Mac Wiseman - The Lost Album
In this week's episode we're featuring a slice of Mac Wiseman's country and bluegrass history that spent almost forty years in the vaults of Capitol Records: "The Lost Album" (1964). As one of the last original members of bluegrass' "first generation", Wiseman had played with Bill Monroe, was a founding member of Flatt & Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys and enjoyed solo hits before signing with Capitol in 1962. Assembling the best pickers from the worlds of both country and bluegrass, Wiseman recorded most of our feature album in February of '64. But circumstances which we'll detail in this week's show got in the way, and Capitol's priorities changed - "The Lost Album" was shelved indefinitely (save for four songs released on 45) as Wiseman negotiated out of his contract and went elsewhere for distribution. Eventually re-released nearly forty years later to coincide with Wiseman's 60th year in the music business, fans can enjoy a helping of Mac Wiseman's trademark storytelling on this collection of 12 songs. Chosen with an emphasis on narrative, "The Voice With A Heart" was in it's prime in 1964 and "The Lost Album" stands the test.