Mac Wiseman

Biography

Mac Wiseman (Malcolm B. Wiseman, May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass singer, guitarist and songwriter. Born in Crimora, Virginia, he attended school in New Hope Virginia and graduated from high school there in 1943. He studied at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Dayton, Virginia, before it moved to Winchester, Virginia in 1960, and started his career as a disc jockey at WSVA-AM in Harrisonburg, Virginia. His musical career began as upright bass player in the band of coun...

Mac Wiseman (Malcolm B. Wiseman, May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass singer, guitarist and songwriter.

Born in Crimora, Virginia, he attended school in New Hope Virginia and graduated from high school there in 1943. He studied at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Dayton, Virginia, before it moved to Winchester, Virginia in 1960, and started his career as a disc jockey at WSVA-AM in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

His musical career began as upright bass player in the band of country singer Molly O'Day. When Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs left Bill Monroe's band, Wiseman became the guitarist for their new band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Later he played with Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. After a performance on Louisiana Hayride he became popular as solo artist. In the 1950s, he was the star of The Old Dominion Barn Dance on WRVA in Richmond, Va.

During the folk revival in the 1960s, Wiseman had successful concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall.

He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night cast CD Christmas Time’s A Comin’ released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.

In 2014, he released an album of songs inspired by his mother's handwritten notebooks of songs she heard on the radio when Mac was a child: Songs From My Mother's Hand.

In 1993 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. His substantial girth and light tenor voice gave rise to the quip that "Mac Wiseman sings like Gene Vincent looks, and looks like Ernest Tubb sings".

Wiseman was a recipient of a 2008 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

In 2014 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Discography

Albums
YearTitleLabelNumberNotes
1957Tis Sweet To Be RememberedDotDLP-3084/25084Dot mono = 3xxx, stereo = 25xxx
1959Beside The Still WatersDotDLP-3135/25135
1959Great Folk BalladsDotDLP-3213/25213
1960Sings 12 Great HitsDotDLP-3313/25313
1960Keep On The Sunny SideDotDLP-3336/25336
1961Best Loved Gospel HymnsDotDLP-3373/25373
1961Fireball MailDotDLP-3408/25408
1962Bluegrass FavoritesCapitolT-1800/ST-1800
1965At the Toronto Horseshoe ClubWiseLP-228
1966SincerelyHamiltonHLP-130
1966This Is Mac WisemanDotDLP-3697/25697
1966A Master At WorkDotDLP-3730/25730
1966BluegrassDotDLP-3731/25731with the Osborne Brothers
1966Songs Of The Dear Old DaysHamiltonHLP-167/1267
1966Sings Old Time Country FavoritesRural RhythmRRMW-158
1967Mac WisemanHilltopJM/JS-6047
1970Sings Johnny's Cash & Charley's PrideRCA VictorLSP-4336
1971Lester 'N' MacRCA VictorLSP-4547with Lester Flatt
1972On The SouthboundRCA VictorLSP-4688with Lester Flatt
1973Singing Country FavoritesRural RhythmRRMW-258reissue of RRMW-158
1973Over The Hills To The PoorhouseRCA VictorAPL1-0309with Lester Flatt
1973Concert FavoritesRCA VictorLSP-4845
1976Country Music MemoriesCMH6202
1976New Traditions Volume 1VetcoLP-508with the Shenandoah Cut-Ups
1977New Traditions Volume 2VetcoLP-509with the Shenandoah Cut-Ups
1977Sings Gordon LightfootCMH6217
1979The Essential Bluegrass AlbumCMH9016with the Osborne Brothers
1980Songs That Made The Jukebox PlayCMH9021
1982Mac and Chubby Live at Gilley'sGilley'sMG-5006with Chubby Wise
1982The Clayton McMichen StoryCMH9028with Merle Travis
1982Live In ConcertCountry RoadCR-01
1982Grassroots To BluegrassCMH9041
1984If Teardrops Were Pennies51 WestQ-16280
1986Mac WisemanDot39086
1993Teenage HangoutBear FamilyBCD-15694(Germany)
1994Number One ChristmasPower Pak10511
1998Del Doc & MacSugar HillSHCD-3888with Doc Watson and Del McCoury
20003 Tenors of BluegrassCMH8530with Bobby Osborne and Jim Silvers
2001Letter Edged in BlackMusic Mill50101also Wise 101
2001Just BecauseMusic Mill50102also Wise 102
2001Maple on the HillMusic Mill50106also Wise 106
2001Shares Precious MemoriesMusic Mill50108with Brother Oswald, also Wise 108
2001First Recorded Live ConcertMusic Mill50109also Wise 109
2003The Lost AlbumMusic Mill70038unreleased 1964 Capitol sessions
200515 of My Grandma's FavoritesMusic Mill50110also Wise 110
200515 of My Gospel FavoritesMusic Mill50111also Wise 111
2007Standard Songs For Average PeopleOh BoyOBR-038duets with John Prine
2008Old Likker in a New JugWise113
2008Waiting for the Boys to Come HomeWise114
2008Bluegrass TraditionGustoGT7-0825
2014Songs From My Mother's HandWrinkled RecordsWR-8336Inspired by his mother's handwritten notebooks of popular songs from his childhood
2017I Sang the SongsMountain FeverSongs based on stories related in Wiseman’s recent autobiography

