Far Away Down on a Georgia Farm

Norman Blake | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 16, 1999)
• Original Release Date: November 16, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B00002DDNJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,514 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Norman ages like Kentucky bourbon, November 26, 1999

By 

Eddie Finn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Far Away Down on a Georgia Farm (Audio CD)

This is another fine album by Norman, complete with more of his increasingly impressive original body of work ("Whiskey Deaf and Whiskey Blind", for one) and fine takes on old standards ("Give Me Back my 15 Cents"). Pure, simple, and truly beautiful music. Norman is as artist of the highest caliber, and this music reflects his loving preoccupation with old-time tones and archaic poetry. A must-have for Norman fans.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a talent!, January 28, 2000

By 

R. Cooper "Ron Cooper" (Ocala, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Far Away Down on a Georgia Farm (Audio CD)

Norman Blake couldn't make a bad recording if he tried. His fans have come to expect paramount taste and distinctive stylings, and that's what he supplies. This recoding sounds like it could have been made on the same day as "Chatanooga Baby," although perhaps a bit more reflective. Typical of his work for the past fifteen years, he's not out to show off how fast and flashy he can be (which, of course, he can), but this guitarist's guitarist knows how to get the most from his instrument.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Georgia On My Mind, June 25, 2009

By 

Alfred Johnson (boston, ma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Far Away Down on a Georgia Farm (Audio CD)

In recent reviews of "Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Songcatcher" in this space I mentioned some of the high points of the mountain music revival of the early part of the 2000's (weird to write that, right?) I noted the name Norman Blake as a premier example of the modern continuation of that tradition. If Hazel Dickens (and Alice Gerrard) represented a strong female voice for the revival of this music then Norman Blake represents the male counterpart.

I also noted in a documentary, "Down The Tracks: The Music That Influenced Bob Dylan", tracing the roots that influenced his development that one commentator noted that when various ballads (mainly listed in the "Child Ballad" inventory) came over from the old country (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) and landed in the Appalachian Mountains they never got out and remained (with many local variations) essentially unchanged for generations. And the musical instruments didn't change much either-fiddle, guitar and, occasionally a mandolin. But, come Saturday night the competition was fierce to be "king (or, less often, queen) of the hill". Those points remain true today and it is this tradition that Norman Blake can call his own.

His virtuoso guitar playing has always attracted me since I first heard him long along a local radio program called "Hillbilly At Harvard" (Weird, right? But it had great stuff on it.). He continues that here with some nice instrumentals and a few vocals. The Georgia (and hence the title of my headline) centers on Georgia and the need to either get out or to find his way back to it. An eternal dilemma. Tops here are "Down On The Georgia Farm" and a very funny take on marriage "Give Me Back My Fifteen Cents".