Folkways Years (1959-1961)

by Dave Van Ronk

Overview

In his characteristically sardonic liner notes to this compilation of his earliest recordings, Dave Van Ronk denies that he was ever a folksinger. While such a declaration may seem ludicrous on its face, Van Ronk's perspective contributes to an understanding of his musical approach. When he made these recordings for Folkways Records between 1959 and 1961, he was coming out of years of playing banjo and singing (unamplified) with a traditional jazz band; he turned to fingerpicking an acoustic guitar and singing the songs of old folk-blues musicians like Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and the Reverend Gary Davis as the "trad" fad gave way and the folk revival gained momentum in the late '50s. But he continued to play and sing hard, as if still trying to be heard over Dixieland arrangements. That sounded unusual to the more polite folk audiences of the time, in contrast to singers who played tame versions of traditional folk and blues tunes. But more than three decades later, it keeps Van Ronk's performances from sounding as dated as those of many of his peers do. Nobody worries much anymore about an articulate, urban white man trying to sound like an unlettered, rural black man, and these recordings have proven very influential. For example, it's possible to hear a good part of Hot Tuna's acoustic repertoire in the music Van Ronk was making here a decade earlier. If he was imitating the originators at the time, now he sounds like a master whose work has been emulated by the rock musicians who followed him (and who made a lot more money doing so than he ever did). ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/1992
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074004128
Rank:	113467

Tracks

1. Duncan and Brady
2. Hesitation Blues
3. In the Pines
4. Willie the Weeper
5. Twelve Gates to the City
6. River Come Down
7. Careless Love
8. Betty and Dupree
9. Bed Bug Blues
10. Leave Her Johnny
11. Yas, Yas, Yas
12. Please See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
13. Winin' Boy
14. Just a Closer Walk with Thee
15. Gambler's Blues
16. Spike Driver's Moan
17. Georgie on the IRT
18. Come Back Baby
19. Black Mountain Blues
20. My Baby's So Sweet

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dave Van Ronk   Primary Artist,Vocals

Technical Credits

Anthony Seeger   Reissue Coordination
Brownie McGhee   Composer
Walter Davis   Composer
Jeff Place   Reissue Supervision Assistant
Lori Elaine Taylor   Reissue Supervision Assistant
Martha E. Koenig   Composer
Matt Walters   Reissue Coordination
Marty Bloom   Composer
Alan Yoshida   Remastering
Christopher Jerde   Reissue Supervision Assistant
Grant Rymal   Composer
Leslie Spitz-Edson   Reissue Supervision Assistant
Alex Sweda   Reissue Supervision Assistant
Carol Hardy   Design
Andras Goldinger   Reissue Supervision Assistant
Spencer Williams   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Kenneth S. Goldstein   Engineer
Kip Lornell   Liner Notes
W.C. Handy   Composer
Walter Melrose   Composer
Rev. Gary Davis   Composer
Moses Asch   Engineer
Dave Van Ronk   Liner Notes
David Gahr   Photography