Return Of The Mack

A real-life, born and bred, native son of Nashville, Warner Mack enjoyed two significant spells of popularity and hits - on both the country and pop charts - almost a decade apart. In the first period self-penned tracks like 'Is It Wrong (For Loving You) and 'Roc-A-Chicka' showed that Mack's was a talent to be reckoned with. However a serious car accident put him out of action for two years in the early-mid 60s and it wasn't till 1966 that he returned to the top with 'The Bridge Washed Out'.

This new Jasmine collection covers phase one of Mack's career, and the hits he made in the 50s. It also features two complete 'concept albums' that Mack recorded in 1961 and 1962, featuring updated treatments of predominantly Country classics of the 1940s and 1950s. These are being released on CD for the first time ever.

Some of the earlier tracks are among the first to feature what would become known as 'The Nashville Sound' in the late 1950s. However there are also a number of more traditional hillbilly tracks which were closer to the artist's own heart than the commercialised sound of his hits.

Remastered as always from the finest available sources, this is as fine an overview of Warner Mack's early career as you could hope to find. Happily Warner is still with us at the time of writing, and it's to be hoped that he will feel "Return Of The Mack" does him full justice.