Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was a folk singer born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York City, and was nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street." is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... This article is about the state. ... is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Folk song redirects here. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Folkways Records is a record label founded by Moses Asch. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... This article is about the state. ... The Washington Square Arch Greenwich Village (IPA pronunciation: ), also called simply the Village, is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern) Manhattan in New York City named after Greenwich, London. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ...

He was best known as an important figure in New York City during the acoustic folk revival of the 1960s, but his work ranged from old English ballads to Bertolt Brecht, rock, New Orleans jazz, and swing. He is often associated with blues but he pointed out at concerts that he actually had only a limited number in his repertoire. He became known for performing instrumental ragtime guitar music, and he was an early friend and supporter of Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs and Joni Mitchell, among many others. Van Ronk was very influential on the music scene in New York City in the 1960s. A steel string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. ... Folk can refer to a number of different things: It can be short for folk music, or, for folksong, or, for folklore; it may be a word for a specific people, tribe, or nation, especially one of the Germanic peoples; it might even be a calque on the related German... A ballad is a story in song, usually a narrative song or poem. ... {{dy justified his choice of form, and from about 1929 on he began to interpret its penchant for contradictions, much as had Eisenstein, in terms of the dialectic. ... Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars, and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles, however saxophones have been omitted from newer subgenres of rock music since the 90s. ... Dixieland music is a style of jazz. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. ... Blues music redirects here. ... Look up ragtime in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... This article is about the recording artist. ... Thomas R. Paxton was born October 31, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest child of Burton and Esther Paxton. ... Patrick Sky, born Patrick Lynch in Georgia in 1940, is a musician, singer and songwriter of Irish and Native American (Creek Indian) ancestry. ... Philip David Ochs (December 19, 1940–April 9, 1976) was a U.S. protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer), songwriter, musician and recording artist who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice. ... Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943) is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ...

Career

Van Ronk moved from Brooklyn to Queens in 1951 and began attending Richmond Hill High School. He had been performing in a barbershop quartet since 1949, but left before finishing high school, and spent the next few years bumming around lower Manhattan, except for shipping out twice with the Merchant Marine. This article is about the borough of New York City. ... For other uses, see Queens (disambiguation) and Queen. ... // Richmond Hill High School is located at 89-30 114th Street, Richmond Hill, New York 11418. ... The Dapper Dans, a barbershop quartet at Disney World Barbershop harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1940s-present), is a style of a cappella, or unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. ...

His first professional gigs were with various trad jazz bands around the New York area, of which he later observed: "We wanted to play traditional jazz in the worst way...and we did!" The jazz revival didn't take off though, and Van Ronk turned to performing blues music he'd stumbled across and enjoyed years earlier, by artists like Furry Lewis and Mississippi John Hurt. Van Ronk was not the first white musician to perform African-American blues, but became noted for his interpretation of it in its original context. By about 1958 he was firmly committed to the folk-blues style, accompanying himself with his own acoustic guitar. He performed blues, jazz and folk music, occasionally writing his own songs but generally arranging the work of earlier artists and his folk revival peers. Furry Lewis (March 6, 1899- September 14, 1981) was a blues guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. ... Mississippi John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1892 , Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. ... Blues music redirects here. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Folk song redirects here. ...

He became noted both for his large physical stature and his expansive charisma, which belied an intellectual, cultured gentleman of many talents. Among his many interests: cooking, science fiction (he was active for some time in science fiction fandom [he referred to it as "mind rot"] and contributed to fanzines), world history, and politics. During the 1960s he supported radical left-wing political causes and was a member of the Libertarian League. Somewhat by accident, he took part in the famous Stonewall Riots during which he was arrested, abused and briefly jailed. In 1974 he appeared at a concert with his old friend Bob Dylan, to aid refugees from the military coup by Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is the community of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy literature, and in contact with one another based upon that interest. ... A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. ... Libertarian League (contemporary) is also the name used by a number of regional groups associated with the Libertarian Party in the United States, particularly college-based organisations. ... LGBT rights Around the world By country History · Groups · Activists Declaration of Montreal Same-sex relationships Marriage · Adoption Opposition · Discrimination Violence This box:      The Stonewall riots were a series of violent conflicts between New York City police officers and groups of gay and transgender people that began during the early... This article is about the recording artist. ... Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte[1] (November 25, 1915 – December 10, 2006) was President of Chile as a military dictator [2] from 1974 to 1990, and head of the military junta from 1973 to 1974. ...

In 2000 he performed at Blind Willie's in Atlanta, clothed in garish Hawaiian garb, speaking fondly of his impending return to Greenwich Village. He reminisced over tunes like Good Ol Wagon, a song teasing a washed-up lover, which he ruefully remarked had seemed humorous to him back in 1962. He was married to Terri Thal in the 1960s, lived for many years with Joanne Grace, then married Andrea Vuocolo, with whom he spent the rest of his life. He continued to perform for four decades and gave his last concert just a few months before his death. He found it amusing to be called "a legend in his own time." This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

Van Ronk died before completing work on his memoirs, which were finished by his collaborator, Elijah Wald, and published in 2005 as The Mayor Of MacDougal Street. In 2004 a section of Sheridan Square, where Barrow Street meets Washington Place, was renamed Dave Van Ronk Street in his memory.

