnie Mack , whose idiosyncratic, fast-paced electric blues guitar style came to be identified with the advent of blues rock as a distinct genre. His instrumentals from that period were recognizable as blues or rhythm and blues tunes, but he relied heavily upon fast-picking techniques derived from traditional American country and bluegrass genres. The best-known of these are

1512-722: The Ed Sullivan Show, and Mack's [recording] career withered on the vine." Although his recording career had stalled out, Mack stayed busy as a performer, criss-crossing the country with one-night stands. "The '60s, man, we was full of piss and vinegar, nothing bothered us. We had bennies , like the truckers had [and] we just stayed on the road all the time." During that time, "[we] performed with just about everybody, [from] Jimi Hendrix [to] The Everly Brothers , Chuck Berry , and Dick and Dee Dee ." He also took on session work with James Brown , Freddie King , Joe Simon , Albert Washington, and other R&B/soul artists. In 1968, at

SECTION 20

#1732891657962

1584-608: The Fillmore West , and the Cow Palace . He opened for the Doors and Crosby, Stills & Nash and shared the stage with Johnny Winter , Elvin Bishop and other popular rock and blues artists of the time. It was the hippie era, however, and Mack's rustic, blue-collar persona made for a rough fit with commercial rock's target demographic. John Morthland wrote: "[All] the superior chops in

1656-529: The (music) business." In 1971, with his Elektra contract completed, Mack went home to southern Indiana, where, for more than a decade, he was a roadhouse performer, sideman , and low-profile country/bluegrass recording artist. During this period, he also owned and operated a nightclub in Covington, Kentucky, and an outdoor country music venue in Friendship, Indiana. In 1974, his composition "Watch Out for Lucy"

1728-433: The 1963 Billboard hit singles " Memphis " and "Wham!". Around the same time, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was formed. Fronted by blues harp player and singer Paul Butterfield , it included two members from Howlin' Wolf 's touring band, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay , and later two electric guitarists, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop . In 1965, its debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

1800-457: The 1980s, but his debut album (released October 1963) is widely considered the centerpiece of his career. It became a perennial critics' favorite: He recorded many additional sides for Fraternity between 1963 and 1967, but few, if any, were broadly released or strongly promoted, and none charted. Three decades later, Ace Records (UK) packaged the entirety of Mack's Fraternity output (previously released, unreleased, alternate takes, and demos) in

1872-530: The 1990s, which saw guitarists Gary Moore , Jeff Healey , and Kenny Wayne Shepherd become popular concert attractions. Female blues singers such as Bonnie Raitt , Susan Tedeschi , Sue Foley , Joanne Shaw Taylor and Shannon Curfman recorded blues rock albums. Groups such as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and the White Stripes brought an edgier, more diverse style into the 2000s, while

1944-644: The Allman Brothers Band , ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd , while the British scene, except for the advent of groups such as Status Quo and Foghat , became focused on heavy metal innovation. While blues rock and hard rock shared many similarities in the early 1970s, more traditional blues styles influenced blues rock in the 1980s, when the Fabulous Thunderbirds , Stevie Ray Vaughan , Georgia Satellites and Robert Cray recorded their best-known works, and

2016-587: The Black Keys returned to basics. Gary Clark Jr. , known for his fusing of blues, rock and soul, has been classified as a blues rock artist, with Rolling Stone ' s Jonathan Bernstein referring to Clark's albums Blak and Blu (2012) and The Story of Sonny Boy Slim (2015) as "steeped in a sleek, modern blues-rock production style". Formed in 2017, Bulls of Prey is a successful Hungarian band in this genre. Lonnie Mack Lonnie McIntosh (July 18, 1941 – April 21, 2016), known as Lonnie Mack ,

2088-527: The British blues circuit and later moved to California. Bob Weston , later of Fleetwood Mac , also spent time in the band. Blues rock Blues rock started with rock musicians in the United Kingdom and the United States performing American blues songs. They typically recreated electric Chicago blues songs, such as those by Willie Dixon , Muddy Waters , and Jimmy Reed , at faster tempos and with

2160-581: The Brunning Sunflower Blues Band; after adding drummer Keith George Young, the outfit became the hard rock band Leaf Hound in 1970. Also in 1970, Lenoir joined Steve Peregrin Took 's band Shagrat . Rod Price later went on to become the guitarist in Foghat from December 1970. Pete French joined Atomic Rooster and later Cactus with the remnants of Vanilla Fudge . Mick Halls played for many years on

