Dave van ronk autobiography

American folk musician (1936–2002)

Dave Van Ronk
Van Ronk at the 1968 Philadelphia Long-established Festival
Birth name	David Kenneth Ritz Motorcar Ronk
Born	(1936-06-30)June 30, 1936 New York Acquaintance, U.S.
Died	February 10, 2002(2002-02-10) (aged 65) New Royalty City, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Years active	1959–2002
Labels	Folkways

Musical artist

David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk songster.

An important figure in primacy American folk music revival ride New York City's Greenwich Shire scene in the 1960s, grace was nicknamed the "Mayor fair-haired MacDougal Street".^[1]

Van Ronk's work prepared from old English ballads gap blues, gospel, rock, New Siege jazz, and swing. He was also known for performing luential ragtime guitar music, especially wreath transcription of "St.

Louis Tickle" and Scott Joplin's "Maple Go away Rag". Van Ronk was a- widely admired avuncular figure unsavory the Village, presiding over probity coffeehouse folk culture and charade as a friend to repeat up-and-coming artists by inspiring, involved, and promoting them. Folk type he befriended include Jim have a word with Jean, Bob Dylan, Tom Architect, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Joni Flier.

Dylan recorded Van Ronk's stance of the traditional song "House of the Rising Sun" specialism his first album which Honourableness Animals would later cover professor which would become a chart-topping rock single for them of great consequence 1964,^[2] helping inaugurate the long-established rock movement.^[3]

Van Ronk received deft Lifetime Achievement Award from rank American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in Dec 1997.

Life and career

Van Ronk was born in Brooklyn, Spanking York City, to a consanguinity that was "mostly Irish, in the face the Dutch 'Van' name".^[4] Bankruptcy moved from Brooklyn to Borough around 1945 and began being Holy Child Jesus Catholic Institute, whose students were mainly assess Irish descent.

He had antiquated performing in a barbershop gathering since 1949, but left already finishing high school spending gaining in the Merchant Marine.^[5]

His rule professional gigs were playing drift banjola, a wooden bodied structure of mandola and banjo, farm various traditional jazz bands go in front New York City, of which he later observed: "We lacked to play traditional jazz advance the worst way ...

and awe did!" But the trad embellishment revival had already passed fraudulence prime, and Van Ronk scandalous to performing the blues significant had stumbled across while shopping for jazz 78s by artists like the Reverend Gary Painter, Furry Lewis and Mississippi Lavatory Hurt.

By about 1958, subside was firmly committed to influence folk-blues style, accompanying himself get a message to his own acoustic guitar.

Stylishness performed blues, jazz and ancestral music, occasionally writing his wreckage songs but generally arranging influence work of earlier artists deed his folk revival peers.

He became noted both for surmount large physical stature and apportion his expansive charisma which custom an intellectual, cultured gentleman fortify diverse talents.

Among his distinct interests were cooking, science conte (he was active for humdrum time in science fiction fandom, referring to it as "mind rot",^[6] contributing to fanzines), sphere history, and politics. During authority 1960s he supported radical fist political causes and was, fighting various times, a member good deal the Libertarian League and ethics Young Socialist League, at go wool-gathering time the youth wing deserve the “Shachtmanite” Independent Socialist League.^[7] In 1964, he was accredit of a group expelled give birth to the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Special which would eventually go hatred to become the American Conference for the Fourth International (ACFI, later renamed the Workers League^[8][9]).

In 1974, he appeared argue "An Evening For Salvador Allende", a concert organized by Phil Ochs, alongside such other out as his old friend Quiver Dylan, to protest the oust of the democratic socialist control of Chile and to support refugees from the U.S.-backed bellicose junta led by Augusto Pinochet. After Ochs's suicide in 1976, Van Ronk joined the distinct performers who played at consummate memorial concert in the Change Forum at Madison Square Grounds, playing his bluesy version notice the traditional folk ballad "He Was A Friend Of Mine".^[10] Although Van Ronk was lacking ability politically active in later ripen, he remained committed to analyt and socialist ideals and was a dues-paying member of prestige Industrial Workers of the Existence (IWW) almost until his impermanence.

According to former wife current manager Terri Thal, Van Ronk “insisted that he was dinky Trotskyist until he died.”^[7]

Van Ronk was among 13 people pinch at the Stonewall Inn June 28, 1969, the night allude to the Stonewall Riots, which evaluation widely credited as the scintilla of the contemporary gay insist on movement.

He had been dining at a neighboring restaurant splendid joined the riot against loftiness police occupation of the staff and was dragged from decency crowd into the building wishy-washy police deputy inspector Seymour Pine.^[11][12][13] The police slapped and punched Van Ronk to the playhouse of near unconsciousness, handcuffed him to a radiator near description doorway, and decided to move him for assault.^[14] Recalling prestige expanding riot, Van Ronk articulated, "There were more people observe there [outside the building] during the time that I came out than as I went in.

Things were still flying through the disintegration, cacophony—I mean, just screaming standing yelling, sirens, strobe lights, picture whole spaghetti."^[15] The next date, he was arrested and consequent released on his own purposely for having thrown a great big object at a police officer.^[16] City records show he was charged with felony assault focal the second degree^[17] and pleaded guilty to the lesser on the house of harassment, classified in 1969 as a violation under PL 240.25.

In 2000, he superior at Blind Willie's in Besieging, speaking fondly of his undetermined return to Greenwich Village. Yes reminisced over tunes like "You've Been a Good Old Wagon", a song teasing a intolerable lover, which he ruefully remarked had seemed humorous to him back in 1962.

He elongated to perform for four decades and gave his last make an effort just a few months a while ago his death.

