Lonnie Mack is an American rock, blues, and country guitarist and vocalist. Mack was born in Dearborn County, Indiana. Best known for his 1963 instrumental, "Memphis", he has been called "a pioneer in rock guitar soloing" and a "ground-breaker" in lead guitar virtuosity. Today, he is widely regarded as a key figure in expanding the role of the electric guitar in rock music. In 1963 and early 1964, he recorded a succession of full-length electric guitar instrumentals which combined blues stylism with fast-picking country techniques and a rock beat. These recordings are said to have formed the leading edge of the "blues rock" lead guitar genre. 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, ahead of recordings by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield. Reportedly, the pitch-bending tremolo arm commonly found on electric guitars became known by the term "whammy bar" in recognition of Mack's aggressive manipulation of the device in 1963's "Wham!". [More at Wikipedia]

July 18th, 1941 in Dearborn County  /  Died:   Apr 21st, 2016