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Norman Blake

Person · male · United States · Chattanooga · born 1938 · recording since 1972

American musician

country music

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Also known as Blake, Norman · Norman Lee Blake · ノーマン・ブレイク

Debut: 1972
Recording span: 52 years
Release groups: 43
Timeline events: 36
Wiki language versions: 11

Compare this artist Read the biography Jump to timeline

Timeline

36 events▣ Album 34◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1

1930s
1. 10 March 1938 · Birth
  Born 1938-03-10
  source: wikidata
1970s
1. 1972 · Debut release
  Debut release: Home in Sulphur Springs
  First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
  source: musicbrainz
2. 1972 · Album
  Album: Home in Sulphur Springs
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 1974 · Album
  Album: The Fields of November
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 1975 · Album
  Album: Old and New
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
5. 1976 · Album
  Album: Norman Blake and Red Rector
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
6. 1976 · Album
  Album: Whiskey Before Breakfast
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
7. 1977 · Album
  Album: Blackberry Blossom
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
8. 1978 · Album
  Album: Directions
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
9. 1979 · Album
  Album: The Rising Fawn String Ensemble
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
1980s
1. 1981 · Album
  Album: Full Moon on the Farm
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 1982 · Album
  Album: Original Underground Music From the Mysterious South
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 1984 · Album
  Album: Nashville Blues
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 1985 · Album
  Album: Lighthouse on the Shore
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
5. 30 November 1987 · Album
  Album: Blind Dog
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
1990s
1. 19 February 1992 · Album
  Album: Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 1994 · Album
  Album: While Passing Along This Way
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 1995 · Album
  Album: An Americana Christmas
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 20 August 1996 · Album
  Album: The Hobo's Last Ride
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
5. 1997 · Album
  Album: Flat Pickin’ in the Kitchen
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
6. 20 January 1998 · Album
  Album: Chattanooga Sugar Babe
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
7. 1999 · Album
  Album: Be Ready Boys
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
8. 16 November 1999 · Album
  Album: Far Away, Down on a Georgia Farm
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2000s
1. 2001 · Album
  Album: Flower From the Fields of Alabama
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 2002 · Album
  Album: Meeting on Southern Soil
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 2004 · Album
  Album: The Morning Glory Ramblers
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 2006 · Album
  Album: Back Home in Sulphur Springs
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
5. 2007 · Album
  Album: Shacktown Road
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
6. 2009 · Album
  Album: Rising Fawn Gathering
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2010s
1. 18 January 2011 · Album
  Album: Green Light on the Southern
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 20 January 2015 · Album
  Album: Wood, Wire & Words
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 2016 · Album
  Album: Songs That Are Mostly Older Than Us
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 20 January 2017 · Album
  Album: Brushwood: Songs & Stories
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
5. 1 June 2018 · Album
  Album: Gallop to Georgia
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2020s
1. 22 October 2021 · Album
  Album: Day by Day
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 2 August 2024 · Album
  Album: Pilgrimage to Rising Fawn
  Album
  source: musicbrainz

Biography

English biography818 words · 8 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1370912134

Biography

Norman L. Blake (born March 10, 1938) is a traditional American stringed instrument artist and songwriter. He is half of the eponymous Norman & Nancy Blake band with his wife, Nancy Blake.

Early performing

Blake was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and grew up in Sulphur Springs, Alabama. He listened to old-time and country music on the radio by the Carter Family, the Skillet Lickers, Roy Acuff, and the Monroe Brothers (Charlie and Bill Monroe). He learned guitar at age 11 or 12, then mandolin, dobro, and fiddle in his teens. When he was 16, he dropped out of school to play music professionally.
In the 1950s, Blake joined the Dixieland Drifters and performed on radio broadcasts, then joined the Lonesome Travelers. When he was drafted in 1961, he served as an Army radio operator in the Panama Canal Zone. He started a popular band known as the Kobbe Mountaineers. A year later, while he was on leave, he recorded the album Twelve Shades of Bluegrass with the Lonesome Travelers.

Nashville and Johnny Cash

After being discharged from the Army, Blake moved to Nashville and became a studio musician. For 10 years, he toured and recorded with country singer Johnny Cash and continued to play with Cash intermittently over the next 30 years. He met Nancy Short, a cellist with a classical music background who was playing in a folk group. He was asked by Bob Dylan to play on the country-folk album Nashville Skyline, then became a member of the house band on Johnny Cash's TV show. Kris Kristofferson, one of the guests, hired Blake to tour with him. Blake recorded with folk singer Joan Baez and appeared on her hit song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". In 1971, he became a member of the bluegrass group Aero-plain, led by multi-instrumentalist John Hartford with fiddler Vassar Clements, a short-lived project.
Blake also played dobro on the 1972 album Will the Circle Be Unbroken by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
In 1972, Blake recorded his first solo album, Home in Sulphur SpringsHome in Sulphur Springs1972 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracksA1Bully of the Town2:00A2Randall Collins1:52A3Done Gone1:35A4Down Home Summertime Blues3:40A5Warp Factor No. 93:36A6Orphan Annie2:54A7Spanish Fandango2:47B1Little Joe2:47B2Richland Avenue Rag1:54B3When the Fields Are White With Daisies2:44B4Cattle in the Cane2:07B5Crossing No. 92:43B6Weave and Way2:20B7Ginseng Sullivan3:29B8Bringing in the Georgia Mail2:24 (Rounder, 1972). Soon after his debut, he and Nancy recorded their first album, The Fields of NovemberThe Fields of November1974 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracksA1Green Leaf FancyA2Last Train From Poor ValleyA3White Oak SwampA4Ruins of RichmondA5Graycoat SoldiersA6Caperton FerryA7Southern Railroad BluesB1Lord Won’t You Help MeB2Krazy KurtisB3Coming Down From Rising FawnB4UncleB5The Old Brown CaseB6The Fields of November (Flying Fish, 1974), with Nancy on hillbilly cello. They married in 1975 and performed together for twenty years.

