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 22 October 2024
This week’s music:
1. Beccles Gates / Mick Ryan And Paul Downes
2. The Storms Are On The Ocean / The Long Hill Ramblers
3. Darlin' Corey / Snakefarm
4. True Lovers: The King's Command Must Be Obeyed / Tony Rose
5. The White Cockade / Kate Rusby
6. Eleanor Plunkett / the likes of
7. Sir Patrick Spence / Paul & Liz Davenport
8. Lord Donald / Emily Smith
9. Turas An Anraidh (The Stormy Voyage) / Capercaillie
10. Elvira Madigan / Mr. Fox
11. Where Do You Go To My Lovely / Peter Starstedt
12. The Lofty Tall Ship / Sam Larner
13. Once I Had a True Love / Phoebe Smith
14. I'll Marry and I Won't Be a Nun (March Or Two-Step) / Micha
15. The Maids of Michelstown / Bothy Band
16. Galway Bay / Dolores Keane
17. The Galway Girl / Sharon Shannon & Steve Earle
18. Betty and Dupree / Dave Van Ronk
19. Which Side Are You On? / Natalie Merchant
20. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue / Bob Dylan
21. The Bramble Briar / Louis Killen
22. The Diamantina Drover / The Unwanted
23. The False Young Man / Lady Maisery
24. Mary Aumbree / Terry Conway & Liz Law
25. Strange Lover is the Coalmine / Tom McConville
26. The Maid & The Palmer Brass Monkey
27. I'm A Rover / Alex Campbell
Also available to stream:
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.