R.I.P. Lonnie Mack

Started by thebrushwithin, April 22, 2016, 05:38:02 AM

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thebrushwithin

As sad as the news is, concerning the death of Prince, one of the electric guitar's pioneers, Lonnie Mack,
has also passed away, yesterday, at the age of 74. He was a major influence on many well known guitar heroes. Several of my personal friends have gigged with him over the years, and one of my fond memories was when he came into a club, where I was in a house band, to hear what I was doing on guitar synth, in the 80's. A very humble, gracious man, and a true pioneer! His gear included the Flying V, and Magnatone amps, with the great vibrato, and such a distinctive sound.
http://teamrock.com/news/2016-04-22/lonnie-mack-guitar-poineer-dead-74

whippinpost91850

Truly a disappointing loss. And sadly not a word on TV regarding his passing

Elantric

#2


Sad- Lonnie was a major influence for the guitar world

I was age 8 in 1963 , and every time I hear "Memphis" I see visions of my mom dancing and watching her reaction to the evolving state of pop dance music



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Mack
Mack's guitar style and technique[edit]
While Mack's rock-guitar style was firmly rooted in the blues and R&B, he routinely used fast-paced "fingerstyle" and "chicken picking" techniques from traditional country and bluegrass guitar styles, leading a reviewer of his earliest releases to puzzle over the "peculiar running quality" of his bluesy solos.[51] These recordings prefigured the fast, flashy, blues-rock lead guitar style that dominated rock by the late 1960s.[2][52][18][53]
He 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",[20] a term by which the Bigbsy and other vibrato bars are still known. He was uniquely proficient with it. He typically manipulated it with the little finger of his right hand, while picking at a 45-degree angle with a pick or the remaining fingers of the same hand, and bending the strings on the fret-board with his left.[54]



Stevie Ray Vaughan observed: "Nobody can play with a whammy-bar like Lonnie. He holds it while he plays and the sound sends chills up your spine".[55]


His pioneering use of "lightning-fast runs"[56] became a hallmark of virtuoso rock guitar by the end of the 1960s.
On most of his early guitar solos, he employed a variant of R&B guitarist Robert Ward's distortion technique, using a 1950s-era, tube-fired Magnatone amplifier to produce a distinctive, "watery" tone. Later, he plugged into an organ amplifier to enhance his vibrato with a "rotating, fluttery sound".[57]



whippinpost91850

I was 13 and already playing. Loved playing Memphis

Autana

#4
 :(
A few years after my aunt godmother died, my cousin and I found an old LP in a box of recordings which belonged to her. The red cover showed a guy and his Gibson Flying V,  Lonnie Mack/The Wham if MEMPHIS That Man / Fraternity. At listening Memphis, I suddenly turned my head at hearing that chunk bluesy always coming to my hands without knowing from where. My godmother was a wonderful woman I loved so much, her went to rock festivals like Woodstock and Monterey, I was just 5 or 6 years old.
She had many LPs and those big 8-track cartridges and used took me for ride in her 56 Thunderbird playing the cartridges in the console "ultramodern" player and lot of rockabilly, swing, jazz and blues records at home. And as a revelation, I remembered she playing me the Loonie Mack vinyl at my 13 y/o and my nylon guitar.

For many years I teach blues from a rhythm perspective to my gtr students, even before let them entering in soloing fields, and that Loonie like strumming "chunk", always is there
R.I.P Loonie

Listen at 1:00


A excerpt on my classroom with my guitar students, Loonie like strumming "chunk", always is there .. a honour.

GR-55, GP-10, GI-20, Godin xtSA, GodinNylon MultiAc, Giannini classical, 3 GK-3'd gtrs, Cube 80XL, Primova GKFX-21 (x2)

Fear just pulls you out of being true to music, which is coming from a place of love. Love is the opposite of fear. I stay away from anything fear-related.
- Tal Wilkenfeld -

thebrushwithin

#5
Lonnie doing Cincinnati Jail, in my hometown, with my good friend, Jeff McCallister, on drums, same guy who brought him in to hear me in the 80's, which I'll never forget, although I spoke with him on several occasions, that first time made me rather nervous! Jeff said he was a joy to tour with. One of my best friends, and bandmates, Marv Maxwell, who was Lonnie's drummer on a lot of recording sessions, had just visited Lonnie, at his home back in the Tennessee hills, just a few months ago. So many folks around here are pretty sad about his passing. Lonnie's playing was such an inspiration, and way ahead of his time!


HecticArt


GraemeJ

Great shame.  Although I always appreciated Prince's major contribution in so many areas of music, Lonnie Mack was more of a hero to the budding guitarist that I was, way back then.   

aliensporebomb

That CD with Stevie Ray Vaughan was great - "Strike Like Lightning" - like two guys unleashed with a great rhythm section.