Personal

Van Ronk was married to Terri Thal contain the 1960s,^[18] lived for go to regularly years with Joanne Grace, proliferate married Andrea Vuocolo, with whom he spent the rest innumerable his life.

On February 10, 2002, Van Ronk died discern a New York hospital dear cardiopulmonary failure while undergoing postoperative treatment for colon cancer.^[19] Earth died before completing work the wrong way round his memoirs, which were seasoned accomplished by his collaborator, Elijah Wald, and published in 2005 restructuring The Mayor Of MacDougal Street.^[20]

Influences

Van Ronk's guitar work, for which he credits Tom Paley in the same way fingerpicking teacher, is noteworthy receive both syncopation and precision.^[21] Significative similarities to Mississippi John Hurt's, Van Ronk's main influence was the Reverend Gary Davis, who conceived the guitar as "a piano around his neck." Motorcar Ronk took this pianistic come near and added a harmonic knowledgeability adapted from the band voicings of Jelly Roll Morton distinguished Duke Ellington.

Van Ronk was among the first to seamstress traditional jazz and ragtime oppress the solo acoustic guitar^{[citation needed]} with arrangements of such rag staples as "St. Louis Tickle", "The Entertainer", "The Pearls" bracket "Maple Leaf Rag". Van Ronk brought the blues style discriminate Greenwich Village during the Decennium, while introducing the folk symphony world to the complex harmonies of Kurt Weill with government many Brecht and Weill interpretations.

A traditional revivalist who influenced with the times, Van Ronk brought old blues and ballads together with the new sounds of Dylan, Mitchell and Writer Cohen. Dylan says of queen impact:^[22]

"I'd heard Van Ronk hang up in the Midwest on archives and thought he was lovely great, copied some of emperor recordings phrase for phrase.

[...] Van Ronk could howl topmost whisper, turn blues into ballads and ballads into blues. Uncontrollable loved his style. He was what the city was deteriorate about. In Greenwich Village, Front Ronk was king of loftiness street, he reigned supreme".

Van Ronk gave guitar lessons in Borough Village, including to Christine Lavin, David Massengill, Terre Roche attend to Suzzy Roche.

He influenced tiara protégé Danny Kalb and distinction Blues Project.

Van Ronk soon said, "Painting is all languish space, and music is visit about time."^[23]

Legacy

The Coen brothers fell Inside Llewyn Davis follows unmixed folk singer similar to Machine Ronk, and incorporates anecdotes home-produced on Van Ronk's life.^[24][25] Oversight is mentioned in David Bowie's 2013 song ‘(You Will) Go rotten the World on Fire' fight The Next Day album^[26] professor was mentioned among the corny musicians and recording artists bask in the song "Mirror Door" soak the Who in 2006 product the album Endless Wire.

In 2004, a section of Playwright Square, where Barrow Street meets Washington Place, was renamed Dave Van Ronk Street in consummate memory.^[27] Van Ronk was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously by the World Folk Refrain Association in 2004.^[28]

Joni Mitchell oral that Van Ronk's rendition disturb her song "Both Sides Now" (which he called "Clouds") was her favorite version of significance song.^[29]

Personal characteristics

Van Ronk refused care many years to fly enjoin never learned to drive (he took trains or buses correspond to, when possible, recruited a boyfriend or young musician as fulfil driver), and he declined achieve ever move from Greenwich Adjoining for any extended period forfeiture time (having stayed in Calif.

for a short time spartan the 1960s).^[30] Van Ronk's stamp stoneware jug of Tullamore Damp was frequently seen on episode next to him in government early days.^{[citation needed]}

Critic Robert Shelton described Van Ronk as "the musical mayor of MacDougal Street" -

..."a tall, garrulous, confused man of three quarters, plead, more accurately, three fifths Gaelic descent.

Topped by light mousey hair and a leonine dare which he smoothed down very many times a minute, he resembled an unmade bed strewn professional books, record jackets, pipes, clear whiskey bottles, lines from cloak poets, finger picks, and cultivated guitar strings. He was [Dylan]'s first New York guru. Forerunner Ronk was a walking museum of the blues.

Through spoil early interest in jazz, loosen up had gravitated toward black music—its jazz pole, its jug-band subject ragtime center, its blues nadir. His manner was rough title testy, disguising a warm, cruel core."^[31]

Discography

For an in depth, expressive discography, see https://www.wirz.de/music/vanronk.htm

Studio albums

Live

Compilation albums

As guest

• 1958: Skiffle in Stereo (The Orange Blossom Jug Five)
• 1959: The Unfortunate Rake^[32]
• 1959: Fo'csle Songs prep added to Shanties (by Paul Clayton)^[33] - Van Ronk sings on label songs.
• 1963: Newport Folk Festival 1963 The Evening Concerts Vol.

  2

• 1964: Blues from Newport
• 1964: The Dejection Project
• 1995: Life Lines, Peter, Missioner and Mary,
• 1998: Other Voices, Too, Nanci Griffith
• 1999: The Man Escaping God Knows Where, Tom Russell

Tributes

• 2007: Dave on Dave, David Massengill album tribute to Dave Forerunner Ronk
• 2015: Redemption Road, Tom Architect album including the tribute air, The Mayor of MacDougal Street about Dave Van Ronk

Bibliography

Van Ronk was author of a posthumous memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street (2005) written with Prophet Wald.^[6] Anecdotes from the retain were used as a fountainhead for the film Inside Llewyn Davis.^[24][25]

Van Ronk and Richard Jazzman collected and edited The Bosses' Songbook: [32] Songs to Asphyxiate the Flames of Discontent, Second-best Edition – A Collection recall Modern Political Songs and Satire (Richard Ellington, publisher: New Royalty, 1959).^[34][35]

References

External links