Mac Wiseman – On Susan’s Floor

This second volume of Bear Family’s revealing, entertaining retrospective of the musical adventures of this singular singer will take listeners into surprising places — even those who figure they know Mac Wiseman’s work pretty well.

The 114 tracks here begin where the earlier ‘Tis Sweet To Be Remembered box leaves off — Mac taking up with various smaller labels, bluegrass-specialized and otherwise, and starting one of his own, but also finding renewed success in the ’70s with a return to Dot and a considerable stay at RCA. In top vocal form and looking pretty svelte and hip, Wiseman on these records from 1965-77 — when he was concentrating on bluegrass again live — proved to be as far-flung in style as ever, arguably more so.

A standout 1973 cut, “You Can’t Go In The Red Playin’ Bluegrass”, will sound ironic to many in the bluegrass trenches, but it was pretty true for Wiseman. The dozens of tracks he recorded in May 1966 alone, for multiple labels, were released by genre: as a terrific pop country LP with A-team backing (“Springtime In The Rockies”, “You’re The Only Star In My Blue Heaven”); stripped-down folkish collections of Mac’s patented turns on old sentimental ballads (“My Grandfather’s Clock”, “The Letter Edged In Black”) and blues (“Sittin’ On Top Of The World”); and, as he points out to Colin Escott in the accompanying book, bluegrass work that was his key moneymaker.

Nevertheless, some of his best vocal and guitar work in the genre is here, including a session for Dot with the Osborne Brothers. (That’s not to be confused with Wiseman’s more familiar CMH LP recorded with the Osbornes later, which is in print elsewhere and not included here; neither are Mac’s strong RCA albums recorded with Lester Flatt, already reissued in the Lester Flatt Bear Family box.)

There were more chart hits for Wiseman in this era (“If I Had Johnny’s Cash And Charley’s Pride”), but the richest treasure here is LP material. In hard country mode, Wiseman, often working with the very compatible Jack Clement as producer, took to the challenging new Nashville songwriters early and often; there’s a fine “Me And Bobby McGee”. And the box’s title track is virtually a salute to the ’70s songwriter scene.

His pop persona reaches as far out as some jazzy sides with swing band leader Woody Herman, and a very convincing turn on the old “My, I get high” barroom standard “Scotch And Soda”. From the archives emerges one of the spectacular, moving and previously unissued vocal turns of Mac’s whole career, “I’ve Got To Catch That Train”, which begins in contemplative Jimmie Rodgers “Waiting For A Train” territory and explodes into huge gospel choruses. If there were such a thing as putting out a new old single, that’s one right there.