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 Chairman (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
Monday 13 September 2021
This week’s music
- Young Brian Of The Sussex Wold / Ruth Notman & Sam Kelly
- Alison Among the Flowers / Alistair McDonald
- Blind Fiddler / Phil Beer
- Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy / Reg Meuross & Harbottle & Jonas
- Black Crow / Winter Wilson
- Will You Go to Flanders / Seamus Begley
- I Ain't Marching Anymore / Phil Ochs
- Masters of War / Odetta
- The Sweet Primroses / Phil Tanner
- Holmfirth Anthem / Tony Hall
- Sophie's lullaby / Aly Bain
- The Ballad Of Cursed Anna / Paul Downes
- Molly Ban / Ushers Island
- The Banks Of The Nile / Nancy Kerr & James Fagan
- The Passing Of The Storm / Winter Wilson
- Crazy Man Michael / Richard Thompson
- Blood And Bones / Our Native Daughters
- Where Have All The Flowers Gone? / Windborne
- Universal Soldier / Donovan
- Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye / Karan Casey
- Another Clearing Time / Stravaig
- Anachie Gordon / Reg Meuross & Harbottle & Jonas
- White Squall / Stan Rogers
- Robin Hood & The Bishop / Pilgrims' Way
- Ainya's / Elephant Sessions
- Bonny Woodhall / Niamh Parsons & Graham Dunne
- Time To Rise / Crows
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.