Seems like we're losing a lot of great musicians and players and stars lately.
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Autana

Quote from: aliensporebomb on April 23, 2016, 07:30:43 AM
Seems like we're losing a lot of great musicians and players and stars lately.

Yes, and as important as it is to keep the legacy of heroes who are leaving, we must realize the new batch of musicians and artists as those who still standing and have paved roads for them. Is why I like vguitarforums, because never stop to mention young and sometimes anonymous forces as those alive who still making history (not just Top40/100 songs charters)
Thanks Elantric and every one in the crew making it happen.

GR-55, GP-10, GI-20, Godin xtSA, GodinNylon MultiAc, Giannini classical, 3 GK-3'd gtrs, Cube 80XL, Primova GKFX-21 (x2)

Fear just pulls you out of being true to music, which is coming from a place of love. Love is the opposite of fear. I stay away from anything fear-related.
- Tal Wilkenfeld -

BobbyD

That is terrible news and I am hearing it now for first time. I learned a lot of licks from Lonnie and his flying V.  He was a classy guy.

God rest his soul and prayers go out to his family, loves ones, & fans.

thebrushwithin

My friend Jeff, who played drums for Lonnie, for many years just received this rare video footage, from Lonnie Mack's son. I'll let Jeff describe it.
"This was a great treat. George Macintosh, Lonnie's son, asked if I had seen this live video from 1991,shot in Pittsburgh,Pa @ a club called The Decades. I didn't know we were being filmed. Here is a gift to us all from Lonnie Mack and the GREAT Dumpy Rice. I had forgotten about this extended blues segment.....This is pure ROADHOUSE ,folks....and includes a fight breaking out on the dance floor during the last number.....I was so lucky to have played w these gifted guys."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uP-GMyKWPJY&feature=share

Elantric

#12
http://uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/2016/04/lonnie-mack-dead-at-age-74-rocks-first.html
Lonnie Mack - Dead at age 74 - Rock's First Guitar Heroes

Lonnie Mack
Lonnie McIntosh known to all as Lonnie Mack died yesterday at the age of 74 of natural causes. He was one of the first "guitar heroes" and an influence on countless players including me.


The Wham of that Memphis Man
As a kid I'd put his LP, The Wham of that Memphis Man, on the record player and turn the speed down to 16 2/3's to slow down his licks so I could copy them on the guitar.

Lonnie remained active in the music business, mostly playing clubs and touring with band members that had remained with him for year until 2004 when he retired.


In 1963 he went into a recording studio in Cincinnati, Ohio called Fraternity Records. After a session had finished, Lonnie and some other players stuck around and laid down a few tracks which included his own instrumental version of Chuck Berry's Memphis and another instrumental song called he called Wham. What emerged was one of the greatest instrumental guitar albums of all time.


Lonnie with his unmodified Vee
Lonnie's biting guitar style, use of a Bigsby vibrato and trademark sound became legend and were copied by musicians worldwide including Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, Mike Bloomfield, Ted Nugent and so many others.


In the mid 1950's Lonnie started playing in clubs all over the Midwestern United States; mostly in Ohio, Kentucky and his home state of Indiana. That first LP that I have mentioned went on to be rated one of the 100 Best Rock n' Roll records of all time.


Mack released his final LP in 1990; Lonnie Mack Live - The Attack of the Killer V.


Throughout his career Lonnie played his 1958 Gibson Flying Vee. The serial number on it was 007 as it was one of the first made by the company.





1957 Flying V prototype
Gibson had  manufactured prototypes of the Flying V in 1957, under the direction of Gibson president Ted McCarty. This was during an era when America was entering the race for outer space. Cars had fins. There were TV shows about rocket ships and even Walt Disney had hired scientist Wernher von Braun to pique America's interest in space exploration. Gibson decided to get in on this action with some modernistic guitar designs that had an almost aerodynamic look by offering 3 futuristic guitar designs. Lonnie Mack played the Flying Vee.


1958 Flying Vee
The original 1957 prototype had a rounded bottom. It was made of mahogany and was a very heavy instrument. McCarty ordered that a large wedge be cut be made in the bottom end of the guitar's body to alleviate some of the weight. This cut gave the guitar it's Flying V appearance and it's name.

Because blond colored furniture (and blond women) were all the rage during this era, light colored Korina wood was used instead of mahogany.

The guitar was introduced in 1958 along with the Moderne and the Futura (aka The Explorer). It was a dismal failure. The design was too much for the guitarists that wanted their guitars to look...well,like guitars. Due to slow sales, only 98 guitars, production only continued until 1959. Some left over units were sold up through 1963.


Lonnie with his unmodified V
Lonnie McIntosh was a country boy who grew up in Harrison, Indiana which was only 20 miles west of Cincinnati. At 13 years of age he had a quarrel with a teacher and was promptly dismissed from school. All Lonnie wanted to do was play guitar. He hung out at a store in Norwood, Ohio, called Hughes Music. Norwood is mid-sized blue-collar town just outside of Cincinnati and used to be home to a GM plant.


