Mac Wiseman - The Voice With A Heart: The Singles Collection 1951-61 (2023)

Mac Wiseman was a an American bluegrass and country singer, as well as a bass player and guitarist, who hailed from Virginia, and came to the fore with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ Foggy Mountian Boys in 1948 and later played with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. In 1951 he signed a solo deal with Dot Records and immediately shot to prominence with his big seller “Tis Sweet To Be Remembered”. He sang with a clear, mellow tenor voice that helped him stand out from the usual run of bluegrass performers in his early career, with his appealing style earning him the nickname of “The Voice With A Heart”. This great-value 59-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A & B sides from his releases on Dot during this era, as he gradually moved from bluegrass towards more mainstream country and pop-flavoured material. It features his Top 10 country hits from these years with “The Ballad Of Davy Crockett” and “Jimmy Brown The Newsboy”. He was a noted ambassador for traditional country music over the years, and this collection provides an admirable showcase for his distinctive style of the genre.