. Lonnie McIntosh - one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century. He was playing professionally at the age of 14. . When he was 17 he bought a Gibson Flying V guitar which he played for most of his career. It was the 7th V off the production line so he named it "Number 7". . In 1963 he recorded "Memphis Tennessee" as an instrumental and "Wham" also an instrumental. Both of these tracks were played fairly frequently on British radio which is how I got to know Lonnie Mack. I would turn up the radio volume to "10" every time they came on - much to the annoyance of my father. Luckily my mother quite enjoyed the music so I usually got to hear them at full volume . "Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu" was another favourite with me and, fortunately, the disc jockeys on the pirate radio SHIPS out in the North Sea and the Irish Sea. . The BBC Radio was very reluctant to change in the music it played which is why several clever people set up radio stations on ships outside British territorial waters. In those mid-60's days the reception for we poor sods who lived more than 100 miles from the ships. . I had trouble getting a "clean" signal from those AM stations so I fixed up an extension aerial from my upstairs bedroom to a tall silver birch tree at the end of the garden (about 30 yards). It worked I now had an almost loud and clear signal and could even pick up the radio ships off the coast of Scotland on a clear night. . The DJ's on the pirate ships eventually found work on solid ground when the BBC was given a serious shake up. Some of those guys are still going strong. The rockin' Johnnie Walker presents "Sounds Of The 70's" on Radio 2 on Sundays and "The Radio 2 Rockshow" on Mondays. Well worth a listen. . Download Lonnie Mack and have a rockin' good Christmas . Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. . |