LONNIE MACK - STRIKE LIKE LIGHTNING Lonnie Mack

Strike Like Lightning Original Release Date: January 1985 LP Release Date: June 2, 2023 Produced By Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lonnie Mack Strike Like Lightning, released in 1985, was another high-water mark for Alligator. It revitalized the dormant career of Lonnie Mack, the first true blues-rock guitar hero. And it paired Lonnie with his #1 fan and acolyte, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who took on the mantle of the album’s producer (though Stevie would say that it was really Lonnie who produced this quintessential record.) Cut in four days in Austin, Texas, it’s sold over 100,000 copies in the USA alone, and has been hailed as a masterpiece.

AllMusic Guide said, “to say it was inspired would be putting it mildly.” (Stevie Ray not only acted as producer of Strike Like Lightning; he also appeared on four songs—If You Have To Know, Hound Dog Man, the hilarious Oreo Cookie Blues and the mind-bending update of Wham! called Double Whammy. That’s Stevie soloing from 1:43 to 2:33).
 
Lonnie Mack was a brilliant and under-appreciated American roots musician. He was an incredibly distinctive, wildly energetic guitarist--a searing player with masterful control of the “whammy bar” of his Gibson Flying V, and a unique signature vibrato-laden tone. Rolling Stone said Lonnie was “a pioneer in rock guitar soloing.” But he was also a wonderfully gritty, soulful singer and the composer of dozens of memorable original songs. He burst onto the national scene in 1963 with the trailblazing instrumentals Memphis and Wham! and an album that became a collector’s item -- The Wham Of That Memphis Man. After a handful of albums for various labels, Lonnie had almost disappeared from public view. I had seen him play local gigs in the Cincinnati area in the early ‘80s, but by 1984 he had moved to the Austin area and was living in an old school bus that had been refitted years before as a tour bus. It was Strike Like Lightning that brought him back to the national spotlight.
 
Lonnie was a melder of American roots music genres. Growing up dirt poor in southern Indiana, he was exposed to country music, gospel, blues, R&B and early rock ‘n’ roll. As far as he was concerned, there were no divisions between types of music. His favorite guitar players were Merle Travis, the famed country picker, and Robert Ward, legendary blues and R&B string-bender (who inspired Lonnie to get his first Magnatone amp.) His favorite singers were Bobby “Blue” Bland and George Jones. If rock ‘n’ roll was the synthesis of blues and country music, Lonnie Mack was the essence of rock ‘n’ roll.

SIDE A:
1. Hound Dog Man
2. Satisfy Susie
3. Stop
4. Long Way From Memphis
5. Double Whammy

SIDE B:
1. Strike Like Lightning
2. Falling Back In Love With You
3. If You Have To Know
4. You Ain't Got Me
5. Oreo Cookie Blues


Stevie Ray Vaughan Appears Courtesy of Epic Records

Lonnie Mack, Guitar And Vocals
Stevie Ray Vaughan , Guitar
Bill Mc Intosh, Guitar
Stan Szelest, Keyboards
Tim Drummond, Bass
Dennis O'Neal, Drums
Gene Lawson, Drums
The Croquettes, Vocals: Lisa Gilkyson, Karen Kraft, Gwen Newsome