David Kenneth Ritz Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer/guitarist, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, to a family that was mostly Irish, despite the Dutch name, and was eventually nicknamed the Mayor of MacDougal Street. He is one of my favourite players and Sunday Street is his own composition. He was an important figure in the acoustic folk revival of the 1960s. His work ranged from old English ballads to blues, gospel, rock, New Orleans jazz, and swing. Van Ronk can be described as an irreverent and incomparable guitar artist and interpreter of black blues and folk, He was a widely admired avuncular figure in the Village, presiding over the coffeehouse folk culture and acting as a friend to many up-and-coming artists by inspiring, assisting, and promoting them. Folk performers whom he befriended include Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin Jack Elliott, Guthrie Thomas, and Joni Mitchell. His biggest influence was Rev Gary Davis whom he took lessons from. The Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis follows a folk singer similar to Van Ronk, and incorporates anecdotes based on Van Ronks life. However I didnt like the movie at all and comes nowhere near capturing the man or his music or indeed Greenich village of the sixties... not that I was there ! As well as performing he spent many years teaching guitar in Greenich village. Critic Robert Shelton described Van Ronk as follows [A] tall, garrulous hairy man of three quarters, or, more accurately, three fifths Irish descent. Topped by light brownish hair and a leonine beard, which he smoothed down several times a minute, he resembled an unmade bed strewn with books, record jackets, pipes, empty whiskey bottles,(Tullamore Dew) lines from obscure poets, finger picks, and broken guitar strings. He was Bob [Dylan]s first New York guru. Van Ronk received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in December 1997. In 2004 in New York a section of Sheridan Square, where Barrow Street meets Washington Place, was renamed Dave Van Ronk Street in his memory. Happy Listening Mike V
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 10:06:44 +0000