Mac Arnold
Mac Arnold must have known at an early age that his music career would read like a “Who’s Who” of blues and rhythm and blues legends. Prophetically, his high school band J Floyd & The Shamrocks often featured none other than Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Brown on piano. Arnold later moved to Chicago in 1965 to work with recording artist/saxophonist A. C. Reed.
He was afforded the opportunity of a lifetime to join the Muddy Waters Blues Band and help shape the electric blues sound that inspired the rock and roll movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Arnold expanded his musical horizons as The Muddy Waters Blues Band shared the stage with the likes of Howlin’ Wolfe and several other blues artists. Arnold continued to flourish as a blues musician during this period as he played on John Lee Hooker’s “Live at the Café’ Au Go-Go,” Otis Spann’s “The Blues Is Where It’s At” and Tyrone Davis’ “Turning Point.”
After more than a year with Muddy Waters, Mac formed the Soul Invaders, a group that backed up many artists. He later enjoyed a successful career in Los Angeles working with ABC Television and LAFF RECORDS (Redd Foxx), working on the set of Soul Train, and collaborating with another legendary musician, Quincy Jones.
Arnold returned to South Carolina in 1990. Embracing his blues roots in Pelzer, where he learned to play his brother Leroy’s home-made guitar, Arnold now serves up a mess of Blues with his own band, Mac Arnold & Plate Full O’ Blues. The band consists of Danny Keylon on bass, Austin Brashier on guitar, Max Hightower on keyboard, harmonica, guitar, Mike Whitt on drums, and Mac Arnold on vocals, bass and Gas Can Guitars.