The Legend Lives Anew (Lost Gold, 1998)

The last few years have seen a rise in interest in '60's and '70's country stars who have fallen into obscurity. New work by many of these artists is appearing on small labels even as most of their actual hits remain unavailable. This Warner Mack CD contains new recordings, mostly of new songs.

Mack had a big stretch of popularity from 1964 to 1969, with five consecutive Top five singles at one point. The CD cover bills him as "Country's Mystery Man," but forgotten man would be more accurate. Listening to this album, you would never guess he's 60 years old. The voice just hasn't deepened a whole lot. The album opens with a spry version of "White Silver Sands" and ends with an overly-modernized cover of a Larry Henley/Billy Burnette song "Love Ain't Easy." In-between come nine Mack originals, most of which are quite ordinary. "Augusta Mama" stands out a bit from the pack. Far from the honky-tonk sound of his biggest hits, this album has more of an early to mid-'70's musical feel to it, which for some people is still a big improvement over today's sounds.