{"title":"Dave Van Ronk","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe extraordinary folk and blues singer and guitarist Dave Van Ronk is inextricably linked, first and foremost, to the folk music scene in New York City's Greenwich Village in the 1960s. Van Ronk, born in Brooklyn on June 30, 1936, and of Irish origin, has been performing for more than four decades. He made his first record for Moses Asch's Folkways label in 1959 and won far-reaching recognition for his recordings with Prestige in the 1960s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe performed at countless festivals, such as the annual Newport event, and toured the US and internationally. Although he hasn't been as productive as some other composers from that epoch, his contribution, most of all, was in his original performances and interesting rearrangements of classic blues songs. On stage, he played the kind of music he liked, never paying much attention to the boundaries that ordinarily separate jazz and blues and country and folk. In the ?60s, folk musicians and others who considered themselves such (it was enough to sing your own songs and to play your guitar) fled to New York from all over. Van Ronk was there to witness their music, their ideologies and insecurities. Greenwich Village belonged to Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Joni Mitchell and Rumblin' Jack Elliot and their followers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the folk climate started to cool down after 1965, Van Ronk already had a reputation of the most eloquent and imitated folk singing voice in Greenwich Village. His folk-rock band ?Hudson Dusters? did not last long enough to take him away from his solo acoustic affairs. And if the early 1970s, bringing a sort of a ?folk depression' with the advancing of the hippie era (the clubs were closing down and record labels weren't signing acoustic acts any more), did not change Van Ronk essentially, nothing would. His fingerpicking complex guitar technique and his distinguished vocal interpretation stayed almost unchanged by times and fashions. His models are still recognizable: Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and Reverend Gary Davis among them. Dave Van Ronk passed away on February 10, 2002.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"sweet-lowdown-1","title":"Sweet \u0026 Lowdown","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRekindling his love for classic jazz, Van Ronk puts together a string of American standards and, along with a seven-piece band of seasoned session players, makes the kind of music he grew up listening to. The tunes swing along with Van Ronk's mildly Louis Armstrong-flavored rasp, which holds up throughout. As on his 1990 release, Hummin' to Myself, Van Ronk is accompanied (as opposed to his usual solo outings), and he is joined by female vocalists Sarah Partridge on \"Thanks for the Memory\" and \"Zoot Suit\" and Andrea Vuocolo (his wife) on \"I'd Rather Charleston.\" On songs like \"Cottage for Sale and \"Comes Love,\" the sound may be slightly over-produced for the \"days gone by\" mood of the set but, for the most part, this is indispensable Van Ronk, whose forte, apart from his gift for songwriting, has always been classic interpretation that contains as much of his own distinct personality as it does respect for whatever form of American music he is delving into.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e-Travis Drageset\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dave Van Ronk","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download","offer_id":39502264074400,"sku":"0068944016655","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":39511370432672,"sku":"","price":15.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0537\/8477\/2768\/products\/652e8de9-8399-4b9c-9473-f8d7f6da17bc8652357807008019734-LARGE_7d84090a-8cb1-43cb-a8c8-fddb0a6a3e76.jpg?v=1616020329"},{"product_id":"live-at-sir-george-williams-university","title":"Live at Sir George Williams University","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA live festival appearance during Expo '67 — a Canadian version of the World Fair — is the setting for this single CD performance by late, great folky Dave Van Ronk. While the recording is of a spurious nature, this is a rare opportunity for future generations to experience the undeniable musicality and incisive wit of one of the premier talents and founding fathers of the Washington Square generation of folk music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe timelessness of Van Ronk's laid-back and practically conversational style of playing resonates throughout this set. Complemented only by his own traditional acoustic guitar accompaniment, even the most familiar of musical tales, fables, and stories are animated with wholly unique personas. Even signature pieces such as his cover of the Rev. Gary Davis standard \"Cocaine Blues\" — simply titled \"Cocaine\" on this release — are given an intimacy only allowed in the sacred space of a live performance. Van Ronk's amenable nature is also evident in his interaction with the audience as he tells short jokes between numbers — especially notable is his \"W.C. Fields Routine,\" proving yet again that this is no standard folky. Dave Van Ronk comes from a dying breed of entertainers who were adept at weaving a continuity into whatever they doing — like tuning up or changing guitars or strings. Much of this set mirrors both the music he chose for inclusion on his long-players as well as tunes he would continue to perform throughout the remainder of his career. Van Ronk steers the show through a seemingly infinite maze of musical genres and influences. These include at any given time: traditional works (\"Frankie and Albert\" and \"Gambler's Blues\") as well as vintage cover tunes (Blind Willie McTell's \"Statesboro Blues\" or William Butler Yeats' \"Song of the Wandering Angus\").\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLikewise, his passion for contemporary artists is evident in the cover of Bob Dylan's \"Man on the Street\" — titled here as \"The Old Man.\" Although the song dated back to Dylan's days as a struggling New York City folky in the early '60s, it remained unissued until it appeared on the multi-disc Bootleg Series, Vols\/ 1-3: Rare \u0026amp; Unreleased 1961-1991. Live at Sir George Williams University is one of several entries in Justin Time Records' \"Collector's Classics\" series. These feature live recordings by amateur engineer Michael Nerenberg of some of America's premier folk and blues artists. Other volumes include previously unissued live performances by Muddy Waters (Goin' Way Back and Hoochie Coochie Man in Montreal), Rev. Gary Davis (Live % Kicking), and Sonny Terry \u0026amp; Brownie McGhee (Live at the New Penelope Cafe).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e-Lindsay Planer\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dave Van Ronk","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download","offer_id":39518706401440,"sku":"0068944830756","price":9.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":39518742610080,"sku":"","price":12.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0537\/8477\/2768\/products\/0068944913251.jpg?v=1617042211"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0537\/8477\/2768\/collections\/picArtist155.jpg?v=1616076543","url":"https:\/\/justin-time-records.myshopify.com\/collections\/dave-van-ronk.oembed","provider":"Justin Time Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}