Norman Blake - Concert Review, Upcoming Show Announcement

[Michael H Geimer]

I didn't really think I'd get to see Norman Blake, but living in the south I knew I might get the chance someday. Yesterday was that day!

The concert was a benefit for the Trees for Dade Foundation helping supply and replant trees where the tornadoes took them away last April. It was held in the city park of Trenton, GA. I would guess there were only a hundred people there, so seeing and hearing was no trouble.

Concluding an afternoon of musical acts, and great food, Nancy took the stage along side Norman, which was a surprise to everyone. She played a Martin 12-fretter with a torch inlay. Norman played a Banner Gibson J-35. They played and sang perfectly, even without bringing out a mandolin.

I did spy a Weber blonde top F-style that was played by a last-minute fill-in Bluegrass act (so I didn't get their name). I had my trusty Mid-Mo M-0 out on the lawn and the BBQ guys told my wife they wanted to hear more mandolin between acts. Too bad we had a 5-hour drive home, or we might have got a good jam going.

Also announced was a benefit to directly help tornado victims (Dade County was hit quite hard and many performers yesterday had suffered lost or damaged homes themselves) scheduled for Nov. 19th at the Trenton, GA High School. I have no link, or contact info ... just passing on what they said.

- Mike

[Marty Henrickson]

Good to hear about this. I live near some of the heavily-hit areas in Alabama.

How long was Norman & Nancy's set, and what are some of the songs they played? I would love to see them live. I came very close to planning a vacation around a small festival they were playing in Dahlonega, GA a few years ago.

Also, is Norman going to be at the November benefit show, or did they say?

[Michael H Geimer]

Yes, they will be there in Nov.. Norman & Nancy made the announcement while on stage. They played about 45-mins (a good set + an encore). He played Ginseng Sullivan on request, said he had not performed that number in some years, and didn't know what key would work for him (of course, he sounded fine). Little Log Hut, Cyclone of Rye Cove with some comments about A.P.'s authorship ... many songs that I did not recognize (they have a large catalog).

They looked and sounded as though in fine health. I got the chance to thank Nancy for taking the stage, but found I did not have anything to say to Norman, just exchanged a smile. Most of the people talking to them after the show were neighbors of theirs talking about normal goings on. We out-of-towners really stood out, and throughout the day folks would come over to say hello (and pet our dogs). We have a really enjoyable day in Trenton, GA.

[Marty Henrickson]

Sounds good, "Ryecove" is definitely a good choice for the circumstances. You're right, Norman & Nancy have a very deep catalog, many original songs and obscure traditionals. I'll have to check my work schedule for November.

[Michael H Geimer]

Looks like there is some video of the show, including their benefit gig announcement. Also shows you how small this show was, a dream-come-true for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhTsEoRvS0w&feature=share&noredirect=1

Marty, thanks for the spelling correction!

- Mike

[grassrootphilosopher]

Now this ist interesting. I see a Norman Blake playing aSouthern Jumbo Gibson guitar. And does it sound great or what. It´s well suited for his style of playing. I like his singing and playing too. He´s still top dog.

Michael, I didn´t notice the banner logo in the video. The trapezoid inlays shout out SJ. It cannot be a J-35. From all that I know J-35s were discontinued before banner guitars were produced. From looking at the video I seem to notice a postwar script logo and an uppper belly bridge. I don´t see a banner logo. From what I know the script logo and the upper belly bridge don´t go together but what the heck. I don´t see a square bridge which would be indicative for either a J-45 or a J-35. A J-45 never had trapezoid inlays though. Intersting...

[Michael H Geimer]

What ever model Gibson he played (and thank you for the insights) I can tell you his guitar sounded *significantly* better (deeper, louder, more articulation ... add-on your favorite adj.) than any instrument to hit the stage that day. What a sound!

There are two more videos posted by the same person over on YT. I'm watching "Ryecove" right now.

- MG

[woodwizard]

It was a dream come true to see them in Mountain View Arkansas for me a while back.

[Michael H Geimer]

I did not see the banner, but it came up during the show. Norman told us a story about his first guitar, a $15 Stella, and how he would visit a friend who owned a $30 Stella, "A better guitar ... and so I've been looking for a better guitar ever since."

At that point I said out loud (it was a very small show), "How's that one working out for you?" Norman didn't hear me, but Nancy did and she came over to the mic and asked him the same question, "How's that one working out for you?"

"Well this one's says Gibson, and Only a Gibson Will Have to be Good Enough", was Norman's punch line.

Sorry I mis-identified the guitar initially. I'm glad we ended up with some video, and a chance to geek-out on its details thanks to Olaf!

- MG

[grassrootphilosopher]

I did not see the banner, but it came up during the show. Norman told us a story about his first guitar, a $15 Stella, and how he would visit a friend who owned a $30 Stella, "A better guitar ... and so I've been looking for a better guitar ever since."

At that point I said out loud (it was a very small show), "How's that one working out for you?" Norman didn't hear me, but Nancy did and she came over to the mic and asked him the same question, "How's that one working out for you?"

"Well this one's says Gibson, and Only a Gibson Will Have to be Good Enough", was Norman's punch line.

Sorry I mis-identified the guitar initially. I'm glad we ended up with some video, and a chance to geek-out on its details thanks to Olaf!

- MG

No problem with (maybe) not noticing everything about the guitar. I maybe wrong about things here too. J-35 guitars were discontinued when the new J-45 came into production. I heard people say that late (1941-1942) J-35 guitars sound a lot like early (1942-wartime) J-45 guitars. I saw the trapezoid inlays which was a giveaway for a Southern Jumbo (wartime bannerhead would make it a Southerner Jumbo...). J-45 guitars had dot inlays. I checked all three recordings. The guitar has a Very, very nice sound over the sound system (but I am seriously prejudiced). It is easy to get thrown of the track with a punch line like "only a Gibson is good enough". As this was on the banner logo it was the advertising slogan of the time until Epiphone came up with a direct counter slogan that went "when good enough isn´t good enough". This led Gibson to drop their slogan. Also Gibsons (of the period) are known as "only a Gibson is glued enough". So taking the banner slogan as a punch line is not indicative for playing a banner guitar (even though in this case the conclusuion was possible). I did not see a regular belly bridge in the video though that part of the guitar was difficult to make out. That led me to speculate if the guitar has an upper belly bridge. They started after the war (I guess in the 50ies). The banner logo was dropped around 1945. The script logo was changed into the block style (modern) logo around 1947. So either I hadn´t been looking right, or the guitar received a new bridge (at Gibson) in the 50ies or... It would be interesting to know if it was a mahogany model (presumably, acordning to Norman Blake´s sweet spot for mahogany guitars) or a (much rarer) rosewood model (this could only be a wartime banner Southerner Jumbo though).

Whatever, Southerner Jumbos are a treat to listen to. Nancy´s guitar is no slouch either. Just very nice to listen to.