The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
Band · Active 1954–2005 · Nashville, Tennessee
Traditional Bluegrass
The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman recorded one major album together — The Essential Bluegrass Album (CMH Records, 1979) — a meeting of three generation-defining bluegrass voices that paired the brothers' high-trio harmonies with Wiseman's "Voice with a Heart" lead singing.
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- Released as a 24-track double LP on CMH Records in 1979 with Sonny Osborne on banjo, Bobby Osborne on mandolin and lead vocals, and Mac Wiseman on rhythm guitar and lead vocals.
- The repertoire blended Wiseman signatures ("'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered"), Carter Family standards ("Keep on the Sunny Side"), and Osborne-era staples; "Shackles and Chains" was issued as a single.
- The Osborne Brothers had been a hit duo since 1956; Sonny (born October 29, 1937) and Bobby (born December 7, 1931) recorded "Rocky Top" in November 1967 (released that December), a Felice and Boudleaux Bryant song that became a Tennessee state song in 1982.
- Mac Wiseman, born May 23, 1925 in Crimora, Virginia, came up through Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and Flatt & Scruggs's Foggy Mountain Boys before launching a long solo career; signature sides include "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" (1959) and "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" (1955).
- Mac Wiseman was inducted into the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1993; the Osborne Brothers followed in 1994.
- Wiseman also received the 2008 NEA National Heritage Fellowship and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
- The collaboration was a one-off — no follow-up album appeared. Wiseman died February 24, 2019; Sonny Osborne October 24, 2021; Bobby Osborne June 27, 2023.
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The Essential Bluegrass Album1979 · CMH CMH 9016
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Bobby OsbornePlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Jimmy BrockPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Mac WisemanPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Ray EdentonPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Sonny OsbornePlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Blaine SprousePlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Buddy SpicherPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Jerry DouglasPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
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Benny BirchfieldPlayed on recording with The Osborne Brothers and Mac Wiseman