Compilations
YearTitleLabelNumberNotes
1964Sincerely, Mac WisemanHamiltonHLP-130/12130
1968Golden Hits of Mac WisemanDotDLP-3896/25896
197416 Great PerformancesABCABDP-4009
1976The Mac Wiseman StoryCMHCMH-9001
1979Golden ClassicsGustoGT-0049
1982Bluegrass Gold - Greatest Bluegrass HitsCMHCMH-4502reissue + "In the Pines"
1981Early Dot Recordings Volume 1CountyCCS-108reissue + "When The Roses Bloom Again"
1982Early Dot Recordings Volume 2CountyCCS-109reissue + "Paradise Valley" + "How Can You Forget So Soon"
1982Bluegrass SpecialKoalaA14541Dot reissue
198624 Great HitsDe LuxeDLX-7790
1989Classic BluegrassRebelREB-CD-1106
1992Early Dot Recordings Volume 3CountyCCS-113also MCA MSD-35153
1992Rare Singles And Radio TranscriptionsCowgirlboyLP-5067(Germany)
199720 Old Time Country FavoritesRural Rhythm RecordsRHYCD-258reissue of RRMW-258
2001Mac Wiseman Sings The Gospel, Vol. 1Music Mill50103also Wise 103
2001Mac Wiseman Sings The Gospel, Vol. 2Music Mill50104also Wise 104
2001At the Toronto Horseshoe ClubMusic Mill50105also Wise 105
2001The Most RequestedCMHCMH-8586
2002The Heart Of A LegendMadacy4446
2003The SinglesMusic Mill70037
2004Tis Sweet To Be Remembered: Complete Recordings 1951-1964Bear FamilyBCD-15976(Germany) 6-CD set, Dot/Capitol reissue
2005Precious MomentsBCI41142
2006The Best Of Mac Wiseman – Essential Original MastersRural Rhythm Records312Original Undubbed Mono Mixes of RRMW-158, plus several additional cuts taken from Mac Wiseman's personal archive.
2006On Susan's FloorBear FamilyBCD-16736(Germany) 4-CD set, Dot, Rodeo/Wise, Rural Rhythm, and RCA Reissue
2009Bluegrass Hits And Heart SongsRebelCD-7523

Notable singles
YearSingleChart PositionsAlbum
US CountryCAN Country
1955"The Ballad of Davy Crockett"10—Single only
1959"Jimmy Brown the Newsboy"5—Great Folk Ballads
1963"Your Best Friend and Me"12—Singles only
1968"Got Leavin' On Her Mind"54—
1969"Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride"3830Sings Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride
1978"Never Going Back Again"78—Singles only
1979"My Blue Heaven" (with Woody Herman)69—
"Scotch and Soda"88—
"Shackles and Chains" (with Osborne Brothers)95—The Essential Bluegrass Album

Guest singles
YearSingleArtistUS CountryAlbum
1990"Tomorrow's World"Various artists74Single only
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