Malcolm Bell "Mac" Wiseman (May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass and country singer active for seven decades in the twentieth century. He was part of Bluegrass music's earliest generation, though bluegrass never defined him. He helped found the CMA, headed Dot Records' country division, and, in 1993, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. In his early career he was the guitarist for Flatt and Scruggs' band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. His biggest hits included "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" (1955) and "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" (1959). 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 became part of the Veteran Era category of the Country Music Hall of Fame, as "an artist who achieved national prominence more than 45 years ago".

Early life He was born on May 23, 1925, in Crimora, Virginia. He attended school in New Hope, Virginia, and graduated from high school there in 1943. He had polio from the age of six months; due to his disabilities, he could not do field work and spent his time in childhood listening to old records. 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.

Music career His musical career began as upright bass player in the Cumberland Mountain Folks, 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.

In 1951, his first solo single, "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered", was released. According to Rolling Stone this song "catapulted him to solo stardom". In 1958, he helped co-found the Country Music Association (CMA) to save the popularity of country music from rock & roll, and served as the organization's first secretary, eventually becoming its last living co-founder. From 1966 to 1970, Wiseman served as director of the WWVA Jamboree.

In 1986, Wiseman co-founded the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) which was another influential bluegrass music body. He was referred to by a disc jockey as "The Voice with a Heart", a title which became popular among his fans. He was popular for his interpretations of songs on Dot Records such as "Shackles and Chains", "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight", "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy", and "Love Letters in the Sand".

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

Death Wiseman died in Nashville, Tennessee on February 24, 2019, at the age of 93 from kidney failure.

Awards and honors In 1993 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. 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 became part of the Veteran Era category of the Country Music Hall of Fame, as "an artist who achieved national prominence more than 45 years ago".

Selected discography

Albums YearTitleLabelNumberNotes1957Tis Sweet To Be RememberedDotDLP-3084/25084Dot mono = 3xxx, stereo = 25xxx1959Great Folk BalladsDot RecordsDLP-3213Mono1959Beside The Still WatersDot RecordsDLP-3135Mono1960Keep On The Sunny SideDot RecordsDLP-3336Mono1960Mac Wiseman Sings 12 Great HitsDot RecordsDLP-3313Mono1961Best-Loved Gospel HymnsDot RecordsDLP-3373Mono1962Fire Ball Mail And Other FavoritesDot RecordsDLP-3408Mono1962Bluegrass FavoritesCapitol RecordsT-1800Mono2014Songs From My Mother's HandWrinkled RecordsWR-8336Inspired by his mother's handwritten notebooks of popular songs from his childhood2017I Sang the SongsMountain Fever Songs based on stories related in Wiseman's recent autobiography

Notable singles Year Single Peak positions Album US Country CAN Country 1955 "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" 10 — 1959 "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" 5 — Great Folk Ballads 1963 "Your Best Friend and Me" 12 — rowspan="2" 1968 "Got Leavin' On Her Mind" 54 — 1969 "Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride" 38 30 Sings Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride 1978 "Never Going Back Again" 78 — rowspan="3" 1979 "My Blue Heaven" 69 — "Scotch and Soda" 88 — "Shackles and Chains" 95 — The Essential Bluegrass Album "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Notes

References

External links [ Mac Wiseman Biography] Mac Wiseman Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2004)