Style

Most of the music that Norman Blake plays could be described as neo-traditionalist Americana folk and roots music (folk, bluegrass, country, blues), and many of the songs he plays are traditional, but he plays this acoustic type of music with a style, speed, and quality that has evolved and progressed in the modern age. Though probably best known for his fluid renditions of classic fiddle tunes transcribed for the guitar ("Fiddler's Dream/Whiskey Before Breakfast"), Blake has also written songs that have become bluegrass and folk standards, such as "Ginseng Sullivan", "Slow Train through GeorgiaSlow Train Through Georgia1987 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 22 tracks1Fiddler’s Dram / Whiskey Before Breakfast3:342Slow Train Through Georgia4:093Old Grey Mare3:324Down Home Summertime Blues3:435Spanish Fandango3:506Randall Collins1:567Church Street Blues2:558Done Gone1:399Bully of the Town2:0310Nashville Blues3:4811Ginseng Sullivan3:3212Macon Rag2:4413Nobody’s Business3:1614Streamlined Cannonball5:0015Cattle in the Cane2:1316Little Joe2:5017Weave and Way2:2618Six White Horses4:5919Richland Avenue (Front Porch Wood Pile) Rag1:5820The Banks of Good Hope / The Green Fields of America5:5721Columbus Stockade Blues3:3222Down at Mylow’s House1:18", "Billy Gray", and "Church Street Blues".
Blake has also written and published songs of a political nature, such as "Don’t Be Afraid of the Neo-Cons."
Blake is known for his tastefully simple-sounding style, saying, "I’m more interested in the music and the tone than I am the licks."
Although known as one of the most prominent steel-string guitar flatpickers, Blake is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Other instruments he plays include the mandolin, 6-string banjo, fiddle, dobro, banjo and viola. He is known for his loose, right-hand guitar technique, which arose out of his mandolin technique. Also well known is his devotion to 12-fret guitars, including Martin 00s, 000s, D18s, D28s, and Gibsons, like his 1929 12-fret Nick Lucas special.

Collaborations

Blake has collaborated with Tony Rice on the albums, "Blake and Rice," and "Blake and Rice 2," which include many tunes, including some of Blake's originals. Blake also released an album with Mike Compton called, "Gallop to GeorgiaGallop to Georgia1 June 2018 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Avalon Blues2:532Charleston #23:253Heel and Toe3:544Kiss Me Waltz3:095Texas Shuffle3:426Captain George, Has Your Money Come?4:477Little Star3:018Gallop to Georgia3:119Mississippi Breakdown3:1110Avalon Quickstep2:1611Carrol County Blues2:2112Charleston #14:2213Sweet Milk and Peaches2:4114Sunny Waltz4:4015Charleston #32:5816Who's Been Giving You Corn?3:16," which showcases many Old-Time tunes.

Awards and honors

Blake played on the album Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, which won five Grammy Awards, and on the soundtrack O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year.
Norman & Nancy Blake received Grammy nominations in the Best Traditional Folk Recording category for Blind Dog, Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To, While Passing Along This Way, and The Hobo's Last Ride. In 1986 Norman Blake was chosen Best Multi-Instrumentalist by the readers of Frets magazine.

Soundtracks

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Mercury, 2000)
Cold Mountain (DMZ/Columbia, 2003)
Walk the Line (Wind-up, 2005)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Nonesuch, 2013)

Videos

Norman Blake's Guitar Techniques No. 1 (Homespun, 1990 VHS, 2003 DVD)
Mandolin of Norman Blake (Homespun, 1992 VHS, 2005 DVD)
My Dear Old Southern Home (Shanachie, 1994 VHS, 2003 DVD)
Legends of Flatpicking Guitar (Vestapol, 1995 VHS, 2001 DVD)
The Video Collection 1980–1995 (Vestapol, 1996 VHS, 2004 DVD)
Great Guitar Lessons – Bluegrass Flatpicking (Homespun, 2000 VHS, 2006 DVD)
Norman Blake's Guitar Techniques No. 2 (Homespun, 2001, 2003 DVD)
Norman Blake: The Full Story! - I'm a Blind Dog in Meat Market (Songbirds Foundation interview, 2022)

Discography & profile

Normalised profile

Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.

