1) Norman Blake (born … Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name;
1) Norman Blake (born March 10, 1938) is a traditional American stringed instrument bluegrass artist and songwriter.
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.
After being discharged from the Army, Blake moved to Nashville and became a studio musician. For ten years, he toured and recorded with country singer Johnny Cash and continued to play with Cash intermittently over the next thirty. 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, but the band didn't last long.
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 Springs (Rounder, 1972). Soon after his debut, he and Nancy recorded their first album, The Fields of November (Flying Fish, 1974), with Nancy on hillbilly cello. They married in 1975 and performed together for twenty years.
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 Dram/Whiskey Before Breakfast"), Blake has also written songs that have become bluegrass and folk standards, such as "Ginseng Sullivan", "Slow Train through Georgia", "Billy Gray", and "Church Street Blues".
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.
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 and 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.
2) Norman Blake (born 20 October 1965 in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter in the Glasgow-based band Teenage Fanclub. He has also recorded as Jad Fair & Norman Blake and been one-half of the duo Jonny.
You Are My Sunshine
Norman Blake Lyrics
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I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me and love another
You'll regret it all someday
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
You told me once dear, you really loved me
And no one could come between
But now you've left me to love another
You have shattered all of my dreams
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me
When I awake my poor heart pangs
So won't you come back and make me happy
I'll forgive, dear, I'll take all the blame
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
The lyrics to Norman Blake's song "You Are My Sunshine" depict a man desperately trying to hold onto a relationship that is slipping away. In the first verse, he dreams of holding his loved one in his arms, but wakes up to find it was only a dream. The chorus expresses his love and dependence on her, singing "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine; you make me happy when skies are gray; you'll never know, dear, how much I love you; please don't take my sunshine away." He then pleads with her to reciprocate his love and warns her of the consequences of leaving him for another.
Throughout the song, the singer's vulnerability and yearning for his loved one are evident. He is willing to take the blame for any mistakes and begs her to come back to make him happy. The repetition of the chorus drives home the message that his happiness is completely tied to her and he cannot bear to lose her.
Overall, "You Are My Sunshine" is a classic example of a love ballad that still resonates with audiences today. Its simple yet heartfelt lyrics and catchy melody have made it a popular song throughout the years.
Line by Line Meaning
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
As I slept, I had a dream about you, my dear.
I dreamed I held you in my arms
In my dream, I was holding you close, feeling your warmth.
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
Sadly, my dream was not real and I was mistaken about its reality.
And I hung my head and cried
The realization that my dream wasn't real left me feeling sad and caused me to shed tears.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You brighten up my life and bring warmth to it like sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are gray
When life isn't going well, you bring a ray of sunshine into it and make me feel happy.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
My love for you is immeasurable and I can never express its depth to you enough.
Please don't take my sunshine away
I hope nothing will come between us or take you away from me.
I'll always love you and make you happy
I promise to always love and take care of you, and do everything in my power to make you happy.
If you will only say the same
I hope you feel the same way about me and will make a similar promise to me.
But if you leave me and love another
If you were to leave me and love someone else instead, it would break my heart.
You'll regret it all someday
You will come to regret the decision to leave me someday in the future.
You told me once dear, you really loved me
You expressed your love for me in the past, my dear.
And no one could come between
You made it clear that nobody could interfere with or ruin what we have together.
But now you've left me to love another
But now, you have decided to leave me and love someone else instead.
You have shattered all of my dreams
Your leaving and finding love with someone else has completely broken and destroyed all of my hopes and dreams.
In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me
Even in my dreams, I can see you leaving me.
When I awake my poor heart pangs
When I wake up, my heart feels a sharp pain and hurts badly.
So won't you come back and make me happy
I hope you will come back to me and help me to feel happy again.
I'll forgive, dear, I'll take all the blame
I am willing to forgive you and take any blame that there may be for our troubles, my dear.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Jimmie Davis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind