ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Warner Mack

(born April, 2 1938)

Career Highlights

Barn Dance Affiliate: Louisiana Hayride

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

• Ernest Tubb’s  Midnight Jamboree, 3
• Hee Haw, 4
• NashvilleNow, 4
• Pop Goes the Country, 4
• The Statler Brothers Show, 4 

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV 

Billboard Chart Data 

• No. 1 Singles: 1
• Top-10 Singles: 11
• Crossover Singles: 0
• Charted Singles: 23
• Chart Years Active: (1957-1977)

Career Label: Decca Records (1957-1973)

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1. Is It Wrong (For Loving You) No. 9, 1957
2. Sittin' In An All Nite Cafe (N. 4, 1964)
3. The Bridge Washed Out (No. 1, 1965)*#
4. Sitting on a Rock (Crying In a Creek) No. 3, 1965
5. Talkin' to the Wall (No. 3, 1966)
6. It Takes a Lot of Money (No. 4, 1966)
7. Driftin' Apart (No. 8, 1967)
8. How Long Will It Take (No. 4, 1967)
9. I’m Gonna’ Move On (No. 7, 1968)
10. Leaving My Dreams Alone ( No. 6, 1969 
11. I’ll Still Be Missing You (No. 8, 1969)

*-No. 1 Chart Single

#-Biggest Chart Single

The Bridge Washed Out: The warner Mack Story

Warner Mack was a popular performer for Decca Records during the 1960s. Mr. Mack is one of the few musicians actually born in Nashville, Tennessee. He was born Warner MacPherson, the son of a Presbyterian minister. When Warner was 9 years old, his parents moved the family (Warner and his two sisters, Juanita and Dean) to Vicksburg, Mississippi.

During his youth, Mack taught himself to play guitar. He played at various school functions and local clubs while in high school. Later, Warner Mack performed on radio shows for the U.S. Air Force as a country blues artist.

A talented athlete, he had offers to play both college baseball and football; he was also offered a spot on the St. Louis Cardinals, but Mack really wanted to be a musician. He got his start on the KWKH Louisiana Hayride and then appeared on Red Foley's Ozark Jamboree, gaining an even greater following. He still kept a day job at a tire company and also worked as an announcer on a Vicksburg radio station.

Mack moved to Nashville in the late '1950s. His stage name (Mack) came about through a mistake on a record label. Mack began his professional career when he inked a recording contract with the Decca Records in 1957 and made his chart debut with the single,  Is It Wrong (No. 9, 1957).

Warner Mack wrote the song at the age of 13, after a failed teenage romance.

Sonny James had a number one cover of the song in 1974. At age 29, his music career was virtually over, even though some of his biggest hits were still to come. A car wreck on the way home from a show date in Madison, Wisconsin changed his future, and forced Mack to cancel his contract with Decca. Owen Bradley informed him that he would have to record or be dropped. He did not have the strength at the time to go on recording.

It would several years before he returned to the studio and went back on the road. In the early 1960s, he signed with Kapp Records but failed to generate any chart activity. After performing on the Grand Ole Opry, he re-signed to Decca, in 1964. After a minor single titled Surely, he returned to the top-ten with Sittin' in an All Night Café (No 4, 1964). It was during this period that Warner Mack released his only number one single, The Bridge Washed Out (No. 1, 1965).

A series of moderate chart activity carried him through the late-1960s, including, Sitting on a Rock (Crying IN a Creek) (No. 3, 1965), Talkin' to the Wall (No. 3, 1966), It Takes a Lot of Money (No. 4, 1966), Driftin' Apart (No. 8, 1967), How Long Will It Take (No. 4, 1967), I’m Gonna’ Move On (No. 7, 1968) and his final top-ten singles, Leaving My Dreams Alone ( No. 6, 1969 ) and I’ll Still Be Missing You (No. 8, 1969). His last US country chart entry was "These Crazy Thoughts" in 1977.

Mr. Mack was the first country artist to record a national commercial for Coca-Cola. He has received numerous awards for his recording accomplishments and song writing. In 1991 he was inducted into the American Academy of Country Music Hall of Fame. Many have copied his sound, but none have been able to duplicate the unique style of Warner Mack.

Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Jul. 18, 2009.