Normalised profile metrics with percentile rank
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	11	61.8th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	43	93.3th
Studio albums	34	98.5th
Awards recorded	0	0th
Timeline events	36	97.7th
Recording span (years)	52	92.5th
Genres	7	93th

Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.

Discography (43 release groups · 34 studio albums)

Albums · 34

Home in Sulphur Springs
1972 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 15 tracks · 38:52
A1Bully of the Town2:00
A2Randall Collins1:52
A3Done Gone1:35
A4Down Home Summertime Blues3:40
A5Warp Factor No. 93:36
A6Orphan Annie2:54
A7Spanish Fandango2:47
B1Little Joe2:47
B2Richland Avenue Rag1:54
B3When the Fields Are White With Daisies2:44
B4Cattle in the Cane2:07
B5Crossing No. 92:43
B6Weave and Way2:20
B7Ginseng Sullivan3:29
B8Bringing in the Georgia Mail2:24
The Fields of November
1974 · studio album
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Tracklist · 13 tracks
A1Green Leaf Fancy
A2Last Train From Poor Valley
A3White Oak Swamp
A4Ruins of Richmond
A5Graycoat Soldiers
A6Caperton Ferry
A7Southern Railroad Blues
B1Lord Won’t You Help Me
B2Krazy Kurtis
B3Coming Down From Rising Fawn
B4Uncle
B5The Old Brown Case
B6The Fields of November
Old and New
1975 · studio album
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Tracklist · 17 tracks · 45:20
A1Widows Creek1:52
A2Bristol in the Bottle2:07
A3Billy Gray4:26
A4Forked Deer1:46
A5Rubagfre3:44
A6Cuckoo's Nest4:13
A7Witch of the Wave1:28
A8My Old Home on the Green Mountain Side2:55
B1Miller's Reel1:40
B2Dry Grass on the High Field2:22
B3Harvey's Reel2:18
B4The Railroad Days3:41
B5Valley Head1:49
B6Sweet Heaven4:22
B7Sally in the Garden2:05
B8Ajimina2:09
B9Flat Rock2:23
Norman Blake and Red Rector
1976 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks
A1Girl I Left Behind Me
A2Denver Belle
A3Lorena
A4The Old Spinning Wheel
A5Mississippi Sawyer
A6Red Wing
B1Cricket on the Hearth
B2Limehouse Blues
B3The Green Leaves of Summer
B4Freight Train
B5Darling Nellie Across the Sea
B6Darlin’ Honey
Whiskey Before Breakfast
1976 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 43:43
A1Hand Me Down My Walking Cane3:28
A2Under the Double Eagle2:44
A3Six White Horses5:01
A4Salt River1:39
A5Old Grey Mare3:31
A6Down at Milow's House1:20
A7Sleepy Eyed Joe / Indian Creek3:39
B1Arkansas Traveler3:04
B2The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee2:54
B3The Minstrel Boy to the War Has Gone / The Ash Grove3:03
B4Church St. Blues2:55
B5Macon Rag2:44
B6Fiddler's Dram / Whiskey Before Breakfast3:34
B7Slow Train Through Georgia4:07
Blackberry Blossom
1977 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 42:11
A1Are You From Dixie?3:40
A2The Rights of Man Hornpipe2:35
A3The Highland Light5:16
A4Railroad Blues8:02
B1Foggy Valley2:31
B2Lonesome Jenny7:21
B3Blackberry Blossom3:33
B4D Medley5:27
B5Jerusalem Ridge3:46
Directions
1978 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 40:02
A1Blue Ridge Mountain Blues2:45
A2Thebes4:38
A3The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore4:31
A4Loch Layan Castle, Santa Ana's Retreat, Cattle in the Cane4:20
A5Poor Ellen Smith3:26
B1Uncle Sam4:00
B2Ice on the Road2:44
B3Rake and the Rambling Blade3:01
B4High Dad in the Morning2:41
B5Father's Hall2:38
B6White Horse Breakdown2:16
B7'76 Blues3:02
The Rising Fawn String Ensemble
1979 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 36:34
A1Devil Chased Me Around the Stump1:58
A2Charlie Gaither3:33
A3Medley: Over the Waterfall / Opera Reel / Cherokee Shuffle4:04
A4The Promise2:09
A5Tin Foil and Stone2:47
A6Three Ravens1:59
B1Handsome Molly3:33
B2Jeff Davis2:33
B3Medley: Da Slockit Light / Briarpicker Brown / Stony Fork4:58
B4Old Ties4:47
B5Coming Down From Rising Fawn, Number Two4:13
Full Moon on the Farm
1981 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 38:36
A1Kennedy Rag2:19
A2Nancy's Hornpipe3:21
A3Texola Waltz1:48
A4Gilderoy2:23
A5Davenport March3:23
A6OBC #35:41
B1Cairo Waltz1:56
B2Jacky Tar2:16
B3Sleepy-Eyed Joe2:54
B4The Dog Star5:13
B5Salty3:26
B6Diamonds in the Rough3:56
Original Underground Music From the Mysterious South
1982 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 36:20
A1New Brick Road3:25
A2Dusty Rose3:45
A3Walnut River2:12
