Mac Arnold facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mac Arnold
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 30, 1942 Ware Place, South Carolina, United States |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, gas-can guitar |
| Years active | 1965–1990s, 2006-today |
| Labels | Plantation One Productions |
| Associated acts | Plate Full O' Blues, Muddy Waters, A.C. Reed, John Lee Hooker, Otis Spann |
| Members |
Mac Arnold
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Mac Arnold (born June 30, 1942) is an American blues musician. He is known for his amazing bass guitar skills. He also plays a special guitar made from a gas can! Mac Arnold comes from South Carolina.
Contents
Early Life and Music Beginnings
Mac Arnold grew up in Ware Place, South Carolina. He was one of 13 children. They lived on his father's farm.
Mac's musical journey started in the 1950s. He and his brother, Leroy, made their own guitar. They used a steel gas can, broomsticks, wood, nails, and screen wire.
Arnold, 72, laughs as he talks about how gas can guitars came about. One of those homemade guitars, the one most see him playing on stage, was leaning on a wall recently near his kitchen table in his Pelzer home.
Arnold's brother, Leroy, found a way to turn a gas can into a guitar when their father, Jodie Arnold, went to Florida to pick oranges.
"Dad wouldn't let him buy one (a guitar)," Mac Arnold said. "So when he was about 15 years old, he figured out how to make one on his own. We used to tie wire to the rafters in the barn, and we knew that made sound because of the tin roof. You could hear it vibrate through the barn."
Mac Arnold is now famous for his gas-can guitar. He has even taught many others how to build them.
Playing with Music Legends
Mac Arnold's early career was very exciting. He played with a young James Brown in a band called J. Floyd & the Shamrocks. In 1965, Mac moved to Chicago. There, he worked with A.C. Reed.
In 1966, Mac joined Muddy Waters' band. Muddy Waters was a very famous blues musician. Mac played on a live recording from 1966. It was released in 2009 as Muddy Waters - Authorized Bootleg.
In 1967, Mac started his own band, the Soul Invaders. They played backup for many big stars. These included B.B. King, The Temptations, and Little Milton.
Mac also played bass on important blues albums in the 1960s. He played on Otis Spann's The Blues Is Where It's At. He also played on John Lee Hooker's Live At Cafe Au Go Go. Later, in the 1970s, he moved to California. He continued to play music for many different recordings.
Mac Arnold also worked in television. He was part of the band on the popular TV show Soul Train for four years.
Return to the Blues Stage
By the 1990s, Mac Arnold wanted a break from touring. He moved back home to Pelzer, South Carolina. He mostly stopped performing for a while.
But in 2006, he was asked to lead his own band. This band was called Plate Full O' Blues. Mac Arnold's return to music was even made into a documentary film. It was called Nothing to Prove: Mac Arnold's Return to the Blues.
In 2013, Mac Arnold opened his own restaurant. It was in Greenville, South Carolina. He also hosted a popular music event there each year. It was called The Cornbread and Collard Greens Blues Festival.
Even though his restaurant was successful, he closed it in 2017. He wanted to focus on music again. This was especially true after he was nominated for the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame.
On September 23, 2017, Mac Arnold was officially inducted into the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Awards and Special Recognition
Mac Arnold has received many awards for his music:
- He was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Male Artist in 2012.
- In 2011, his documentary Nothing to Prove was nominated for Best DVD.
- He won Best Historical Album of the Year in 2010. This was for the Authorized Bootleg album by Muddy Waters, on which Mac played.
- He won the Folk Heritage Award in 2006.
- The University of South Carolina gave him an honorary doctorate degree in music in 2014.
- He was inducted into the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame in 2017.
- Mac Arnold was featured in the 2021 South Carolina African American History Calendar.
- In June 2023, he was inducted into the South Carolina Entertainment and Music Hall of Fame.
Supporting Music in Schools
Mac Arnold and his band care about music education. They support the "I Can Do Anything Foundation". This group helps keep music education in public schools. The foundation started after Mac Arnold and Max Hightower wrote a song. It was called "I Can Do Anything" and was performed by Plate Full O' Blues.
Discography
With Otis Spann
- The Blues Is Where It's At (BluesWay, 1966)
Images for kids
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Mac Arnold performs with his band, Plate Full O' Blues, at the 'Fall for Greenville' arts festival, October 2013
