Tut Taylor Archive Reel #117 
Unreleased Norman Blake Album + Tut & Unknown Fingerpicking Guitarist
Nashville, TN
Circa 1973-1974
1/2/1974

Source: The tape is a 7.5 inch per second mono recording.  The reel was played
on a modified Revox A77 reel-to-reel machine with a Reutelhuber custom designed and 
built tape head preamplifier incorporating 2003 era technology and components
including all metal film resistors, polypropelene coupling capacitors, and low ESR 
electrolytic supply bypass capacitors.  The resulting analog signal was digitized 
by a Mytek Digital 8X96 analog to digital converter using Steinberg Nuendo as the 
recording software and saved as a 24 bit 48 kHz wave file.  Post processing and was 
done with Nuendo using Waves Plugins.  Sample Rate Conversion was performed using 
R8Brain.  The file was dithered down to a 16 bit/44.1kHz wave file using Izotope 
Ozone 3.


1. Coming Down From Rising Fawn (Norman Blake Album)
2. The Last Train From Poor Valley
3. I Know What It Means to Be Lonesome
4. Ridge Road Gravel
5. Instrumental (?)
6. Uncle
1. Griffith Mandolin Society (1) (Tut & Unknown Fingerpicking Guitarist)
2. Griffith Mandolin Society (2)
3. Griffith Mandolin Society (3)
4. Griffith Mandolin Society (4)
5. Griffith Mandolin Society (5)('Take 98')>
6. Greensleeves
7. Cannonball Rag
8. (x) Going Down the Road Feeling Bad (1) (Norman Blake Album (continued)
9. Old Grey Mare
10. Sweet Heaven
11. Indian Creek
12. Going Down the Road Feeling Bad (2)

Tut Taylor Reel #117 Side A and the second half of Side B contain recordings for which collector's search far and wide-an 
unreleased Norman Blake album recorded circa 1973-74.  While many of the tunes here are found on Blake's 'The Fields of 
November' (1974), 'Old and New' (1975), and 'Whiskey Before Breakfast' (1976) LPs, these are alternative arrangements with 
different backing musicians in many instances.  Of particular note is an unreleased instrumental (Side A, track 5), an early 
version of 'Ridge Road Gravel' that did not appear until 'Blake and Rice' was released in 1987, and hot versions of 'Going 
Down the Road Feeling Bad'.  Blake is joined by Tut Taylor on Dobro, Ed 'Doc' Cullis on banjo, Charlie Collins on fiddle and 
guitar, and Nancy Blake on cello.  Savor this one!  Side B begins with some recordings that are also found on Tut Archive 
Cassette #75-Tut joined by an unknown, but quite accomplished, nylon string fingerpicker; they run through several takes of 
Tut's tune 'Griffith Mandolin Society' (the best being 'Take 98') and then Tut urges the modest guitarist to record a few of 
his own arrangements.  

--Mitchell Wittenberg