A4Pig on the Engine2:45
A5Third Street Gypsy Rag2:58
A6Georgia Home2:52
B1Peezlewhister3:40
B2Old Fiddler's Roll Call2:04
B3Pueblo2:41
B4The Toneality3:28
B5Natasha's Waltz4:05
B6Blake's March2:25
Nashville Blues
1984 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 39:52
A1Columbus Stockade Blues3:26
A2My Name Is Morgan (But It Ain't J.P.)3:08
A3The Streamlined Cannonball4:55
A4Pretty Bird1:59
A5In the Spring of the Year4:16
B1We're Living in the Future3:14
B2Nobody's Business3:10
B3Sally Ann3:09
B4I Was Born 4,000 Years Ago3:00
B5Nashville Blues3:43
B6The Banks of Good Hope / The Green Fields of America5:52
Lighthouse on the Shore
1985 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 43:47
A1Hello Stranger3:07
A2New Bicycle Hornpipe2:32
A3Marquis of Huntley2:30
A4Belize3:40
A5Elzic’s Farewell4:23
A6Lighthouse on the Shore5:08
B1President Garfield’s Hornpipe2:23
B2If I Lose, I Don’t Care3:01
B3Butterfly Weed2:54
B4Boston Boy / Last Night’s Joy2:21
B5Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel3:59
B6Peacock’s Feather1:42
B7Wildwood Flower3:17
B8Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase2:50
Blind Dog
1987 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 40:05
1Little Stream of Whiskey3:28
2Grand Coulee Dam3:41
3Prettiest Little Girl in the Country2:18
4Billy Gray4:07
5Otto Wood the Bandit2:43
6Blind Dog2:54
7Everybody Works but Father3:27
8Fifty Miles of Elbow Room3:49
9Shallegra2:53
10Old Time Farmer4:37
11Wreck of the Old 973:46
12Black Mountain Rag2:22
Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To
1992 · studio album
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Tracklist · 13 tracks · 1:02:42
1Waiting the Boatman4:16
2Georgia Railroad3:27
3Silence or Tears3:20
4The Poor Little Sailor Boy6:18
5Medley: Green Leaf Fancy / The Fields of November / Gonna Go Huntin' For the Buffalo7:25
6When the Work's All Done This Fall4:01
7Brickyard Joe3:21
8Mr. Garfield7:23
9Old Grimes2:28
10Wabash Cannonball5:02
11I'd Rather Be an Old Time Christian3:21
12Little Matty Groves7:04
13Walking Tune5:16
While Passing Along This Way
1994 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 49:36
1He's Passing This Way3:12
2I'm Going to Leave Old Dixie4:10
3Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine / Going Down the Valley4:42
4The Grave of Bonaparte4:37
5On & On & On3:06
6The Greenwood Tree1:53
7Sweet Freedom3:46
8Sweet Heaven2:26
9God's Radio Phone4:37
10Old Mother Flanagan3:04
11Last Train From Poor Valley3:45
12Hangin' Dog2:48
13The Fate of Talmage Osborne3:36
14Old Stepstone3:54
An Americana Christmas
1995 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 52:44
1God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen3:09
2Angels From the Realms of Glory2:50
3Blissful Meadows3:15
4Trim the Tree Waltz3:37
5Star of Bethlehem3:43
6Christmas Hornpipe3:01
7O Come All Ye Faithful2:34
8Cradle Hymn3:47
9Angels We Have Heard on High3:14
10Country Christmas6:13
11Yuletide Magic4:28
12Holiday Shuffle4:31
13Black Hawthorne4:30
14Star of the East3:52
The Hobo's Last Ride
1996 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:06:25
1The Democratic Donkey (Is in His Stall Again)3:33
2Tell Mother I'll Meet Her3:34
3Forked Deer3:23
4The Hobo's Last Ride4:25
5Thebes6:29
6Leaving Home4:16
7Home of the Soul3:08
8Midnight the Unconquered Outlaw4:35
9The Old Grey Mare Came Tearin' Out of the Wilderness3:11
10I Know My Name Is There3:59
11Starving to Death on the Government Claim4:50
12Old Shady Bothreen3:17
13Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail4:20
14Angel Gabriel4:45
15The Two Little Orphans4:14
16Memories That Never Die4:26
Flat Pickin’ in the Kitchen
1997 · studio album
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Tracklist · 24 tracks · 1:04:27
1Running Wild2:22
2Goodlettsville Express3:17
3Midnite At Beanblossom4:09
4Train Wreck3:22
5Little Bessie3:07
6Lost Indians2:30
7Arkansas Traveler2:30
8Steel Guitar Rag2:52
9Banks of the Ohio3:24
10Liberty1:31
11Westgate1:08
12Fire in the Resonator1:55
13Rosinea3:56
14Weave and Way2:51
15Break-Out1:47
16In the Old City1:46
17The Electric Telephone2:51
18Bad Blake's Blues3:40
19Cakewalk3:21
20Ode to Lloyd1:47
21Picking Flat 22:22
22Ragweed1:46
23Fire on the Mountain1:10
24Memories5:03
Chattanooga Sugar Babe
