{"title":"Dave Van Ronk","description":"\u003cp\u003eGuitarist, singer, songwriter, and native New Yorker Dave Van Ronk inspired, aided, and promoted the careers of numerous singer\/songwriters who came up in the blues tradition. Most notable of the many musicians he helped over the years was Bob Dylan, whom Van Ronk got to know shortly after Dylan moved to New York in 1961 to pursue a life as a folk\/blues singer. Van Ronk's recorded output was healthy, but he was never as prolific a songwriter as some of his friends from that era, like Dylan or Tom Paxton. Instead, Van Ronk's genius was derived from his flawless execution and rearranging of classic acoustic blues tunes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn June 30, 1936, in Brooklyn and raised there, Van Ronk never completed high school, and left home for Greenwich Village, a few miles away, in his late teens. He took his inspiration from blues and folk singer Odetta, who encouraged the then merchant seaman to play the classic jazz music that he was so keenly interested in. Often regarded as the grand uncle of the Greenwich Village coffeehouse scene, the self-effacing Van Ronk, an engaging intellectual and voracious reader, would have been the first to tell you that there were others, like Odetta, who were around the Village before him. As the blues and folk boom bloomed into the '60s, Van Ronk became part of an inner circle of musicians who lived in the Village, including then up-and-coming performers like Dylan, Paxton, Phil Ochs, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Joni Mitchell. An expert fingerpicker, Van Ronk was influenced as a vocalist by Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVan Ronk's recording career began in 1959 with Sings Ballads, Blues \u0026amp; a Spiritual on Moses Asch's Folkways label. His reputation wasn't solid, however, until he began recording for the Prestige label in the first half of the '60s. These recordings allowed him to tour throughout the U.S. and perform at major folk festivals like Newport. Although he had a short-lived folk rock band called the Hudson Dusters in the mid-'60s, the bulk of Van Ronk's recordings were solo acoustic affairs. Van Ronk's various recordings serve different purposes; to check out Van Ronk the songwriter, pick up Going Back to Brooklyn (Gazell Productions, 1985), which was his first all-original album, containing only his own songs; for students of Van Ronk's complex guitar technique, pick up Dave Van Ronk, a compact disc reissue of two earlier Prestige albums, Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger and Inside Dave Van Ronk. Another compilation, The Folkways Years (1959-1961), is available from Smithsonian Folkways. His 1967 album for Verve Forecast, Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters, is worthy of reissue on compact disc for its sound quality and for the statements it makes about American society in the '60s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVan Ronk continued to record throughout the '90s and beyond, with the Alcazar Records label releasing From...Another Time and Place in 1995 and Justin Time issuing Sweet and Lowdown in 2001. He died unexpectedly while undergoing post-operative treatment for colon cancer on February 10, 2002. A CD of his last concert, from October 2001 in Takoma Park, Maryland, was released by Smithsonian Folkways in 2004 as ...And the Tin Pan Bended and the Story Ended. ~ Richard Skelly, Rovi\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dave-van-ronk-in-the-tradition","title":"| In The Tradition (LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eIn the Tradition was a little strange for an early Dave Van Ronk LP, with the album split evenly between tracks on which the singer is backed by the Dixieland jazz-style combo the Red Onions and by more customary acoustic folk-blues solo guitar. Both of those styles were part of his persona, though it's the more somber acoustic folk-blues that stand out more. It's a reasonably strong album, not too much different from much of the rest of his catalog, other than in the balanced mixture between jazz and folk approaches. Of the trad jazz cuts, the item that might attract the most collector interest is the jaunty \"All Over You,\" which is certainly one of the most obscure (and atypical) early Bob Dylan covers; Dylan would never release his own version, though a demo he did of the tune in 1963 has appeared on bootlegs. It's not much of a song, but its basic joie de vivre fits in well with the jazz segment of this program, on which Van Ronk's gravelly vocals credibly echo (especially for a white singer) the spirit of early New Orleans jazz vocalists like Louis Armstrong. Among the acoustic numbers are \"Green, Green Rocky Road\" and \"Rocks and Gravel,\" both of which would be recorded by several other major talents of the '60s folk scene.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eTracklist\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eA1        Cake Walking Babies From Home\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA2        Ace In The Hole\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA3        St. Louis Tickle\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA4        Death Letter Blues\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA5        If I Had To Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA6        Whoa Back Buck\u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1        Sister Kate\u003cbr\u003e\r\nB2        Kansas City Blues\u003cbr\u003e\r\nB3        Green Rocky Road\u003cbr\u003e\r\nB4        See See Rider\u003cbr\u003e\r\nB5        Rocks And Gravel\u003cbr\u003e\r\nB6        Hesitation Blues\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003e*Audio and\/or tracklist may vary slightly from the vinyl version.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;\"\u003eLabel: Dol\u003cbr\u003e\r\nRel. Date:06\/24\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\r\nUPC: 889397314637\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"450\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.music.apple.com\/us\/album\/in-the-tradition\/1444019799\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;border-radius:10px;\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat Detail: LP\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGenre: Singer\/Songwriter\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat: Vinyl\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReleased: 06\/24\/2014\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Dave Van Ronk","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44582342983913,"sku":"N2O0J5-QI6T-00","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/files\/Dave-Van-Ronk-IN-THE-TRADITION_yxu3N_167e3bfb-d56e-4471-a515-d445f226a193.jpg?v=1759117727"},{"product_id":"van-ronk-dave-hear-me-howl-live-1964-rsd-11-26-21","title":"Hear Me Howl - Live 1964 (RSD 11\/26\/21)","description":"\u003cp\u003eHear Me Howl - Live 1964 (RSD 11\/26\/21) is a Records \u0026amp; LPs from Van Ronk, Dave\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHandling Note: **Please allow an additional 72 hours for this item's shipment.**\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat Detail: LP\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGenre: Rock\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat: Vinyl\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInternal ID: JITFE\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReleased: 11\/26\/2021\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Van Ronk, Dave","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44583443300585,"sku":"SS09JT-1GLY-00","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/files\/Van-Ronk-Dave-Hear-Me-Howl-Live-1964-RSD-112621_68am6.jpg?v=1759195167"},{"product_id":"dave-van-ronk-ballads-blues-a-spiritual","title":"Ballads, Blues \u0026 a Spiritual","description":"\u003cp\u003eBallads, Blues \u0026amp; a Spiritual is a Records \u0026amp; LPs from Dave Van Ronk\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGenre: Pop\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat: Vinyl\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReleased: 01\/11\/19\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Dave Van Ronk","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44584400519401,"sku":"RTCM1P-XY3O-00","price":29.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/files\/dave-van-ronk-ballads-blues-a-spiritual_oaiVv_60c9dc61-a4a7-4e9a-a209-d8817a5d861f.jpg?v=1759268645"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/collections\/image_e020baed-2640-48b2-b856-280c658f55a0.jpg?v=1708731823","url":"https:\/\/www.vibinvinyl.com\/collections\/dave-van-ronk.oembed","provider":"Vibin' Vinyl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}