The Wham of that Memphis Man


The Wham of That Memphis Man is a 1964 album by Lonnie Mack.
This album, Mack's first, was recorded in several sessions beginning in March, 1963 and was released by the small Cincinnati label Fraternity Records in October of that year. It reached only #103 on the charts, but music critic Jimmy Guterman ranked it No. 16 in his book The 100 Best Rock 'n' Roll Records of All Time.
Mack is considered a pioneer of virtuoso rock guitar soloing and a key stylistic forerunner of the Blues-rock and Southern rock guitar genres, for his fast-paced instrumental solos, including his 1963 hit singles, "Memphis" and "Wham!" Both of these recordings are found on this album.
The album also included several Mack vocals, done primarily in the country-esque blues/gospel style for which Mack became well-known. Regarding the vocals on this album, music critic Bill Millar said: "For consistency and depth of feeling — the best blue-eyed soul is defined by Lonnie Mack's ballads and virtually everything the Righteous Brothers recorded...Lonnie Mack wailed a soul ballad as gutsily as any black gospel singer. The anguished inflections which stamped his best songs had a directness which would have been wholly embarrassing in the hands of almost any other white vocalist."
The album has been re-released at least ten times, most recently on the Ace label in 2016.

Track listing

  1. "Wham!"
  2. "Where There's a Will There's a Way"
  3. "Bounce"
  4. "I'll Keep You Happy"
  5. "Memphis"
  6. "Baby What's Wrong"
  7. "Down and Out"
  8. "Satisfied"
  9. "Susie-Q"
  10. "Why"
  11. "Down in the Dumps"
The track listing shows the eleven tracks in the order in which they appeared on the original release. An expanded version of the album, incorporating the original cover art, was released in 1969 by Elektra Records under the title "For Collectors Only". It adds two 1964 tracks to those included on the original release. It begins with "Wham!" as track 1, as on the original, but thereafter the track order differs completely from that of the original 1963 album.

Personnel