1998 · studio album
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Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:05:09
1The Rescue From Moose River Goldmine3:54
2The Weathered Old Caboose Behind the Train4:14
3Ol' Bill Miner (The Gentleman Bandit)5:57
4Poor Old Dad3:02
5Chattanooga Sugar Babe6:00
6Platonia the Pride of the Plains5:13
7Dr. Edmundo's Favorite Portuguese Waltz4:37
8The Founding of the Famous C.P.R.6:52
9Paramount Rag6:26
10Keep Smiling Old Pal4:11
11Balmullo House, Broke Down Gambler3:22
12Ragtime Texas3:24
13Chattanooga Rag3:50
14Dixie Flyer Blues4:07
Be Ready Boys
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 55:11
1Tennessee Wagoner3:22
2Old Pal of Yesterday4:30
3Texola Waltz2:24
4When It’s Lamplighting Time in the Valley3:37
5Bowling Green Rag2:33
6Homestead on the Farm3:30
7Mexico2:26
8Going Home3:40
9Kentucky’s Your Home3:14
10Under the Double Eagle4:08
11Grandpa’s Barn4:26
12Seamus O’Brien3:45
13Flop-Eared Mule4:06
14A Maiden’s Prayer3:32
15Callahan2:13
16Heavenly Sunlight3:45
Far Away, Down on a Georgia Farm
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 18 tracks · 1:10:01
1New Century Hornpipe2:19
2Whiskey Deaf and Whiskey Blind3:47
3Far Away, Down on a Georgia Farm4:42
4Goin’ Back to the Blue Ridge Mountains4:22
5Savannah Rag5:57
6Pasquale Taraffo’s First Night in Leadville2:44
7The Winds of Time Won’t Change4:43
8Rag Baby Jig3:49
9Thelma Hatfield4:18
10Constitution March3:15
11Faded Flowers in Old Love Letters5:09
12And the Cat Came Back the Very Next Day3:09
13Just Another Faded Love Song4:36
14Give Me Back My Fifteen Cents4:12
15Snowbird on the Ashbank2:17
16The Wandering Drummer2:56
17The Maple on the Hill4:58
18Headlight Reel2:48
Flower From the Fields of Alabama
2001 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:08:29
1Salty Dog4:21
2Bonaparte's Grand March5:20
3The Slopes of Beech Mountain3:11
4Sitting on Top of the World6:23
5Radio Joe3:57
6Chasin' Rainbows3:34
7Flower From the Fields of Alabama4:07
8Texas Gales4:02
9All Go Hungry Hash House3:49
10So Tired5:11
11The Gambler's Dying Words2:50
12Little Bunch of Roses3:16
13Eastbound Freight Train3:34
14The Burial of Wild Bill3:24
15T.A.G. Railroad Rag6:10
16If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)5:20
Meeting on Southern Soil
2002 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:08:52
1Blackberry Blossom3:37
2Rise When the Rooster Crows3:14
3President Richard Milhous Nixon’s Hornpipe3:17
4Blake’s Railroad Blues8:45
5Muddy Creek2:59
6Little Bessie6:03
7Chickamauga4:04
8Only a Bunch of Violets4:34
9Oklahoma Redbird2:44
10I Cannot Call Her Mother3:46
11Marjorie’s Waltz #36:52
12The Old Hickory Cane3:20
13Oh Death4:54
14Mandolin Medley: Caperton Ferry, Ruins of Richmond, Valley Head4:59
15The Little Log Hut in the Lane2:41
16Christmas Eve Is Coming, Anna3:03
The Morning Glory Ramblers
2004 · studio album
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Tracklist · 17 tracks · 1:03:19
1The Sunny Side of Life3:20
2Dark & Stormy Weather3:42
3Precious Memories3:47
4The Little Log Hut in the Lane2:35
5All the Good Times Are Over4:35
6We Are Climbing4:00
7Going Down the Valley3:42
8I Loved You Better Than You Knew3:15
9When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland4:27
10I Ain't Got Time3:09
11The Wayworn Traveller4:24
12Rise When the Rooster Crows3:08
13Short Life of Trouble5:12
14Elijah's God2:51
15Fame Apart From God's Approval4:15
16Dry Bones3:35
17Men With Broken Hearts3:22
Back Home in Sulphur Springs
2006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 53:42
1More Good Women Gone Wrong3:15
2Columbus Stockade Blues3:24
3He's Coming to Us Dead3:02
4The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee3:35
5We Parted by the Riverside3:57
6Ella Ree3:38
7Happy Little Home in Arkansas3:11
8Back Home in Sulphur Springs3:24
9The Mermaid5:25
10Take Me Home Poor Julia4:36
11Seaboard Airline Rag2:51
12Star Spangled Banner1:59
13The Empress of Ireland3:38
14Katy Cline3:24
15Don't Be Afraid of the Neo-Cons4:23
Shacktown Road
2007 · studio album
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Tracklist · 18 tracks · 58:02
1Shacktown Road4:35
2Kindred Spirit2:34
3Guitar Rag3:21
4Not a Word From Home2:58
5The Old Dobro Man4:00
6Worried Blues4:21
7Tom Scala’s Waltz3:03
8Lizzie Hubbard Blues6:31
