gold star for USAHOF

RIP: Lonnie Mack

RIP: Lonnie Mack
23 Apr
2016
Not in Hall of Fame
It is another sad day in the music world as influential guitarist, Lonnie Mack, passed away at the age of 74 of natural causes.

While Mack may not be a household name in the world of music, he is amongst the guitarists in the know.  The product of Southern Indiana, Mack dropped out of school at 13 and before long had his own band playing rockabilly with a slight R&B twinge. 

Developing a fast style with a distinctive use of the whammy bar, in 1963 Lonnie had pioneered the guitar solo on a track based on a Chuck Berry song called “Memphis”.  The song would become a hit, but more importantly influenced a wide array of upcoming guitarists, which was felt throughout the hard driving blues rock of the 1960’s. 

While bands which owed him a great deal of debt (Cream, Jimi Hendrix etc.) would become megastars, Mack never did, though was always respected and certainly wasn’t longing for work.  Mack would remain one of the men who guitarists would site as an influence and he would put out a myriad of albums covering multiple genres including rock, country and blues. 

We here at Notinhalloffame.com extend our condolens to the friends and family of Lonnie Mack.

Tagged under
Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] . Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Related items

Comments powered by CComment