| Strike Like Lightning | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Label | Alligator | |||
| Producer | Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lonnie Mack | |||
| Lonnie Mack chronology | ||||
| ||||
Strike Like Lightning is an album by the American musician Lonnie Mack, released in 1985. [1] [2] The working title was Return of the Flying V, after Mack's 1958 Gibson Flying V. [3] Regarded as a comeback album, Strike Like Lightning was a commercial success. [4] [5] [6]
Recorded in Austin, Texas, the album was coproduced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, who also played guitar on some of the songs. [7] [8] [9] The recording sessions were delayed while Mack recovered from health issues. [10] Tim Drummond played bass on the album; Stan Szelest played keyboards. [7] [11] "Double Whammy" is a takeoff on Mack's first hit, "Wham!" [12] Vaughan played a National steel guitar on "Oreo Cookie Blues" [13] and sang on "If You Have to Know". "Stop" is a reworked version of Mack's "Why". [14]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [15] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |   [16] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [13] |
The Globe and Mail called the album "raw and raunchy" and "a solid reminder of why Mack is regarded as a pioneer of the electric blues-guitar style that dominated rock in the late sixties." [17] The Kingston Whig-Standard wrote that "Mack has a whipsaw-raspy country-blues voice that any of today's rockers would kill for." [18] The Daily Oklahoman stated that the songs "are distinguished by Mack's trademark—stinging, low-register, twangy guitar—and his raspy, born-for-the-blues vocals." [19]
The Omaha World-Herald deemed the album "rolling rhythm and blues that avoids the cliches and pitfalls of usual guitar albums." [20] The Dallas Morning News praised the "great playing, inventive blues songwriting, and some of the best blues vocals in a long, long time." [21] New Orleans music magazine Wavelength wrote that Mack's guitar soloing and singing were great, but criticized Vaughan's production for "shoddy arrangements, [...] plodding drumbeats", and poor sound quality. [22]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hound Dog Man" | |
| 2. | "Satisfy Susie" | |
| 3. | "Stop" | |
| 4. | "Long Way from Memphis" | |
| 5. | "Double Whammy" | |
| 6. | "Strike Like Lightning" | |
| 7. | "Falling Back in Love with You" | |
| 8. | "If You Have to Know" | |
| 9. | "You Ain't Got Me" | |
| 10. | "Oreo Cookie Blues" |
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