2232-555: The Doors and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin , also adapted songs by blues artists to include elements of rock. Butterfield, Canned Heat, and Joplin performed at the Monterey (1967) and Woodstock (1969) festivals. In the UK, several musicians honed their skills in a handful of British blues bands, primarily those of Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner . While the early British rhythm and blues groups, such as

Black Cat Bones - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-472: The I. The Allman Brothers Band 's version of " Stormy Monday ", which uses chord substitutions based on Bobby "Blue" Bland 's 1961 rendition, adds a solo section where "the rhythm shifts effortlessly into an uptempo 6/8-time jazz feel". The key is usually major , but can also be minor , such as in " Black Magic Woman ". One notable difference is the frequent use of a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm instead of triplets usually found in blues. An example

2376-571: The Killer V , then retired from recording. He continued to perform, mostly in small venues, until 2004. Shortly before Mack's birth, his family moved from Appalachian (eastern) Kentucky to Dearborn County , Indiana , on the banks of the Ohio River. One of five children, he was born to parents Robert and Sarah Sizemore McIntosh on July 18, 1941, in West Harrison , Indiana, near Cincinnati, Ohio. He

2448-524: The Killer V! . Then, worn from the constant touring required to sell records, he ended his recording career. However, he continued to play the roadhouse and festival circuits at his own pace through 2004. On March 12, 1963, at the end of a recording session backing the Charmaines , Mack was offered the remaining twenty minutes of studio-rental time. He recorded an energetic instrumental take-off on Chuck Berry 's " Memphis, Tennessee ". He had improvised it

2520-419: The Rolling Stones , the Yardbirds , and the Animals , incorporated American R&B , rock and roll , and pop , John Mayall took a more distinctly electric blues approach. In 1966, he released Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton , the first of several influential blues rock albums. When Eric Clapton left Mayall to form Cream , they created a hybrid style with blues, rock, and jazz improvisation , which

2592-483: The UK, and performances with Chuck Berry. Still in 1963, Mack released "Wham!", a gospel-esque guitar rave-up. It reached No. 24 on Billboard's Pop chart in September. Although "Memphis" was the bigger hit, many associate the faster-paced "Wham!" (and the lesser-known, but still faster "Chicken-Pickin" from 1964) with the guitar style he pioneered. From Legends of Rock Guitar : [In Wham! , Mack] can be heard using

2664-621: The area's casket and whiskey factories." At 15, he was performing on local TV with his band, the Twilighters. He played guitar on several low-circulation recordings in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s he became a session guitarist with Fraternity Records , a small Cincinnati label. In 1963, he recorded two hit singles for Fraternity, the proto-blues-rock guitar instrumentals "Memphis" and "Wham!". He soon recorded additional tunes to flesh out his debut album, The Wham of that Memphis Man . Mack made some notable recordings later, particularly in

2736-600: The band's only album. It was recorded at Tangerine Studios and Decca Studios, and released in February 1970 on Decca's newly launched Nova label dedicated to progressive rock music. When the album failed to win the band critical acclaim, Short, Price and Lenoir left the band, effectively ending its existence. Short went on to create a solo album entitled Anything for a Laugh in 1971, which also failed to win critical acclaim. Remaining band members Derek and Stuart Brooks were joined by vocalist Pete French and guitarist Mick Halls from

2808-482: The best-feeling moments I ever had was when that L.A. sign was in my rear-view mirror and I was free again." On another occasion, Mack said: "Seems like every time I get close to really making it, to climbing to the top of the mountain, that's when I pull out. I just pull up and run." Upon Mack's death in 2016, music historian Dick Shurman observed that Mack's temperament "wasn't suited to stardom. I think he'd rather have been hunting and fishing. He didn't like cities or

2880-402: The chordal licks of early rock guitar greats, but he infuses his breaks with string bends, pentatonic runs, and mature blues chops, all of which eventually became trademarks of Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield and Stevie Ray Vaughan...A tight chordal riff laid over a fast boogie-woogie rhythm sets the tone for the cut, which contains guitar breaks, vibrato arm highlights, echoey single-note lines, and

2952-527: The chronological significance of Lonnie Mack for the world of rock guitar is that much more remarkable. Southern rock ( Allman Brothers ) lead guitarist Warren Haynes expressed a similar assessment: Guitar players, true musicians, and real music fans realize that Lonnie was the Jimi Hendrix of his time. Between the era of Chuck Berry and the era of Hendrix there were a handful of guitar players like Lonnie Mack who were making ground-breaking music that paved