9Going to Georgia2:44
10Ode to Bascom2:31
11On the Banks of Lake Pontchartrain2:56
12It Must Be Jelly2:13
13The Tag Railroad Rag3:34
14Running Wild1:38
15Times Ain’t Like They Used to Be3:45
16End of the World3:11
17Steel Guitar Blues1:47
18The Buffalo Left Yesterday2:20
Rising Fawn Gathering
2009 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 49:17
1The Sweet Sunny South5:55
2O'Connell's Trip to Parliament / The Twin Katies2:51
3Castleberry's March3:11
4Da Unst Bridal March2:59
5The Stockton & Redesdale Hornpipes3:29
6The El Paso Waltz2:58
7The Bonny Bunch of Roses5:57
8Joe Bane's / The Gypsy Princess4:08
9The Teelin March3:46
10Eamon An Chnoic (Ned of the Hill)3:02
11While the Band Is Playing Dixie4:59
12Derry So Fair6:02
Green Light on the Southern
2011 · studio album
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Tracklist · 17 tracks · 59:04
1Roll On Buddy3:50
2Goodby to the Plains3:08
3Little Bunch of Roses3:00
4The Tramp2:55
5Hawaiian Mother O’Mine3:24
6The Old Wooden Rocker3:53
7Railroading on the Great Divide2:54
8Steel Guitar Chimes3:55
9Have No Desire to Roam3:08
10Green Light on the Southern2:51
11Fifteen Miles From Birmingham3:33
12The Wreck on the C&O3:59
13He Rambled4:01
14Whistling Rufus1:51
15Goodbye Dear Old Stepstone5:00
16Bandit Cole Younger4:19
17The New Spanish Two Step3:23
Wood, Wire & Words
2015 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 49:07
1Savannah Rag3:31
2The Incident at Condra’s Switch3:48
3The Keeper of the Government Light on the River5:00
4The New Dawning Day3:24
5There’s a One Way Road to Glory4:08
6Farewell Francisco Madero4:54
7Blake’s Rag3:41
8Joseph Thompson Hare on the Old Natchez Trace4:06
9Grady Forester’s Store and Cotton Gin5:00
10Chattanooga Rag2:42
11Black Bart4:23
12Cloverdale Plantation March4:30
Songs That Are Mostly Older Than Us
2016 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 42:46
1Glory in the Meetinghouse2:37
2Blake's March3:44
3Berkeley Shanghai2:57
4Elzic's Farewell3:08
5Sugar Tree Stomp1:39
6Norman and Nancy4:10
7Hannah in the Springhouse1:21
8Snowbird in the Ash Bank2:08
9Kennedy Rag2:52
10Bb Hornpipe Medley3:03
11Old Ebenezer Scrooge3:38
12Cluck Old Hen2:07
13Heart of the Heartland2:32
14Brilliancy2:00
15American Rifle Team Hornpipe2:08
16Whiskey Before Breakfast2:42
Brushwood: Songs & Stories
2017 · studio album
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Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:04:14
1The Countess Lola Montez4:02
2How the Weary World Wears Away3:30
3Bunk Johnson, Trumpet Man2:57
4High Rollers2:59
5The Generic Rag4:01
6Waitin’ for the Mail and Social Security3:51
7The Lantern Thru the Fog2:53
8There’s a Storm Somewhere4:44
9Newsome Gap Rag2:58
10The Truth Will Stand, When This World’s on Fire2:57
11Sweet Banks of Flowers, Georgie’s Vision2:49
12Look Away, So Far Away4:37
13The Fate of Oliver Curtis Perry, Empire State Train Robber4:25
14The Target Shooter3:52
15Fiddlin’ Peg Leg Jackson on the Mourner’s Bench3:32
16The Nameless Photograph1:44
17Cripple Charlie Clark2:50
18The Wreck on the Western & Atlantic, at Willowdale Curve3:43
19Stay Down on the Farm1:50
Gallop to Georgia
2018 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 53:47
1Avalon Blues2:53
2Charleston #23:25
3Heel and Toe3:54
4Kiss Me Waltz3:09
5Texas Shuffle3:42
6Captain George, Has Your Money Come?4:47
7Little Star3:01
8Gallop to Georgia3:11
9Mississippi Breakdown3:11
10Avalon Quickstep2:16
11Carrol County Blues2:21
12Charleston #14:22
13Sweet Milk and Peaches2:41
14Sunny Waltz4:40
15Charleston #32:58
16Who's Been Giving You Corn?3:16
Day by Day
2021 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 34:16
1When the Roses Bloom4:03
2Just Tell Them That You Saw Me2:38
3I’m Free Again3:36
4Old Joe’s March2:38
5Montcalm and Wolfe6:25
6Three Leaves of Shamrock3:28
7Time2:54
8The Dying Cowboy3:55
9My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains4:39
Pilgrimage to Rising Fawn
2024 · studio album
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Tracklist · 10 tracks · 34:19
1Alabama Jubilee3:10
2Mystery of Life3:18
3Cowboy's Rules / Boston Boy1:00
4Hi-Eenktum Daddy-O2:30
5Shady Grove3:41
6Uncle Noah's Ark2:23
7Give My Love to Rose3:44
8Life's Railway to Heaven4:29
9Howard Hughes Blues2:57
10Georgia on My Mind7:07

