I finished reading this entertaining and informative book today. Dave Van Ronk (1934-2002) was a memorable character and musician. Although he began as a jazz musician in the early 50s, then became a blues singer, he eventually became a folksinger who sang the blues. His version of Cocaine Blues was historic. Once Jackson Browne came up and said he had recorded one of his songs. Van Ronk asked which one. Browne said, Cocaine Blues. Van Ronk explained that the song was written by Rev. Gary Davis, the blind black blues singer, and he gave Jackson the information to direct the royalties to Daviss estate. Van Ronks chronicle of the folk music scare is very entertaining. Albert Grossman asked him if he wanted to join a folk group he was forming with Peter Yarrow and Mary Travers. VAn Ronk declined, and Grossman recruited a friend of Van Ronks, Noel Stookey, who became Paul Stookey. Van Ronk admits that Peter, Dave and Mary would have died a death of a thousand cuts. . . I suppose I would have had to change my name as well. Still every time I look at my bank balance. . . Although he describes the scene that the Coen Brothers adopted for their film, Inside Llewellyn Davis, Dave Van Ronk was not the selfish not-to-bright character in the film. Van Ronk knew everyone in New York, was well-liked and dubbed the Mayor of McDougal Street. His wife, Terri, was Bob Dylans first manager, and he describes Bob Dylans arrival on the scene and rise to fame. Van Ronk was a self-educated, well-read man, whose knowledge of the world shines throughout the memoir. And he has great stories to tell. When Bob Dylan was recording his first album for Columbia, he asked Van Ronk one night if he would mind if he recorded Van Ronks arrangement of House of the Rising Son. Van Ronk said, Yes, I would mind. Dylan said, Uh oh. He had already recorded it. Then a couple of years later, the Animals recorded it using Van Ronks arrangement. Van Ronk recalls being on stage and getting requests for that Animals song, House of the Rising Son. He always thought (and I always heard) that the House of the Rising Son was a brothel. Years later he was in New Orleans and looking at historic photographs and he saw a building with a rising sun on it. He found out that the building was the Orleans Parish womens prison. Last anectdote: One of his Village friends, Patrick Sky, on his second album, The Harvest of Gentle Clang, in a pause on between songs, Patrick announces, And now the moment youve all been waiting for: Mississippi John Hurt sings Gilbert and Sullivan. Then the unmistakable tones of John Hurt waft forth: Gilbert and Sulliva-an!
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 23:27:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015