This post is a contribution from Richard Thompson, a founding member of the British Bluegrass Music Association, and a semi-regular correspondent and contributor for The Bluegrass Blog. He is also a longstanding contributor to British Bluegrass News, a quarterly print publication where he also briefly served as editor.

Prompted by an article in the January 2007 edition of Country Music People that Nashville journalist Walter Trott wrote about Mac Wiseman, I followed up a mention of the new 4 CD Bear Family Records boxed set release of On Susan’s Floor (Bear Family BCD 16736 DK).

In keeping with the label’s well deserved reputation for making available older recordings from a variety of catalogues, this set includes some rare material from Mac Wiseman’s recording career between the years 1965 to 1979, including that from his own Wise label, the Rural Rhythm, MGM, Dot, RCA and Churchill archives, comprising 114 songs in all.

Among the songs featured are such notable titles as Bringing Mary Home, Ring Them Golden Bells, I Saw Your Face In The Moon, Bringing In The Georgia Mail, Letter Edged In Black, White Silver Sands, Ballad Of A Teenage Queen and the hit single My Blue Heaven, recorded with Woody Herman’s band.

As usual the boxed set includes a hard-backed book; this one has an essay by Colin Escott, a discography and many previously unpublished photographs.

The collection is available directly from Bear Family, and is listed in the catalogue of many online resellers where bluegrass music is sold.