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Bob Norman’s Recordings
Bob's CDs can be ordered by credit card from CDBaby by following the links below. If you prefer to order by check, or if you prefer cassette copies of Love Lust & Lilacs or To The Core, you can download an order form below (requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader). Sound clips of all songs, in MP3 format, can be heard at the Fortissimo Folk Music Jukebox by following the links below. You can download the entire first track of Time-Takin' Man, “Down By Me,” for free at Free Downloads.
“Love Lust & Lilacs is the first I’ve
have heard of Bob Norman, and I’d happily keep an ear to the
ground for his next album. His voice at first put me in mind of
Leonard Cohen (but not so depressing!) and his lyrics made me think
a bit of Janis Ian and Chris Rea—but his music is completely
his own… The songs conjure pictures of startling clarity… ‘The
Land of the Winds’ is a stately epic of a song, sorrow and
joy flying together; close your eyes and see 'where the hawk flies
so high, 'till he melts into the sun,' the winds whistling over
the land, and your 'heartstrings may well be torn' by the solemn
beauty of this song… Love Lust & Lilacs is a
combination of two song titles on the album, ‘Love or Lust’
and ‘Lady With the Lilacs,’ both laden with imagery
and adept rhyme. . . You quickly find yourself singing the odd snatch
of song that has left an indelible imprint in your subconscious
mind. In my CD collection, this one's a keeper!” “Bob Norman is a very professional singer-songwriter, very much in the vein of the New York school whose unofficial master is Jack Hardy… His knowledge of folk music is evident from his recordings… His lyrics are very well written… In ‘Love or Lust,’ an energetic song and one of the best ones on Love Lust & Lilacs, he sings: I don't know if it’s love or lust In other songs, you’ll find ‘And the soil, it turned
to sand, and the corn could not grow, see how it dies, row after
row’ and many other unforgettable lines you will want to sing
along with. Each one of the songs has at least two or three sentences
that will, at the same time, make you sing and think about the meaning
of living and the world. I think that this is what great songwriting
is about. I definitely urge anyone interested in singer-songwriters
to give this man a listen, but even more I recommend any singer
or band to dig into the songs of this great songwriter. There may
be more than one hit here, and many songs that will bring out the
best in a great singer. This is my first encounter with Norman’s
music, and I am sure I will be listening to his CDs a lot and for
a long time.” “Bob Norman is a journeyman folkie, a man with a direct
approach to his trade whose songs entertain and comfort. Norman
turns ordinary life into small and unpretentious charms you might
hang on a bracelet that’s just right for everyday… On
Love Lust & Lilacs, he sings in a voice still chuckling
from between-song musings with his listeners. Norman’s folk
comes trailing scents of the '60s. His ‘The Brightest Star’
is a feel-good reminiscence of a loving relationship that has woven
a new family. Though Norman and his guitar hold center stage in
his music, he’s enlisted help here from a circle of friends,
two of whom supply a pretty call-and-response in ‘The Brightest
Star’ between a low whistle and a fiddle. These are openly
confessional tales that have a time-capsule quality in the way they
savor the acts of songwriting and performance. ‘Wind-Blown
Blackbirds,’ which Norman fills with Technicolor images, is
nearly spoken. He sets those blackbirds against ‘a red-streaked
sky.’ The song ‘Big Blue Engine’ offers this:
‘Sing your song you red-headed finch, go ahead on, you big
blue engine.’ ” “Bob Norman makes an annual pilgrimage to California from
his digs back on the East Coast, and this year he’s touring
in support of his newest CD, Love Lust & Lilacs. Norman’s
a dyed-in-the-wool folkie with a pedigree that includes a seven-year
stint in the ’70s as the editor of Sing Out!, one
of the leading magazines covering the folk music scene in this country.
We’re talking about a guy whose approach to the music is as
intellectually informed as it is emotionally propelled. So it’s
not surprising to hear a ghostly host of influences in his music.
It almost goes without saying that the music of today’s folksingers
owes a debt to Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. What’s more
interesting is to hear the other influences… In a couple offerings,
there’s a taste of high-lonesome Jimmie Rodgers (sans yodeling)
harmonica, and even more interesting, there’s also a touch
of Phil Ochs on ‘Land of the Winds.’ There’s an
almost ethereal willingness to rely on the emotionality to carry
the poetry of the song. But Norman sounds more comfortable on songs
like ‘Lady with the Lilacs’ that evoke something of
the sound of early Jimmy Buffett (you remember, before he became
a parrots-and-rum parody of himself), or on ‘The Long Road
to Lawrenceville’ and ‘The Camera Doesn't Lie’
(a duet with Linda LoPresti), the easy, almost singalong quality
of a Jerry Jeff Walker. Love Lust & Lilacs is an interesting
combination of sounds and styles.” “Bob Norman's latest Night Owl Records release, Love
Lust & Lilacs, is a great contribution to folk music. Norman’s
songs are graceful and compelling with poetic lyrics and traditional
and contemporary folk styles.”