Black Cat Bones - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-423: The core of the music played on album-oriented rock radio in the United States, and later the classic rock format established there during the 1980s. Blues rock can be characterized by bluesy improvisation , extended boogie jams typically focused on electric guitar solos, and often a heavier, riff -oriented sound and feel to the songs than found in typical Chicago-style blues . Blues rock bands "borrow[ed]

3096-436: The early rock era only Link Wray and Duane Eddy could match him for instant recognition." Although notable commercial success was periodic and fleeting, Mack's early-1960s recordings became rock guitar trendsetters. They raised the bar for rock guitar proficiency, helped propel the electric guitar to the top of soloing instruments in rock, and served as prototypes for the genres of blues rock and Southern rock. Interviewed for

3168-523: The early-mid-1960s) and his power trios , the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys , had a broad and lasting influence on the development of blues rock, especially for guitarists. Clapton continued to explore several musical styles and contributed to bringing blues rock into the mainstream. In the late 1960s, Jeff Beck , with his band the Jeff Beck Group , developed blues rock into

3240-458: The end, his "influence and standing among musicians far exceeded his (commercial) success." In 1954, at age 13, Mack dropped out of school after a fight with a teacher. Large and mature-looking for his age, he obtained a counterfeit ID and began performing professionally in bars around Cincinnati with a band led by drummer Hoot Smith. As a 14-year-old professional electric guitarist in 1955, he "was earning $ 300. per week—more than most workers in

3312-425: The entire range of white and black Southern roots music genres made him "as difficult to market as he was to describe." He enjoyed periods of significant commercial success as a rock artist in the 1960s and 1980s, but was mostly absent from the rock spotlight for two long stretches of his career (1971–1984 and 1991–2004), during which he continued to perform, mostly in small venues, as a roots-rock "cult figure". In

3384-454: The height of the blues-rock era, Elektra Records bought out Mack's dormant Fraternity recording contract and moved him to Los Angeles to record three albums. In November 1968, the newly founded Rolling Stone magazine published a rave review of Mack's discontinued 1963 debut album, persuading Elektra to re-issue it. He was soon performing in major rock venues, including the Fillmore East ,

3456-404: The idea of an instrumental combo and loud amplification from rock & roll". It is also often played at a fast tempo, again distinguishing it from the blues. Blues rock songs often follow typical blues structures, such as twelve-bar blues , sixteen-bar blues , etc. They also use the I - IV - V progression, though there are exceptions, some pieces having a "B" section, while others remain on

3528-445: The late 1960s and early 1970s, the style became more hard rock-oriented. In the US, Johnny Winter , the early Allman Brothers Band , and ZZ Top represented a hard rock trend, along with Led Zeppelin , Ten Years After , Savoy Brown , and Foghat in the UK. In the 1980s, more traditional blues styles influenced blues rock, which continues into the 2000s, with more of a return to basics. Along with hard rock, blues rock songs became

3600-618: The late 1960s. According to The New York Times , Mack's guitar style was "a seminal influence on a long list of British and American" rock guitar soloists. Those who have claimed Mack as a major or significant influence include Stevie Ray Vaughan (blues rock), Jeff Beck (blues rock, jazz-rock), Neil Young (hard rock; country-tinged folk rock), Ted Nugent (hard rock), Dickey Betts (Southern rock), Warren Haynes (Southern rock), Ray Benson (Western swing), Bootsy Collins (funk), Adrian Belew (impressionist rock), Wayne Perkins (multi-genre), and Tyler Morris (multi-genre). According to

3672-517: The missing guitar link between the twangy, multi-string riffing of rockabilly and the bluesy, string-pushing players of the mid-sixties. He also made the crucial bridge between the black blues and white hillbilly music via his lead work...In all, it is not an exaggeration to say that Lonnie Mack was well ahead of his time in 1963. His bluesy solos predated the pioneering blues-rock guitar work of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Mike Bloomfield by nearly two years. [Since] they are considered "before their time",

SECTION 50

#1732891657962

3744-536: The new bar. That's how good you have to be now.' Another player of that era observed: "Lonnie Mack made the other guitar-slingers of the day – Duane Eddy , Dick Dale , the Ventures – sound tame by comparison. Only Travis Wammack and Link Wray came close." Mack's "edgy, aggressive, loud, and fast" blues guitar sound is also credited with a key role in the electric guitar's rise to the top of soloing instruments in rock. Blues critic Shawn Hagood wrote: His playing