Album · 9

Album release groups, by first release date
Year	Title	Notes	First release
1976	Live at McCabe'sSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 11 tracks · 33:26 A1Introduction by Nancy Covey0:38 A2Nine Pound Hammer4:07 A3Sweet Heaven When I Die3:59 A4Introducing Nancy Blake1:10 A5Border Widow2:10 A6"G" Medley5:35 B1Dry Grass on the High Fields2:35 B2John Hardy5:24 B3Arkansas Traveler2:26 B4Medley: Bully of the Town / Bonaparte's Retreat / Richland Avenue Rag3:22 B5Harvey's Reel2:00	Live	1976
1986	The Norman & Nancy Blake Compact DiscSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 21 tracks · 1:04:12 1Hello Stranger3:07 2New Bicycle Hornpipe2:32 3Marquis of Huntley2:30 4Florida Rag3:08 5Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel3:59 6Belize3:40 7Elzic's Farewell4:23 8Lighthouse on the Shore5:08 9Grand Junction3:05 10Butterfly Weed2:54 11President Garfield's Hornpipe2:23 12In Russia (We Have Parking Lots, Too)2:42 13Wroxall2:14 14If I Lose, I Don't Care3:01 15The Chrysanthemum3:47 16Lima Road Jig1:40 17Boston Boy/Last Night's Joy2:21 18My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose3:49 19Peacock's Feather1:42 20Wildwood Flower3:17 21Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase2:50	Compilation	1986
1987	Takoma - Plus OneSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 20 tracks · 1:11:44 1Nine Pound Hammer4:27 2Sweet Heaven When I Die4:36 3Introducing Nancy Blake1:20 4Border Widow2:21 5"G" Medley5:47 6Dry Grass on the High Fields3:10 7John Hardy5:41 8Arkansas Traveler2:55 9Medley: Bully of the Town, Bonaparte's Retreat, Richland Ave. Rag3:56 10Harvey's Reel2:21 11Blue Ridge Mountain Blues2:46 12Thebes4:43 13The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore4:34 14Medley: Loch Lavan Castle, Santa Ana's Retreat, Cattle in the Cane4:21 15Poor Ellen Smith3:28 16Uncle Sam4:07 17Ice on the Road2:47 18Rake and the Rambling Blade3:05 19High Dad in the Morning2:42 20Father's Hall2:37	Compilation	1987
1987	Natasha's WaltzSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 21 tracks · 1:06:05 1New Brick Road3:33 2Dusty Rose3:51 3Walnut River2:22 4Pig on the Engine2:51 5Third Street Gypsy Rag3:03 6Georgia Home2:59 7Peezlewhister3:45 8Old Fiddler's Roll Call2:11 9Pueblo2:45 10The Toneality3:34 11Natasha's Waltz4:09 12Blake's March2:29 13Texola Waltz1:57 14Diamonds in the Rough4:03 15Jeff Davis2:42 16Nancy's Hornpipe3:28 17Three Ravens1:59 18Sleepy Eyed Joe3:01 19Cairo Waltz2:01 20Davenport March3:33 21OBC #35:49	Compilation	1987
1987	Slow Train Through GeorgiaSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 22 tracks · 1:10:54 1Fiddler’s Dram / Whiskey Before Breakfast3:34 2Slow Train Through Georgia4:09 3Old Grey Mare3:32 4Down Home Summertime Blues3:43 5Spanish Fandango3:50 6Randall Collins1:56 7Church Street Blues2:55 8Done Gone1:39 9Bully of the Town2:03 10Nashville Blues3:48 11Ginseng Sullivan3:32 12Macon Rag2:44 13Nobody’s Business3:16 14Streamlined Cannonball5:00 15Cattle in the Cane2:13 16Little Joe2:50 17Weave and Way2:26 18Six White Horses4:59 19Richland Avenue (Front Porch Wood Pile) Rag1:58 20The Banks of Good Hope / The Green Fields of America5:57 21Columbus Stockade Blues3:32 22Down at Mylow’s House1:18	Compilation	1987
1991	The Fields of November / Old and NewSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 26 tracks · 1:14:22 1Green Leaf Fancy1:55 2Last Train From Poor Valley3:42 3White Oak Swamp2:16 4Graycoat Soldiers3:14 5Southern Railroad Blues3:16 6Lord Won’t You Help Me2:51 7Krazy Kurtis1:26 8Coming Down From Rising Fawn3:34 9Uncle4:34 10The Old Brown Case4:01 11The Fields of November4:07 12Widow’s Creek1:52 13Bristol in the Bottle2:05 14Billy Gray4:24 15Forked Deer1:42 16Cuckoo’s Nest4:10 17Witch of the Wave1:28 18My Old Home on the Green Mountain Side2:59 19Miller’s Reel1:44 20Dry Grass on the High Fields2:22 21Harvey’s Reel2:18 22The Railroad Days3:41 23Valley Head1:48 24Sweet Heaven4:21 25Ajimina2:09 26Flat Rock2:23	Compilation	12 December 1991
1992	Live At Rocky Grass Festival August 9, 1992Search Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:00:54 1Intro0:36 2New River Train5:36 3New Chance Blues4:35 4Instrumental3:22 5Eight More Miles to Louisville4:40 6Little Stream of Whiskey4:20 7D-18 Song (Thank You Mr. Martin)5:03 8Big Sandy River4:03 9Blackberry Blossom4:56 10Whiskey Before Breakfast - Fiddler's Dram4:33 11Lincoln's Funeral Train (The Sad Journey to Springfield)4:48 12Cattle in the Cane5:35 13I'm Coming Back but I Don't Know When3:40 14Crowd1:09 15Salt Creek2:47 16Good Night1:11	Live	1992
2002	Old TiesSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:10:40 1Spanish Fandango3:49 2Church St. Blues2:54 3Sleepy Eyed Joe / Indian Creek3:39 4O’Malley’s Tune2:30 5Fifty Miles of Elbow Room3:50 6Down Home Summertime Blues3:42 7Blind Dog2:55 8Fiddler’s Dram / Whiskey Before Breakfast3:35 9Old Ties4:27 10Lost Indian3:08 11Ginseng Sullivan3:31 12OBC #35:49 13Prettiest Little Girl in the Country2:17 14Uncle4:34 15Bristol in the Bottle2:05 16Billy Gray4:07 17The Fields of November4:07 18Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar3:34 19Randall Collins / Done Gone6:07	Compilation	2002
2009	Essential Recordings: Sleepy Eyed JoeSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 10 tracks · 35:39 1Ajimina2:06 2Billy Gray4:04 3Butterfly Weed2:55 4Sleepy Eyed Joe2:57 5OBC #35:47 6Fifty Miles of Elbow Room3:48 7Bristol in the Bottle2:02 8Elzic's Farewell4:24 9Salty3:32 10The Fields of November4:04	Compilation	2009

