Little Mack Simmons

Born on 25 January 1934 in Twist, Arkansas, USA, and deceased on 24 October 2000 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, ‘Little’ Mack Simmons remained a mainstay of the Chicago club scene. Having learned harmonica on his own while still young, he made occasional appearances with blues musicians along the St. Louis, Missouri, club circuit during the early 1950s before moving permanently to Chicago in 1954. From the late 1960s onward his sessions surfaced on numerous independent local imprints and, at times, on larger concerns such as Checker. A 1967 conviction on a drugs charge resulted in a three-year prison term. At intervals he operated his own label, recording studio and club, issuing blues, gospel (under the name Reverend Mac Simmons for a period) and soul; the roster at his studio included Otis Clay and Sunnyland Slim. An instrumental harmonica reading of ‘Rainy Night In Georgia’ enjoyed local success in the early 1970s. He resurfaced in the 1990s with several classic blues albums on the Electro-Fi label before losing his fight with cancer in October 2000.