3816-544: The next fourteen years he functioned as a low-profile multi-genre recording artist, roadhouse performer, sideman, and music-venue proprietor. In 1985, Mack resurfaced with a successful blues rock LP, Strike Like Lightning , a promotional tour featuring celebrity guitarist sit-ins, and a Carnegie Hall concert with Roy Buchanan and Albert Collins . In 1986, he went on the Great American Guitar Assault Tour with Buchanan and Dickey Betts . In 1990, he released another well-received blues rock album, Lonnie Mack Live! Attack of

3888-427: The pitch selectively. He typically cradled the arm in the fourth finger of his picking hand, toggling it while continuing to pick. He often fanned it rapidly to the tempo of his simultaneous tremolo picking , to produce a machine-gunned, single-note, "shuddering" sound. Neil Young considers Mack a vibrato arm pioneer: "Did I do that first? No. You've got to look at guys like Lonnie Mack. He showed everybody how to use

3960-497: The predominant chords-and-riffs pattern of early rock guitar. These tracks raised the bar for rock guitar proficiency, helped launch the electric guitar to the top of soloing instruments in rock, and served as prototypes for the lead guitar styles of blues rock and Southern rock that soon followed. Shortly after the album's release, however, the British Invasion hit American shores, and Mack's recording career "withered on

4032-459: The repetitive string-pushing licks that eventually became so prevalent in Jeff Beck's guitar style. Mack's early guitar recordings remain closely identified with the dawn of virtuoso blues-rock guitar. Music critic Bill Millar: "The term ‘influential’ is applied to almost anyone these days but there's still a case for saying that the massively popular blues-rock guitar genre can be traced way back to

4104-460: The strength, power and emotional passion of Lonnie Mack." While still a child, Mack learned fleet-fingered bluegrass and country guitar styles while playing at home in his "family band". By his late teens, Mack had expanded his six-string repertoire to include blues, rockabilly, and the percussive chordal riffing of early rock's Chuck Berry . In the early 1960s, using a bluegrass-style flatpicking technique, he innovated rock guitar solos with

4176-483: The stuff I did there." At that point in his career, Mack took a break from performing and recording. According to Robbie Krieger , lead guitarist of Elektra label-mate the Doors, Mack was seen during this period "selling Bibles out of the back of his car." He also worked for Elektra's A&R department, helping to recruit new talent. In 1971, with one album left to complete his contract with Elektra, Mack moved to Nashville . There, he recorded The Hills of Indiana ,

4248-662: The tune, "It didn't mean a thing to me. I left to go on the road. We hit every roadhouse between Cincinnati and Miami, but we didn't have time to listen to the radio, so I didn't know what was going on [until] we were backing Chubby Checker one night. [T]he disc jockey came runnin' up to me, saying, 'You got the No. 1 record on our station!'" By late June, "Memphis" had risen to No. 4 on Billboard 's R&B chart and No. 5 on Billboard's pop chart. According to The Book of Golden Discs , it sold over one million copies. The popularity of "Memphis" led to bookings at larger venues, at least one tour in

4320-429: The vine". He regularly toured small venues until 1968, when Rolling Stone magazine rediscovered him, and Elektra Records signed him to a three-album contract. He was soon performing in major venues, but his multi-genre Elektra albums downplayed his lead guitar and blues rock appeal and record sales were modest. During this period, he became increasingly unhappy with the music business. He left Elektra in 1971, and for

4392-712: The way for the [lead guitar] Revolution. People like Dickey Betts and Stevie Ray Vaughan would tell you that without Lonnie they wouldn't be who they were. That goes for all of us. Mack's 1963 debut album has been called "the first of the guitar hero records" for its introduction of flashy, technically challenging melodies and runs to rock guitar solos . As such, it is said to have begun rock guitar's "modern" era. In 1980, "Memphis" (1963) led Guitar World magazine's list of rock guitar's top-five "landmark" recordings, ahead of entire albums by Jimi Hendrix , Eric Clapton , Elvin Bishop , and Mike Bloomfield , whose own blues-infused solos exemplified rock's lead guitar "revolution" of

SECTION 60

#1732891657962

4464-401: The world couldn't hide the fact that chubby, country Mack probably had more in common with Kentucky truck drivers than he did with the new rock audience." In addition, after two multi-genre Elektra albums (both recorded in 1969) that downplayed his blues-rock strengths, including his guitar, Mack himself was dissatisfied: "My music wasn't working that good then. I ain’t really happy with a lot of

