R.I.P. Lonnie Mack

[K.O.M.A.]

Died of natural causes

 

[coastie99]

Thanks for that K. Probably wouldn't have been reported here, not a lot would know him. Rest in peace sir.

 

[kakerlak]

Might have to dust off the ol' Magnatone this weekend...

 

[dougdnh]

Before Stevie Ray, Jimi & Clapton, there was Lonnie. Lonnie Mack was one of the first real guitar heros, and he was an amazing singer to boot. His "Wham of the Memphis Man' album is a must for any rock/r&b guitar lovers.

 

[walrus]

I wasn't familiar with him so I looked him up and found this tidbit I never knew:

"His 1963 instrumental recording of Chuck Berry's "Memphis," became a radio hit, and he followed that with "Wham!" -- a tune that inspired the nickname "whammy bar" for the tremolo bar he had on his Gibson Flying V."

Here's the song -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ta5T8cg3c0

walrus

 

[K.O.M.A.]

Here he is singing "Cincinnati Jail" playing that Flying V with a Bigsby hanging off of it. The video and audio aren't synced so it's kind of annoying.

 

[K.O.M.A.]

And here he is with Stevie Ray playing some acoustic blues goodness

 

[dougdnh]

Memphis was one of the first guitar instrumentals I learned - very cool recording. I always wonderd why he named it after Chuck Berry's Memphis. It's a totally different song - Lonnie's is a 12 bar blues, Chuck's is a 2 chord country progression.

 

[K.O.M.A.]

Here's an obituary that lists some of his accomplishments and the guitar legends that he influenced.