Wiseman, Mac

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MAC WISEMAN

  • From Crimora, Virginia. Lives on Percy Priest Lake, near Nashville.
  • Was born in 1925, the same year the Grand Ole Opry started.
  • Real name: Malcolm Bell Wiseman.
  • 1944, began his career as a DJ in in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
  • 1946, worked with Molly O’Day.
  • 1948, was an original member of Flatt and Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys.
  • 1949, worked with Bill Monroe.
  • Came to be known as “The Voice with a Heart.”
  • 1952-1956, with his band “The Country Boys” recorded several hits for Dot Records including “Jimmy Brown the Newsboy,” “Love Letters in the Sand,” “The Ballad of Davy Crockett.”
  • 1957-1963, worked as an A & R man (Artists and Repertoire) for Dot Records and ran the company’s country-music department.
  • 1958, was one of the founders of the Country Music Association (CMA) and was the organization’s first secretary.
  • 1965, performed at the first bluegrass festival in Fincastle, Virginia.
  • 1966, managed WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia.
  • 1969, had a country hit with “Johnny’s Cash and Charley’s Pride” (RCA Victor).
  • 1990, elected president of R.O.P.E. (Reunion of Professional Entertainers) in Nashville. One of the goals of the organization is to build a retirement home for country music entertainers.
  • 1991, worked at the revived Old Dominion Barn Dance, Richmond, Virginia.
  • 1992, worked at the Willie Nelson Theatre in Branson, Missouri.
  • 1993, was inducted into the IBMA’s Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
  • 1997, recorded with The Groove Grass Boyz.
  • 2001, recorded a duet with his old friend Johnny Cash: “When It’s Reveille Time in Heaven.”
  • 2008, received the National Heritage Award, America’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
  • 2014, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
  • 2014, released album Songs From My Mother’s Hand on Wrinkled Records at the age of 89.
  • 2015, his autobiography Mac Wiseman: All My Memories Fit For Print was published (Nova Books).
  • 2016, released “I Sang the Song: Going Back to Bristol” album (Mountain Fever) with guest artists Sierra Hull, Shawn Camp, the Isaacs, Jim Lauderdale and others.
  • 2019, died at the age of 93.