Lonnie Mack

In 1979 music historian Richard T. Pinnell called 1963's "Memphis" a "milestone of early rock guitar". In 1980 the editors of Guitar World magazine ranked "Memphis" first among rock's top five "landmark" guitar recordings. Mack is widely regarded today as a pivotal historical figure in expanding the role of the electric guitar in rock. Read Less

He enjoyed his greatest recognition as a blues-rock singer-guitarist, with especially productive periods during the 1960s and the latter half of the 1980s. Mack switched musical genres and idled his career as a rock artist for lengthy periods, reportedly due to an aversion to the burdens of notoriety, and dissatisfaction with the music business generally. Read Less

Not expecting the tune to be released, Mack immediately recorded a rockabilly/blues guitar instrumental loosely based on the melody of Chuck Berry's 1959 UK vocal hit, "Memphis, Tennessee". Mack had improvised the guitar solo in a live performance a few years earlier, when another member of the band (who usually sang the tune) missed a club date. Mack's instrumental version was well-received, so he adopted it as part of his live act.

The tune featured a then-unique combination of several key elements. As recorded in 1963, it had seven distinct sections, with an unusually fast 12-bar blues solo. "An extended guitar solo exploiting the entire range of the instrument rings in the climax of the song in the fifth section. Lonnie Mack begins this portion by quoting several measures of the riff one octave higher than before. From there, he breaks into his choicest licks, including double-picking and pulling-off techniques—all with driving, complicated rhythms and technical precision". Read Less

A friend located him on tour and told him his tune was climbing the charts. In a 1977 interview, Mack recalled, "I was completely taken by surprise. I hadn't listened to the radio. I had no idea what was happening".

By late June "Memphis" had risen to No. 4 on Billboards R&B chart and No. 5 on Billboard's pop chart. It was only the fourth rock guitar instrumental to penetrate Billboard's "Top 5". It was the only top-20 single of Mack's career. In 1964, Johnny Rivers released his own version of "Memphis", recombining Berry's vocal treatment with signature elements of Mack's instrumental. Rivers' version scored No. 2 on the US Hit Parade. Read Less

He soon recorded several more full-length rock guitar instrumentals, including his own composition,"Chicken Pickin'", and an instrumental version of Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q". Mack used a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece on "Wham!" and several other tunes to achieve sound effects so distinctive for the time that guitarists began calling it the "whammy bar", a term by which the Bigbsy and other vibrato bars are still known.

According to music historian and guitar professor Richard T. Pinnell, Mack's fast-paced interpretation of blues stylism in "Memphis" was unique in the history of rock guitar to that point, producing a tune that was both "rhythmically and melodically full of fire" and "one of the milestones of early rock and roll guitar".

Although the term "blues-rock" had not yet come into common usage in 1963, "Memphis" is now widely regarded as the first genuine hit recording of the virtuoso blues-rock guitar genre. "Wham!" soon became the second. Read Less

These early "blue-eyed soul" vocal recordings were critically acclaimed. Rolling Stone said, "It is truly the voice of Lonnie Mack that sets him apart. His songs have a sincerity and intensity that's hard to find anywhere". According to another review: Read Less

In early 1964, Fraternity packaged several of these, along with his 1963 singles, into an album entitled The Wham of that Memphis Man!

Mack's guitar instrumentals were blues-based, but unusually rapid, seamless and precise. His vocals were strongly influenced by Black gospel music. All of the tunes were backed by bass guitar and drums, and many also featured keyboards and a Stax/Volt-style horn section. The Charmaines provided an R&B backup chorus on several cuts. In his book, The 100 Best Rock 'n' Roll Records of All Time, Jimmy Guterman ranked the album No. 16, saying:

The Wham of that Memphis Man! was released within weeks of the beginning of the British Invasion. Competing with the likes of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones was an obstacle encountered by many, but Mack faced an additional challenge: In the words of critic John Morthland, "It was the era of satin pants and histrionic stage shows, and all the superior chops in 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". Mack slowly slipped back into relative obscurity until the late 1960s. Read Less

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 the new bar. That's how good you have to be now'". Seventeen years later, in July 1980, the editors of Guitar World magazine ranked "Memphis" the premier "landmark" rock guitar recording of all time, immediately ahead of full albums featuring blues-rock guitarists Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Jimi Hendrix and Cream's Eric Clapton.

Mack's early guitar solos were a significant influence on guitarists Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dickie Betts, Neil Young, and Ted Nugent, among others, and had a profound influence upon the history and development of rock guitar, generally:

Mack's own assessment is more modest. He views himself as a transitional figure: "I was a bridge-over between the standard country licks in early rock 'n' roll and the screamin' kinda stuff that came later." Read Less