Lonnie McIntosh (July 18, 1941 – April 21, 2016), known by his stage name Lonnie Mack, was an influential pioneer of blues-rock music and rock guitar soloing. Mack emerged in 1963, with his proto-blues-rock debut LP, The Wham of that Memphis Man. The album's vocals established Mack's reputation as one of the all-time great singers of blue-eyed soul. However, he earned greater renown for the album's electric guitar instrumentals. In them, he introduced "edgy, aggressive, loud, and fast" blues solos to the prevailing chords-and-riffs format of early rock guitar. These recordings raised the bar for rock guitar proficiency and have been credited with giving the electric guitar an early boost in its rise to the top of soloing instruments in rock. During the balance of the 1960s and into the early 1970s, Mack's guitar style became a "model" for the up-and-coming guitar stars of two new genres, blues-rock and Southern rock. Beginning in 1964, however, the massively popular "British Invasion" dealt a temporary setback to Mack's own recording career. He toured the roadhouse circuit (and took on R&B session work) until 1968, the height of the blues-rock era, when Rolling Stone magazine rediscovered his five-year-old debut album, and Los Angeles' Elektra Records signed him to a three-album contract. He immediately graduated to major performance venues, but his multi-genre Elektra recordings missed the mark of his blues-rock appeal. In 1971, he left Elektra and became a low-profile country music recording artist, roadhouse performer, sideman, and music-venue proprietor. Mack resurfaced in 1985, with the blues-rock LP Strike Like Lightning, a "victory-lap" promotional tour featuring celebrity guitarist sit-ins, and a concert at Carnegie Hall. In 1990, he released another well-received blues-rock album, Lonnie Mack Live! Attack of the Killer V, after which he retired as a recording artist. He continued to perform, mostly in smaller venues, until 2004.

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