When people say, “Memphis blues ain’t what it used to be,” they haven’t heard the Daddy Mack Blues Band. All of its members at one time or another played in the Fieldstones, one of the most talked-about urban blues bands since the 1970s. Led by Mack Orr on lead guitar and vocals, this four-piece group is down-home and funky, and the best band around for cuttin’ loose on a Saturday night. Their raw approach to blues is something too often missing in contemporary blues. Since 1998, they have been the house band at the Center For Southern Folklore on Beale Street, where thousands of tourists from all corners of the world have experienced their natural and soulful musical blend. They have also toured across the country, from Huntsville to Las Vegas, and played in Europe.
Howard Stovall, executive director of The Blues Foundation, was a special guest at the 1999 CD release of Daddy Mack’s 1st CD, Fix It When I Can, and isn’t shy about expressing who he thinks is carrying the torch in Memphis blues. At a Foundation party in April of 1999, Rolling Stones Keith Richards and Ron Wood sat in with the band and, as the story goes, they were able to keep up musically, but no one was shouting to hear “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” either.
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