My first two musical loves were rock & roll and folk music. I started listening to folk music in the late 1950s, but for me, the 1960s was the golden age of the genre. Plus, that was when I started earning enough money that I could afford to buy folk albums. I remember my sister giving me a Brother’s Four album as a gift. And I remember buying her an album by The Chad Mitchell Trio but deciding to keep it for myself. I don’t think she was a big folk music fan anyway. The first concert I went to, where I paid my own way, was The Chad Mitchell Trio in late 1964 or early ’65 in the Morris Civic Auditorium in South Bend, Indiana. These songs are some of my earliest favorites. I could have added other artists such as Bud & Travis, The Journeymen, Joe & Eddie, Theo Bikel, Judy Collins, and many more; but you would be listening all day. As I said, it was a golden age.

As part of my new mixtapes project, I have asked select friends to curate playlists for me. This mixtape is specially curated for us by Norm. He quickly became a true friend and confidant 7 years ago when I correctly recognised a floppy disk for what it was. Since then, he has seen me through all my ups and downs through perfectly timed memes, several postcards, lessons on the American presidency, and music, music, music. When not spreading positivity by sharing his song of the day on Twitter, you can find him blogging at Classical Gasbag.