MAC ARNOLD BLUES - LIVE! (Mark)

We visit Greenville, South Carolina's outstanding Upcountry History Museum whenever we are in the area.

One of the Museum's permanent displays has to do with the area's blues music and musicians.

Mac Arnold, and his older brother, Leroy, built the guitar above in the 1950’s.  They had wanted to learn to play guitar, and had asked their father to buy one.  Father said no, so the two boys decided to build a guitar with what they could find around the farm.

The ingenuity they showed is astounding.

The body was made from a gas can, the neck from broomsticks, kitchen cutlery and wood screws.  The strings were from a screen door!

But they had a guitar.  Mac was 10 years old and starting on his life’s journey, playing and singing the blues.  He was influenced by local musicians such as Gary D. Davis:

The Reverend Davis, born in 1896, was blind since infancy.  He played guitar, harmonica, and banjo, and added vocals.  His playing style has influenced countless blues artists.

Pink Anderson was another local blues musician who influenced Mac:

Anderson was born in 1900 and played throughout the area.  He also played guitar and sang.  He paired up with harmonica player Peg Leg Sam Jackson, touring throughout the Southeast.

The exhibit has a short documentary film, with interviews and footage from these musicians.  This is a screenshot of Mac talking about the blues:

After learning on his homemade guitar Mac progressed to playing an actual guitar, and bass guitar.

By age 24 he was playing with musicians such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Eric Clapton.

Mac Arnold was the producer of TV’s Soul Train from 1971-1975.  In this position he met and worked with numerous other musicians.

As Cheri was paying for the CD that we purchased at the gift shop, the museum worker asked Cheri if she was aware that Mac was going to be playing at a Blues and Jazz festival the next night.

It turns out Mac had returned to the Greenville area in about 1990.  He decided to recreate the gas-can guitar and play more local events.  He worked on a new guitar for about 18 months until he was satisfied with the sound and started a local band, Mac Arnold and the Plate Full O’ Blues.

We were not going to miss that, so we took our blanket and made the short drive to Maudlin for the Blues and Jazz festival.  The weather was nice on the amphitheater lawn, and the music was good.  It was an excellent afternoon and evening.

There was a little girl, maybe four years old, who was feeling the music, and seemed to think that the band members were her backup singers.  You can click below to watch a video of her.