4536-528: Was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was influential in the development of blues rock music and rock guitar soloing . Mack emerged in 1963 with his breakthrough LP, The Wham of that Memphis Man . It earned him lasting renown as both a blue-eyed soul singer and a lead guitar innovator. The album's instrumental tracks included two hit singles, "Memphis" and "Wham". In them, Mack, using "top-quality technique" and "pristine" phrasing, added "edgy, aggressive, loud, and fast" melodies and runs to

4608-531: Was faster, louder, more aggressive than anything people were used to hearing. He essentially paved the way for the electric guitar to become a soloing instrument in rock music. A true blues-rock pioneer, the genre would not have been the same – indeed, much of rock music might not have been the same – without his innovative way of treating the electric guitar as a lead soloing instrument in rock – edgy, aggressive, loud and fast. Former Elektra A&R executive James Webber agrees: Lonnie took rock guitar playing to

4680-450: Was named after black cat bones , a Hoodoo charm associated with blues music. There were several personnel changes early on, with Terry Sims being replaced by drummer Frank Perry, who was in turn replaced in early 1968 by drummer Simon Kirke . The band played regularly on the London pub circuit. Paul Tiller was later replaced by vocalist Brian Short. At the suggestion of Mike Vernon , owner of

4752-477: Was raised on a series of nearby sharecropping farms. Using a floor-model radio powered by a truck battery, his family routinely listened to the Grand Ole Opry country music show. Continuing to listen after the rest of the family had retired for the night, Mack became a fan of rhythm and blues and traditional black gospel music. He began playing guitar at the age of seven, after trading his bicycle for

4824-651: Was recorded by both Dobie Gray and Bobby Penn . Gray managed to get to no. 107 on the US Hot 100 Bubbling Under chart in September, and Penn got to no. 56 on the Cash Box Country Top 75 in October. In 1977, Mack was shot during an altercation with an off-duty police officer. The experience inspired Mack's tune, "Cincinnati Jail", a rowdy, guitar-and-vocal rock number that he favored in live performances later in his career. In 1983, Mack relocated to Austin, Texas , for

4896-733: Was released. AllMusic 's Michael Erlewine commented, "Used to hearing blues covered by groups like the Rolling Stones, that first album had an enormous impact on young (and primarily White) rock players." The second album East West (1966) introduced extended soloing – the 13 minute instrumental title track included jazz and Indian raga influences – that served as a model for psychedelic and acid rock . In 1965, avid blues collectors Bob Hite and Alan Wilson formed Canned Heat . Their early recordings focused heavily on electric versions of Delta blues songs, but soon began exploring long musical improvisations (" jams ") built around John Lee Hooker songs. Other popular mid-1960s groups, such as

4968-413: Was soon emulated by Jeff Beck and later by Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others. Mack enhanced his guitar sound with vibrato effects. In his early recordings, he used a 1950s-era Magnatone amplifier to produce a constant, electronically generated, watery-sounding vibrato, in the style of R&B guitarist Robert Ward . Throughout his career, he also used a manually-operated Bigsby vibrato arm to bend

5040-529: Was the guitarist on the band's only album, Barbed Wire Sandwich , released in 1970, and went on to play in Foghat . Other members went on to play in Shagrat , Atomic Rooster , Cactus and Fleetwood Mac . Black Cat Bones formed in London in 1966 with members Paul Tiller (lead vocals and harmonica), Paul Kossoff (lead guitar), brothers Derek Brooks ( rhythm guitar ) and Stuart Brooks (bass guitar) (born January 1951, Hertfordshire), and Terry Sims (drums). The band

5112-479: Was the most innovative to date. British band Fleetwood Mac initially played traditionally-oriented electric blues, but soon evolved. Their guitarist Peter Green , who was Clapton's replacement with Mayall, brought many innovations to their music. Chicken Shack , early Jethro Tull , Keef Hartley Band and Climax Blues Band recorded blues rock songs. The electric guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix (a veteran of many American rhythm and blues and soul groups from

5184-399: Was viscerally attracted to the arrow-like shape of the guitar. Mack played "Number 7" almost exclusively throughout his career. The title of Mack's final album, Attack of the Killer V , was a reference to his guitar. Early in his career, Mack added a Bigsby vibrato bar to the guitar. It required mounting a steel crossbeam approximately six inches below the apex of the "V", giving the guitar

#961038