Lonnie Mack in the mid 1960's
The owner Glen Hughes would talk to Lonnie and discovered that Lonnie was interested bow and arrow hunting. Mr. Hughes pulled out the latest Gibson catalog that he had received and showed Lonnie the arrow shaped guitar. Lonnie was in awe. He had to have that guitar.


Hughes put in an order to Gibson and he drove from Cincinnati to Kalamazoo, Michican to pick it up. Lonnie got one with the serial numbers 007.


The story goes on that Lonnie wanted a vibrato put on his V, but due to the guitars design there was no place to mount the unit. The best vibrato unit in those days were the ones made by Bigsby.


Glen Hughes had a stainless steel bar cut and bent so part of the unit was mounted on the guitars body and the end of the unit was attached to the crossbar that ran between the sides of the V.

Most everyone named McIntosh is knick-named Mack and Lonnie McIntosh soon became Lonnie Mack.


On March 12, 1963, Mack had played guitar on a recording session for a girls group called The Charmaines at Fraternity's recording studio. The allotted studio rental time had twenty minutes remaining, the group invited Mack to take advantage.

Lonnie and the other session players put down two songs on tape that evening and one was a rocking, uptempo guitar version of the Chuck Berry song called Memphis Tennessee.


At that time Mack's job was performing behind another Fraternity artist named Troy Seals. Seal went on to become a well known Nashville song writer.

Mack had forgotten about the session, however someone at Fraternity did not. They liked it well enough to issue it as a single. Seals had just heard from a friend that Lonnie's song was climbing the charts. By the summer of 1963 Memphis charted in at number 4.


Lonnie Mack
Mack released a follow up called Wham, that became one of his signature tunes. Wham reached number 24 on the Billboard charts. In an interview Mack states he put it together from two songs he had been writing. Lonnie followed up with an LP called The Wham of that Memphis Man.

The album cover shows Lonnie leaning on the bottom of his upside down Flying V. This was before the Bigsby unit was installed.




Magnatone 260
Mack also was fond of his Magnatone amplifier. Just about everyone else was using Fender amplifiers, but Mack loved the True Vibrato effect of the Magnatone. This was engineered using circuitry similar to what was found on electronic organs that caused the pitch to continuously alter. Fender's vibrato was actually tremolo since it caused the sound to be turned off and on.

Mack said that he was going after the Hammond organ sound that was prevalent in Gospel and Blues.




When Lonnie Mack was playing at clubs in the mid 1960's. He originally used a Magnatone 260 to get his signature sound. This amp had the true FM vibrato, but no reverb.






Gene Lawson
Lonnie later ran his Flying V into an old blonde Fender Reverb Unit then into the Magnatone amplifier. For the road this was a Magnatone M-9 that was modified by a fellow named Gene Lawson.


Lawson removed the amplifiers speaker and put in a step down preamp. The signal from the Magnatone was then sent to a blonde Fender Bandmaster head which powered two blonde Fender Bandmaster 2 x 12" cabinets. I am told that all of the Fender equipment had the "wheat grill cloth on them."

And that is how Lonnie got his unique sound back in the day.

Later on as Lonnie began to play larger venues he used a Boss chorus pedal through a large amplifier,


Eventually Lonnie settled on a using a Roland JC 120 amplifier that he placed on top of two matching speaker enclosures.








2003 Concert
Lonnie Mack attempted to paint his Flying Vee red, which wound up with a pink hue after it dried out. He eventually got the red colour on the guitar.


Lonnie playing #007
Lonnie loved that guitar and once said he dropped it out of the rear end of his van while driving and the guitar remained in tune.

One time after a bad show, Lonnie told the story the he got mad and threw the Vee in a trash can. A fan fished it out and returned it to him five minutes later.


That guitar is now worth at least six figures, not just due to the fact it is an original 1958 Gibson Flying Vee, but the fact it is Lonnie Mack's Flying Vee.

Mack said that he has played the heck out his Flying V; the back of the neck is scarred up. The guitar has been re-fretted and new pickups were installed back in the late 1960's.


The back side of the Wham LP

There are couple of interesting facts that have resulted from Mack's career in the mid 1960's.

First of all Memphis was the highest rated guitar song. Much of its popularity is due to the popularity of the electric guitar at that time.




Throughout his career Lonnie had recorded with The Doors, as a bass player and played on concert bills with them.



He also recorded with James Brown (who also record most of his hit records in Cincinnati, Ohio at another company), Ronnie Hawkins and Doby Gray.






Lonnie with Keith and Ron

He played concerts with Roy Buchanan, Albert Collins, Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Stevie Ray Vaughn.






https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?204979-New-Joe-Bonamassa-Epiphone-Amos-Signature-model