Stats & PK

Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Norman Blake head-to-head →

Norman Blake metrics with percentile rank among published artists
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	11	61.8th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	43	93.3th
Studio albums	34	98.5th
Awards recorded	0	0th
Timeline events	36	97.7th
Recording span (years)	52	92.5th
Genres	7	93th

Awards & honours

No awards recorded

No major awards are stored for this artist yet.

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Line-up

Band line-up and band memberships with dates
Name	From	To	Role
The Nashville A-Team(band)	—	present
Steve Earle & The Train Band(band)	—	present	original
The Dixieland Drifters(band)	—	present

Where this record comes from

aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c9605929-6b48-4991-bb96-0bf460df8ee1
discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c9605929-6b48-4991-bb96-0bf460df8ee1
core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514469
genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514469
seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Blake_%28American_musician%29
biography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Blake_%28American_musician%29

Why this artist is in the database

List of bluegrass musicians
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United States · Person

country music

1 shared genre tag · debut 1972, same year · from United States

37 wikis

Timeline

1930s

Born 1938-03-10

1970s

Debut release: Home in Sulphur Springs

Album: Home in Sulphur Springs

Album: The Fields of November

Album: Old and New

Album: Norman Blake and Red Rector

Album: Whiskey Before Breakfast

Album: Blackberry Blossom

Album: Directions

Album: The Rising Fawn String Ensemble

1980s

Album: Full Moon on the Farm

Album: Original Underground Music From the Mysterious South

Album: Nashville Blues

Album: Lighthouse on the Shore

Album: Blind Dog

1990s

Album: Just Gimme Somethin' I'm Used To

Album: While Passing Along This Way

Album: An Americana Christmas

Album: The Hobo's Last Ride

Album: Flat Pickin’ in the Kitchen

Album: Chattanooga Sugar Babe

Album: Be Ready Boys

Album: Far Away, Down on a Georgia Farm

2000s

Album: Flower From the Fields of Alabama

Album: Meeting on Southern Soil

Album: The Morning Glory Ramblers

Album: Back Home in Sulphur Springs

Album: Shacktown Road

Album: Rising Fawn Gathering

2010s

Album: Green Light on the Southern

Album: Wood, Wire & Words

Album: Songs That Are Mostly Older Than Us

Album: Brushwood: Songs & Stories

Album: Gallop to Georgia

2020s

Album: Day by Day

Album: Pilgrimage to Rising Fawn

Biography

Biography

Early performing

Nashville and Johnny Cash

Style

Collaborations

Awards and honors

Soundtracks

Videos

Discography & profile

Normalised profile

Discography (43 release groups · 34 studio albums)

Albums · 34

Album · 9

Stats & PK

Awards & honours

Line-up

Where this record comes from

Why this artist is in the database

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