MAC ARNOLD's musical career has placed him in the center of the many of the most significant places and events of the American musical milieu of the 1960's and 1970's.
During the 1950’s and 60’s, the rural blues of the deep south were re-emerging in new forms which were often referred to as "electric blues" and "Chicago Blues"; and the "Chicago Blues" scene was increasingly impacting the rapidly shifting sounds of Rock and Roll Music. By the mid 1960’s, young musicians from both America and Europe were digging the electrified Chicago blues and coming to Chicago to experience the music first hand. Emerging Rock and Roll stars like Eric Clapton, Eric Burdon, Mick Jagger, and others were incorporating the roots-based electrified blues sounds of Chicago in to their own music. The years 1966-7 found MAC
ARNOLD right in the center of it all as he lived and worked as a full-time musician in Chicago, playing with top notch bluesmen including MUDDY WATERS, JOHN LEE HOOKER, and OTIS REDDING.
By the end of the sixties, the “new” sound of Rock and Roll had emerged and the blues-influenced sounds of R&B, Soul, and Funk Music were at the top of the charts. Television executives in Los Angeles were quick to capitalize on the emerging sounds and in the early seventies SOUL TRAIN, which featured live in-studio performances by the top artists from around the country, quickly emerged as one of the top television shows. Always on the cutting edge, MAC ARNOLD relocated from Chicago to LA and was soon working as part of the SOUL TRAIN team. Mac’s life and career in LA kept him at the center of the popular culture and his time in California included work as an Engineer for ABC Television, work with the popular television program SANFORD AND SON, and playing music with BILL WITHERS (of “Lean on Me” fame).
From Chicago to Los Angeles, MAC ARNOLD was directly involved at the core of some of the most influential bands, recordings, and television programs which had a major impact of Popular Culture of the 1960’s and 70’s. When Mac “retired” and returned home to South Carolina his musical life and musical friendships across America gave him a unique insight into American musical history. But….Mac’s musical career was not over yet. At age 64, MAC ARNOLD is still performing and recording Blues Music which is reaching new audiences and new generations of music fans across America. Mac writes, sings, and performs with gripping emotion and passion, which have been part of "blues music" for almost a century. He possesses a natural charisma and stage presence which continues to create new fans of all ages. In addition to his musical prowess, Mac Arnold is intent on “giving back” and “planting seeds for the future”. As his stage and recording career continues to ascend, Mac enjoys going into the schools and using blues music to connect with a new generation of young students, encouraging them to work hard, stay in school, and pursue their dreams. For Mac remembers his life as one of 13 children growing up on a rural farm in South Carolina. As Mac tells the school children, he is proud that he stayed in school, got his education and was able to confidently and successfully pursue his dreams playing blues music across America. With a musical life which began in small clubs near his birthplace in Pelzer, South Carolina and led to the pinnacle of popular music including work with MUDDY WATERS to the television studio set of SOUL TRAIN, Mac Arnold, at age 64, has a lifetime of stories to tell and is winning new fans as he performs with his band PLATE FULL O’ BLUES at clubs and festivals across our land.
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