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 14 May 2024
This week’s music:
- White Dress / Dave Swarbrick with Ralph McTell
- Next Market Day / Ciarán Boyle
- Long Time Gone / Thea Gilmore & Sandy Denny
- Jacket So Blue (My Bonnie Scotch Laddie With His Bonnet so Blue / Jim McFarland
- Kitty Kane / John Warner and Margaret Walters
- Mackerel / The Rheingans Sisters
- Shepherd of the Downs (Bob & Ron) / The Copper Family
- The Jolly Waggoners / The Watersons
- Country Hirings / Granny's Attic
- The Body Of An American / The Pogues
- My Father's Mansions / Billy Bragg
- The Ludlow Massacre / FourWinds
- Swaggering Gathering / Ashley Hutchings
- Black Joke / Jim Moray Trio
- Ring O'Bells / Moulton Morris Men
- Betty and Dupree / Dave Van Ronk
- Ode to Billie Joe / Sarah McQuaid
- Love At The Five And Dime / Nanci Griffith
- Inveray (The Baron of Brackley) / Owen Hand
- Nobleman's Wedding / Cassie And Maggie MacDonald
- Polka de Chateau Chervix / Pick Yer Feet Up
- The Garland / Harry Boardman
- The Scarlet & The Blue (Blockley) / Roy Harris
- Rochester Recruit / The Wassailers
- Farewell To The Creeks / Davey Graham
- The King Of Rome / June Tabor
- Broomfield Wager / Hilary Spencer
- Race Of Long Ago / Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman
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.