The first album Stevie Ray Vaughan ever bought is a must-listen
To his fans, Steve Ray Vaughan was one of the last great guitar heroes. A stunning virtuoso, he helped reignite America’s passion for blues at a time when it was breathing its dying breath. Drawing on the work of bluesmen like Albert King and Buddy Guy as much as rock ‘n’ rollers like Jimi Hendrix and jazz players such as Wes Montgomery, Vaughan’s playing was a distillation of everything that makes American popular music so important. Here, we look back on one of the guitarist’s earliest influences.
Stevie was an essential link in the blues-rock chain. From 1983 until his death in 1990, he was a leading figure in the American blues scene. His concerts sold out night after night after night, and his albums regularly went gold. His music reminded music fans of the blues’ timeless beauty, and to this day he remains a towering figure. During an interview with Billy Pinnel back in 1984, Vaughan was asked about the influence of American guitarist Lonnie Mack.
Vaughan revealed that Mack’s 1963 album The Wham of that Memphis Man was, in fact, the very first album he bought, having been “turned on” to the bluesman by his older brother, Jimmie Vaughan. “I went straight and bought the record,” Vaughan recalled. “Also was one of the first things that I ever really tried to learn, which is pretty hard thing to learn. But it worked out.”
Like Vaughan, Lonnie Mack was a master of fusion. Though remembered as a bluesman, his music was speckled with flecks of country, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll. His recording career began in 1963, and he remained an active performer well into the early 2000s. He was essential in transforming the electric guitar into a lead instrument, thus paving the way for lightning-fast rock ‘n’ roll virtuosos like Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Mack was a talented singer, but his best-known recordings are, rather strangely, mostly instrumentals.
The album Vaughan picked up, The Wham of That Memphis Man, features two of his best-known tracks: the instrumentals ‘Memphis’ and ‘Wham!’, both of which earned Mack a reputation as a pioneer of his instrument. There’s something of the shredder about Mack, whose single-string phrasing and fluid rhythms were essential to the development of the rock guitar solo.
The album also features instrumental versions of R&B hits such as ‘Susie Q’ and The Bounce’, not to mention an array of stirring soul numbers, all of which feature the backing of his brilliant band. But even with the soaring saxophones and hell-fire Hammond organ solos, it is always Mack’s vibrato-drenched guitar that our ear latches on to. You can view footage of Vaughan and Mack performing together below
