Can 2016 get any worse?  I wrote about the passing of some of our favorite artists just a couple of months ago and we’ve had a few other deaths since then, but I wanted to make a special case here for an unsung artist whose death was overshadowed due to the media’s coverage of the passing of Prince.  No disrespect to His Purpleness, who was certainly a game changer and iconic figure that helped set the tone for 80s music and beyond, but sometimes such mass reportage overlooks “the little guy”.  That “little guy”, in this instance, is the passing of guitar great Lonnie Mack.

And no, Lonnie Mack was no “little guy”.  Mack was a bonafide 60’s guitar star that influenced many artists from Jeff Beck to The Allman Brothers to Stevie Ray Vaughan, the latter of whom covered Mack’s “Wham” and also brought him out of semi-retirement to produce the classic blues rock album Strike Like Lightning for Alligator Records.  But Mack wasn’t just the blues-  he blended rockabilly, country, soul, surf into one package and slayed audiences with his searing guitar style (a mix of fast runs, chicken pickin’, and steamy bends with an awesome watery tone) and extremely soulful singing voice over a 40+ year recording career.  I was fortunate to catch him live in the late 80’s in downtown Cincinnati and he put on such an outstanding show that it remains a favorite concert memory.  As the title of one of his late 80s songs attests, he was “too rock for country, too country for rock n roll”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3JQM3noYxk

Oh yeah…  here’s your fun factoid of the day…  you know that classic rock staple “Roadhouse Blues”?  That cool bassline that plays along with the main lick?  That’s Lonnie Mack, who guested on the Morrison Hotel album of fellow Elektra label mates The Doors.  Spring that one on your rock lovin’ older brother/uncle at your next family gathering 🙂