Lonnie Mack

The living synthesis of black and country music. As a child, he took up the guitar under the influence of local bluesman Ralph Trotts, as well as country figures such as Merle Travis. In 1963, his rockabilly instrumental version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis" and his creation of "Wham" (1965) propelled him to the forefront of the music scene. After a confidential debut album, The Wham Of That Memphis Man (1963), and a first retirement, he accompanied artists such as James Brown, Freddy King and the Doors on Morrison Hotel (1970), just before producing a new album, Hills Of Indiana (1971), with a country spirit. He retires again. Since then, he has reappeared occasionally, in 1977 (Home At Last) and 1985, in a duet with Texas guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who co-produced his more blues-rock Strike Like Lightning (1985).

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