Classic Folk with Mike Norris
Classic Folk is unique.
It mines a rich seam of wonderful folk and roots music and song from around 75 years of recordings.
From the great source singers to the legends of folk rock, the travellers to the protesters, the ballads to the blues, from the far north to the deep south and all around the English speaking world, the songs live again.
And, not forgetting the pick of the new releases and a few cracking tunes, it’s like having a folk festival in the comfort of your own home!
Former English Folk Dance and Song Society Chair (2006–2011) and long-standing member Mike Norris hosts our weekly folk radio programme.
Mike explores a wide range of folk and acoustic music from the UK and abroad – from rarely heard archive and field recordings to the very latest releases.
Listen now
Tuesday 9 July 2024
This week’s music:
1. Green Grow The Rashes / Dougie MacLean
2. Tradition Never Dies / Chris While
3. Broken Token / Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer
4. The Sodger Laddie / Cilla Fisher
5. Chicken On A Raft / Cyril Tawney
6. Female Rambling Sailor / Dave & Toni Arthur
7. Anno 1643 / Methera
8. The Wild Colonial Boy / Michael Gorman, Margaret Barry
9. The Deserter / Dave Swarbrick
10. Country Blues / Dock Boggs
11. Reuben James / Folk Family Robinson
12. The Folkestone Murder / George Spicer
13. Maid On The Shore / Frankie Armstrong
14. The Queen's Lover / Greg Russell, Ciaran Algar
15. The Hand-Loom Weaver's Lament / Harry Boardman
16. Horseshoe Harbour / The Hut People
17. Wife Of The Bold Tenant Farmer / Joe Heaney
18. Married A Trawlerman / John Conolly
19. Devlin's General Store / John Warner and Margaret Walters
20. Blood Red Roses / Johnny Collins, Dave Webber & Pete Watkinson
21. Mon Père / La Bottine Souriante
22. The John Maclean March / The Laggan
23. A Parcel Of Rogues / Luke Kelly
24. The Fairies' Hornpipe / Davy Graham
25. Chanson A La Mariee / Liliana Bertolo, Evelyne Girardon, Sandra Kerr
26. On The Banks Of The Clyde / Linda Thompson
27. Dooley's Farm / Brooks Williams & Aaron Catlow
28. Talking Dustbowl Blues / Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
29. The Moons A Harsh Mistress / Christine Collister
30. God Speed The Plough / John Kirkpatrick
Also streaming now:
The presenter: Mike Norris
Mike’s passion for folk music spans decades; from first learning to play the melodeon and singing shanties at school, to running folk festivals and gigs.
A teenager during the 1960s, Mike was heavily influenced by protest song and folk-rock popularity (Bob Dylan, the Copper Family, Joan Baez, Fairport Convention etc), as well as the tail end of the folk-song revival shaped by The Watersons, Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Shirley Collins, Woody Guthrie and many more.
Interesting fact: The hospital where Mike was born, in Portsmouth, grew out of the workhouse where George Gardiner collected more than 100 songs in the early 1900s.