Overview
The word "legend" is tossed around far too often. But John Prine, with a 30-years-plus body of unassailable, socially aware songs filled with wry humor, lyrical poignancy, and deep humanity, and Mac Wiseman, one of the greatest bluegrass tenors of all time -- well, these guys are unqualified legends whose styles will be studied by generations yet unborn. At the urging of another by-God legend, Cowboy Jack Clement, Prine and Wiseman gathered a bunch of their favorite songs, assembled a crack band that includes guitarist Pat McLaughlin and pedal steel master Lloyd Green, brought in the Grand Ole Opry's velvet-voiced Carol Lee Singers to provide sumptuous backgrounds, and voila! A genial, warmhearted musical event transpired that found our heroes assaying everything from Bing Crosby's pop classic "Where the Blue of the Night" to a dreamy take on Patti Page's 1957 "Old Cape Cod" (on which the ruggedly weathered voices offer a resonant contrast to a lush string chart and the Carol Lee Singers' smooth crooning) to a reverent, country church-style rendering of the venerable hymn "Old Rugged Cross." The grizzled vets have a lot of fun warming up to the perky Bob Wills-Cindy Walker western swing homily "Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age," which they aren't, and getting frisky on a perky bluegrass treatment of Al Dexter's "Pistol Packin' Mama," during which Ronnie McCoury adds a sprightly mandolin solo. A little blues from Leon Payne, some heartbreak from Kris Kristofferson, some love and happiness courtesy Ernest Tubb, nostalgia for a simpler time via Tom T. Hall -- the songs are as vintage as the performances. But it all sounds fresh.
