Lonnie Mack - Ridin' the Blinds (Live)

Nix, Irving Music/Irving Music obo Deerwood Music, BMI

Lonnie was the first true blues-rock guitar hero. A blazing guitarist and raw, soulful singer from southern Indiana, Lonnie rose to fame in 1963 with his instrumental singles Memphis and Wham! (his mastery of the vibrato bar was so famous that it became known as the whammy bar). He followed with dozens more singles and a series of albums. By the mid-1980s he was living in obscurity outside of Austin. With the help and encouragement of his greatest disciple, Stevie Ray Vaughan, we took Lonnie into the studio. The first of his three Alligator albums, Strike Like Lightning, relaunched his career. He toured incessantly, delivering slash-and-burn live performances like this one.