Bluegrass Hits and Heartsongs (2009)
Mac Wiseman
There aren't many of them left-the real bluegrass pioneers, the ones who were already pros by the time Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys at the very end of 1945. This CD captures Mac at the peak of his vocal powers and he is backed by an augmented version of the Shenandoah Cut-Ups-Billy Edwards on banjo, John Palmer on bass and Tater Tate on fiddle. The bulk of the material comes from a remarkably fertile period between 1952 and late 1954 when Mac recorded scores of sides for Dot. Listen to songs like "Four Walls Around Me", "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die and "You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover". For old fans and new this is a fine and in every key respect an essential collection. In an additional note, there is a very fine Facebook page called Mac's Bluegrass Era which has many wonderful videos. You can find it here