RIP Lonnie Mack

The whole world mourned the loss of Prince yesterday (including me), but we lost another great guitarist yesterday. Rock historian Ron Smith posted this on his facebook page...

Guitarist Lonnie Mack, best remembered for the 1963 instrumentals “Memphis” (#5) and “Wham!” (#14), died Thursday at a medical center near his home in Smithville, Tennessee. The Harrison, Indiana native (born Lonnie McIntosh) was 71. Known for his pioneering style (helped by the tremelo bar on his instrument), he not ony charted seven times on his own, but played on sessions for such music royalty as James Brown, Freddie King, Hank Ballard and-- most notably on the Doors’ “Morrison Hotel” (where Jim Morrison can be heard yelling, “Do it, Lonnie!”) He retired from 1971 to 1985 before being rediscovered by a new generation of musicians and fans, including Stevie Ray Vaughn. Lonnie was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2005 and the International Guitar Hall of Fame in 2001.