Live at Mccabe's [Live]

Norman Blake | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 20, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Takoma
• ASIN: B00000JQKT
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,424 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #32 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Bluegrass
  • #52 in Music > Country > Bluegrass > Traditional
  • #69 in Music > Indie Music > Country > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest flatpicking albums ever, September 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Live at Mccabe's (Audio CD)

This album is up in the rarified air of the very finest flatpicking albums ever recorded; in the same class as Dan Crary's "Guitar" or "Doc Watson On Stage". The playing is sensational, unbelievable. This is Norman Blake with flatpicking as his primary interest, unlike later material which focused on ensembles and then on recreating old time music. The musicianship is dizzying; experimental, vibrant, flashy, lyrical, audacious; it doesn't have the polish of a studio album, but has a wonderful live ambience. It is astonishing what a real master can do with well-known material. This album will rightly be one of the standards by which flatpicking is measured.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A super performance, September 3, 1999

By 

Eddie Finn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at Mccabe's (Audio CD)

This live performance recording of Norman Blake, solo and with his ex-wife Nancy, should be essential to your collection of acoustic recordings. This is vintage Norman, captured in an intimate setting almost 25 years ago, just being himself. The recording quality is excellent for a live performance, the between-songs banter is preserved and adds to the laid-back ambience, and the picking is superb. The mix of traditional and original songs melds perfectly. If you haven't had a chance to see Norman live, this is as close as it gets. Highly recommended for old-time, bluegrass, and acoustic music lovers.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long ago but still fresh, April 3, 2004

By 

Chaz Thompson, Author (Northridge, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at Mccabe's (Audio CD)

I was in the audience the night of this performance, and I've owned the vinyl version for, holy cow, has it been twenty-five years? It is by far my favorite recording of Norman Blake's, simply because of the warmth that can come only from a live performance. With his wife accompanying him on cello, every note filled the little room with a clarity at once deep and sharp. Beautiful. Inspiring. If you get only one Norman Blake CD, get this one.