Weekend radio show an East Tennessee staple
As a radio deejay playing music wholly devoted to the blues for the past 30 years, Johnny McCormack aka Johnny Mack, defies the notion that to be in that business, one is required to be a perpetual gypsy, traveling from one market to another in an endless cycle of searching for work and rewards. Indeed, next January will mark 25 years since “Johnny Mack’s Friday Night Blues Attack” first aired. It since has become an East Tennessee radio staple, an opportunity for loyal listeners to immerse themselves in the legacy of the blues, find new music and enjoy the knowledge that comes from a man whose made it his mission to keep that style of music alive courtesy of his dedication, devotion and dependability.
Mack proudly points to the fact that his listeners include blues enthusiasts from the West Coast, Canada and even Great Britain and Japan. “I regularly hear from listeners in Brooklyn and Vermont,” he says, adding, “One of my proudest moments was hearing from an Israeli soldier-in-training who actually had to pay extra for the bandwidth to listen.”
Mack’s devotion to the blues dates back to his childhood when he first became hooked on the likes of Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf on AM radio. Like a lot of baby boomers, he discovered their music by listening to the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, the Yardbirds, the Animals and Cream before delving in further and farther back to learn about the origins of the covers that those artists integrated into their setlists early on in their careers.
A founder of the Knoxville Blues Society, from which the current Smoky Mountain Blues Society originated, Mack has served a multitude of roles with at least a dozen blues societies over the course of his career. His commitment to the genre has taken him to the Chicago Blues Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas.
His devotion also extends to his wife Ruth, to whom he’s been married for the better part of 50 years.
Born in St. Louis, Mack graduated from St. Louis University in 1970 with a major in communications, and, after getting married, got drafted into the Army. He served only 18 months and received an honorable discharge before finding his dream job as a bookstore clerk at the same mall shop he haunted in his youth. Then, in 1997, his employer, B. Dalton, moved him to Beaumont, Texas, where he was assigned a managerial position. After 18 months, he was promoted to a much larger store in Las Vegas. While there, he began listening to a blues radio show broadcast on Saturday nights on the local NPR affiliate KNPR.
It proved to be an “aha” moment: his first time hearing Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush, among other blues greats. A short time later, Mack was given the opportunity to experience the music live, courtesy of concerts featuring Guy, Albert Collins, James Harman, James Cotton, Johnny Winter and Charlie Musselwhite.
He insists that he hasn’t been the same since.
In the mid-‘80s, Mack became one of the founders and board members of the Las Vegas Blues Society. In January 1990, he and the society’s then-president Bill Cherry started hosting a two-hour Sunday-afternoon program they called “Blues Legacy” on KUNV, a University of Nevada radio station with a mostly jazz-flavored format.
The program came to an end when Mack moved to Knoxville after Ruth’s employer, Levi Strauss, transferred her to a local regional office. In retrospect, he calls it “one of the best things that’s ever happened to us.”
In 1995, Mack returned to radio, working weekends at WUTK, staying true to its college-radio format while also occasionally slipping in some favorites from his own album collection. Eventually, he was asked to host his own show, dubbed “Blue Monday.” He continued to anchor that program for two-and-a-half years, even after joining WDVX at the invitation of founder, program director and general manager Tony Lawson, who offered him the opportunity host his own program at that station shortly after it first went on the air.
Mack and Lawson had known each other since the early ‘90s, having met one another during WDVX’s exploratory years when the idea of a new independent radio station was first explored. When Lawson asked him to initiate his own radio show, Mack seized the opportunity, touting his experience as a blues DJ and his extensive blues catalog.
Thus “Johnny Mack’s Blues Attack” was launched on January 16, 1998. It still can be heard every Friday night, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.
“My approach to the show is influenced by Ike and Tina Turner’s version of ‘Proud Mary,’” Mack explains. “Tina opens the song by saying that they’ll start it ‘nice and easy’ before it then becomes ‘nice and rough.’ That’s why the first hour of the show is acoustic and the last part features mostly blues rock.”
These days, Mack remains the station’s longest-serving radio announcer, with the possible exception of engineer Don Burggraf. Mack’s efforts have not only earned him the devotion of listeners, many of whom live far beyond the confines of East Tennessee, but also from artists and aficionados, including former Knoxville mayor Madeline Rogero. He’s also earned the appreciation of his fellow staffers at WDVX.
“Through Johnny’s commitment and effort, this community is a better place to live, work and play,” Lawson insists. “We hope he keeps rockin’ for many years to come!”
“It wouldn’t be the weekend without ‘Johnny Mack’s Blues Attack,’” adds Red Hickey, host of the station’s “Blue Plate Special.”
“I love the requests I get from listeners,” Mack says. “And they’ve turned me onto blues artists I wouldn’t have heard otherwise, like Clarence Carter, Z. Z. Hill, Barbara Carr and Johnnie Taylor.” The artists he receives the most requests for nowadays, though, are Luther Allison, Koko Taylor, The Robert Cray Band, Eric Clapton, Collins and Winter.
“One of the things I love about blues artists is that they’re so approachable and friendly,” he maintains, adding that he’s met Bobby Rush and Guy on several occasions and had the opportunity to meet B. B. King twice.
Mack says he plans to celebrate his 25-year milestone as he always does, with what he calls his “Nasty Blues Special,” or as he also refers to it: “Sex, Drugs & The Blues.” Nevertheless, he has other themed shows that air throughout the year, including one devoted to Mardi Gras, a year-end best-of show, an album-release spotlight and a holiday show devoted to blues songs of a Christmas variety.
Of course, Mack recognizes the fact that his longevity at WDVX defies the norm in an often-fickle industry. “I’m extremely grateful to Tony Lawson and the station,” he says, “because radio shows and hosts just almost never last this long. Other blues DJs I’ve met can’t believe I have six hours every week.”
As for his own devotion, Mack sums up his sentiments succinctly: “It’s a cliche, but I really do eat, drink and sleep the blues.”
In addition to the weekly editions of “Johnny Mack’s Friday Night Blues Attack,” past episodes can be found at https://wdvx.com/program/johnny-macks-friday-night-blues-attack/.