Cultural impact

He has been described as an irreverent and incomparable guitar artist and interpreter of black blues and folk, with an uncannily precise ability at improvisation. Joni Mitchell often said that his rendition of her song Both Sides Now (which he called Clouds) was the finest ever. Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943) is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter. ... Both Sides Now is a song by Joni Mitchell. ...

Dave Van Ronk is perhaps underestimated as a musician and blues guitarist. His guitar work is noteworthy for both syncopation and precision. In its simplest form, it shows similarities to Mississippi John Hurt's, but Van Ronk's main influence was the Reverend Gary Davis, who conceived the guitar as "a piano around his neck." Van Ronk took this pianistic approach, and added a harmonic sophistication adapted from the band voicings of Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. He ranks high in bringing blues style to Greenwich Village during the 1960s, as well as introducing the folk world to the complex harmonies of Kurt Weill in his many Brecht-Weill interpretations, and being one of the very few hardcore traditional revivalists to move with the times, bringing old blues and ballads together with the new sounds of Dylan, Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen. During this crucial period, he performed with the likes of Bob Dylan and spent many years teaching guitar in Greenwich Village, including to Christine Lavin, David Massengill, Terre Roche and Suzzy Roche. He influenced his protégé Danny Kalb and The Blues Project. The Japanese singer Masato Tomobe and American pop-folk singer Geoff Thais learned from him as well. Mississippi John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1892 , Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. ... Reverend Gary Davis also Blind Gary Davis ( April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972) was an African American blues and gospel singer as well as a renowned guitarist. ... Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950), born in Dessau, Germany and died in New York City, was a German and in his later years, a German-American composer active from the 1920s until his death. ... This article is about the recording artist. ... Christine Lavin is a New York City based singer, songwriter, and promoter of contemporary folk music. ... David Massengill (born in 1951 in Bristol, Tennessee) is an American folk singer/songwriter. ... Suzzy Roche is best known for her work with the female vocal group The Roches. ... Danny Kalb is a blues guitarist and former founder of the 1960s group, Blues Project. ... One of the first album-oriented, underground groups in the United States, the Blues Project offered an electric brew of rock, blues, folk, pop, and even some jazz, classical, and psychedelia during their brief heyday in the mid-60s. ...

Thanks to what he had learned from Davis, Van Ronk was among the first to adapt traditional jazz and ragtime to the solo acoustic guitar. His guitar arrangements of such ragtime hits as St. Louis Tickle, The Entertainer, The Pearls and Maple Leaf Rag continue to frustrate and challenge aspiring guitar players. He also did fine compositions of his own in the classic styles, such as Antelope Rag.

Personal characteristics

Van Ronk refused for many years to fly and never learned to drive (he would use trains or buses or, when possible, recruit a girlfriend or young musician as his driver), and he declined to ever move from Greenwich Village. Van Ronk's trademark stoneware jug of Tullamore Dew was frequently seen on stage next to him in his early days. A Staffordshire stoneware plate from the 1850s with transferred copper print - (From the home of JL Runeberg) Stoneware is a category of clay and a type of ceramic distinguished primarily by its firing and maturation temperature (from about 1200°C to 1315 °C). ... Tullamore Dew Tullamore Dew is a brand of Irish whiskey. ...

Robert Shelton described Van Ronk as, "the musical mayor of MacDougal Street, 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, lines from obscure poets, finger picks, and broken guitar strings. He was Bob (Dylan's) first New York guru. Van Ronk was a walking museum of the blues. Through an early interest in jazz, he had gravitated toward black music -- its jazz pole, its jug-band and ragtime center, its blues bedrock.....his manner was rough and testy, disguising a warm, sensitive core. Van Ronk retold the blues intimately....for a time, his most dedicated follower was Dylan." Journalist Robert Shelton was born June 28, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, and died December 11, 1995, in Brighton, England. ...

Partial Discography

The Early Phase

• Inside Dave Van Ronk
• Just Dave Van Ronk
• Dave Van Ronk and the Ragtime Jug Stompers
• No Dirty Names
• Somebody Else, Not Me

The Band Phase

During this phase, Van Ronk's recorded albums featured elaborate backing musicians.

• Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters
• Van Ronk
• Songs For Ageing Children / Let The Feeling Talk To You

External links

• The Mayor of MacDougal Street Dave Van Ronk's memoir of the folk revival.
• The Unauthorized Dave Van Ronk website.
• Illustrated Dave Van Ronk discography
• Dave Van Ronk Street Renaming Ceremony
• Walking Down Dave Van Ronk Street
• Folknik Days