A true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool super-hick, Georgia's Norman Wade digs deep into hard twang and songs of broken hearts and broken lives, with straight-ahead fiddle-and-steel backing his keening, untamable voice. He reminds me a lot of Vernon Oxford, both vocally and stylistically -- an unreconstructed hillbilly singer who isn't going to change a thing. Wade went to Nashville in the late 1950s and was part of Marty Robbins' entourage for over a decade -- he also cut a number of singles over the years before "going solo" in the '70s, when he started to record albums of his own. If you like the hard stuff, you'll definitely wanna track some of these records down!
Norman Wade "Close Every Honky Tonk" (Artic Records, 1978)
(Produced by Eddy Fox)
A great album. Maybe not a lot of variety to the arrangements, but the songs are awesome. If you like the hard stuff, you'll want to check this guy out. This album includes gems such as "I'll Cry Again Tomorrow," "You Brought The Cheating Out In Me," and the devastatingly bleak "I'd Rather Be Needed Than Loved." Great stuff!
Norman Wade "Real Country" (Jin Recordss, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Eddy Fox)
Another great hard-country album, with hard-luck songs galore. Wade pays tribute to Hank Williams with two cover tunes -- including an excellent version of "I'll Be A Bachelor 'Til I Die," and Frank Dycus' mournful "Hank Williams Blues." Also a couple of originals by Shirl Milete, with "A Sad Country Song" being an album highlight, as well as his version of Joel Sonnier's "I May Be Wrong, But You Look Right," which closes the album on a high note. As with his previous album, not a lot of stylistic variety, but every track is pure, concentrated hardcore honkytonk.
Norman Wade "From Nashville To You" (CMI, 1983)
Norman Wade "Back To Country" (CMI, 1983) (LP)
Norman Wade "Remember Country" (NCR Records, 1986)
(Produced by Johnny Elgin & Doyle Grisham)
Norman Wade "Cold Hard Country" (ATM, 2012)
