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 23 July 2024
This week’s music: Sidmouth Special!
Classic Folk Presenter and Festival advisor Mike Norris takes us on a journey through the seven decades of Sidmouth Folk Festival. Enjoy 3 hours of musical memories, reflecting the rich heritage of the folk scene and the festival itself.
- Sidmouth Days / Crows
- Derry Down Fair / The Young Tradition
- Penny For The Ploughboys / Pete Coe
- Blackwater Side / Anne Briggs
- Flanders Shore / Nic Jones
- Six Pretty Maids / Fred Jordan
- Dennis Crowther's No 2/ Dennis Crowther's No 1 / John Kirkpatrick band
- The Green Banks Of Yarrow / Bob Davenport
- Sally Free And Easy / Cyril Tawney
- There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth the Salt of My Tears / Norma Waterson
- Skewbald / Martin Carthy
- I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love This Night / Kate Rusby
- The Macroom Lasses/ The Rambler In Cork / Jackie Daly, Seamus Creagh
- Jerusalem Revisited [Live] / Coope, Boyes & Simpson
- The Shirt My Father Wore / Packie Byrne
- Jack Turnip / Snowfalls / Taffy, Sam & Aimee Thomas
- Scarecrow / John Tams
- The Exmoor Hunt Song / The Yetties
- Jack O' Diamonds / Lonnie Donegan
- The Trip We Took Over The Mountains / Pive / Rod Stradling
- Yellow, Red & Gold / Sandra Kerr
- Dance To Your Daddy/The Flaming Drones / Nancy Kerr & James Fagan
- Dockyard Medley / Vic Legg
- Hopping Down In Kent / Louie Fuller
- London Danny / Jez Lowe
- Peppers And Tomatoes / Ralph McTell
- Banks Of Green Willow / Tony Rose
- Hares On The Mountain / Elizabeth Clare / Chris Wood & Andy Cutting
- Brigg Fair / June Tabor
- Derwentwater’s Farewell / Louis Killen
- Punch And Judy Man / Roy Bailey
- Thomas Of Welshbury / Frankie Armstrong
- All Things Are Quite Silent / Shirley and Dolly Collins
- Stephen Baldwin’s Schottisches Nos 1 & 2/ The Kennet Jig / The Old Swan Band
- Dido Bendigo / The Watersons
- Barbry Allen / Roy Harris
- Blacksmith / Steeleye Span
- The Calico Set-The Happy Aunt / The Central Line / The Paper Bird / Flook
- Claudy Banks / The Copper Family
- Old King Coal / John Kirkpatrick
- Willow Tree / Anglicana
- Cousin Jack / Show of Hands
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.