“The 11 tracks on Bob Norman's To The Core, are
rich with imagery and ideas that reflect the folk singer’s
urban roots and love of nature… Norman’s a 25-year veteran
of the folk scene who’s shared the stage with legends such
as Pete Seeger and Richie Havens… Although most of the tales
on To The Core are of city life—New York particularly—nature
is a powerful presence in nearly all of them. The sky, the wind,
the sea, and the snow seem always to be vying with buildings, sidewalks,
cars and despair for influence over men and women. Norman’s
songs conjure images of men huddled in bars, lighthouses shining
through mist, snow covering a train yard, and wolves prowling a
frozen forest.” “On To The Core, singer-songwriter Bob Norman offers
up 11 new songs, many of which are observations of life in Manhattan’s
urban landscape describing everyday people going about their lives
in the big city. In ‘The Night Has Just Begun,’ Norman
captures the essence of an early evening scene in Greenwich Village
as he describes the various comings and goings unfolding in the
corner bar with the ballgame on the TV while a John Coltrane tune
plays on the—obviously hip—jukebox. Meanwhile, a movie
is being shot on the street outside and the winos sit by the river
watching the sunset. In ‘Bottles And Cans,’ Norman assumes
the role of a street person who survives by collecting discarded
bottles and cans that can be redeemed for their deposits, and in
‘Sammy’s Song,’ he writes about a happy city kid
from a father’s loving perspective. In addition to the city
songs, there are several drawn from other inspirations. ‘The
Wolf In the Frozen Woods’ mourns a childhood friend apparently
lost to suicide, and ‘Like A Sailor Sighin’ ’celebrates
both the return of the once nearly extinct osprey to Norman’s
home town as well as a summer visit there by the singer himself.
In addition to his own guitar and harmonica, Norman surrounds himself
with various New York musicians such as David Massengill on dulcimer,
cellist Abby Newton, and Larry Campbell on fiddle and pedal steel.”
“This is a warm and wonderful bagful of very singable songs.
They capture the bittersweet lives of working people in a big city—the
people who will not give up hope and love and laughter. It’s
hard to find a favorite. I like ’em all—maybe especially
‘Autumn Days.’ Lots of other people are going to be
singing these songs.” “We all think we know New York City from the zillions of
TV shows and movies, and to some extent we do… The title track
of Bob Norman’s Romantic Nights on the Upper West Side
is filled with these familiar images: ‘If you dropped an egg
on the street it would’ve fried’… Bob Norman likes
to play with us on this CD. We start to listen to a track like ‘La
Rosita de Broadway’ and we think of love and romance, then
we realize he is singing about a restaurant… ‘Airshaft
Blues’ is another track that transports me back in time and
space to a New York of the movies with that feeling of heat and
excitement… ‘Loft Bed Woman’ is real down-south
blues with a sassy line in patter… ‘She sleeps 10 feet
off the floor,’ he sings, and then ‘she can rock me
with grace, but when we rolled over a little too far I went sailing
into space.’ Such is the joy of urban loving. Then he brings
us back to the serious side of life. ‘Sanctuary’ is
a folk song with social awareness… ‘If it wasn’t
for the church that defends us from the law, the agents would send
us back to die in El Salvador’… In case you never get
to visit New York, buy this album and listen to it in sweltering
heat and in searing cold to try to experience that unique place
on Earth.” “Greenwich Village resident Bob Norman has released as his
debut Romantic Nights on the Upper West Side, a collection
of original urban folk music which he wrote over the 20 years he
lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Thus the music here is
a blend of country, blues, and jazzy Caribbean music. Along with
Norman’s guitar and harmonica, the instrumentation includes
flute, sax, banjo, fiddle, percussion, cuatro and zanka. This is
a well recorded and produced set by the former editor of Sing
Out! Magazine, so the guy knows how to write a folk song. In
addition to Sing Out!, his songs have appeared in ‘Fast
Folk’ and ‘Broadside.’ This album provides a taste
of his eclectic mix of music, a mixture that reflects the diversity
of The City That Never Sleeps.” “The title of Romantic Nights on the Upper West Side
tells the theme throughout, but it doesn't prepare you for the rich
tapestry of sometimes almost Caribbean rhythms, sounds, and melodies,
which include a wide variety of instrumentation, ranging from fiddles
and Andean flutes to saxophones and synthesizers. In contrast to
the sophistication of the production (which is by no means overdone),
the songs have a refreshing sweet quality about them. Each melody
lives in your head for days after the stereo is silent, and there
is a simplicity in the lyrics that's almost deceptively seductive.
These songs fit like friendly slippers after a long day of waitressing
alone in a crowded restaurant of ill-tempered customers.” “Bob Norman's debut album, Romantic Nights on the Upper
West Side, is comprised of melodic rhythmic numbers and gentle
ballads. Norman’s voice and sound share some qualities with
Bruce Cockburn. A former editor of Sing Out! magazine,
he is well rooted in the folk process of integrating any aspect
of life into song. Subjects include loft love-making, city sounds
and smells sensed through an airshaft, and poetic reflections on
the sanctuary movement. Norman’s twenty years of living in
New York City permeate and unify the music, which is entirely self-composed.
Performed with a variety of guitars, vocalists and percussion, it
has an acoustic feel, solid and airy.” |
Bob
has recorded four albums of original songs for Night Owl Records.
All were created in collaboration with guitarist, mandolinist, producer,
arrranger Bob Rose, and all feature an eclectic crew of top-notch
accompanists.
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