''Van Ronk'' is an album by

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

artist

Dave Van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Ma ...

, released in 1971.Dave Van Ronk discography
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History

''Van Ronk'' features some of his most elaborate recordings with many backing musicians. It includes English language versions of songs by non-English speaking composers (

Bertold Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

and Jacques Brel). Another release titled ''Van Ronk'' was issued as a double LP in 1972 by

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its invest ...

by pairing '' Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger'' and '' Inside Dave Van Ronk''. That collection was later released on CD as '' Inside Dave Van Ronk''.

Reception

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' critic Robert Christgau wrote of ''Van Ronk'': "He shoots his shot at big-label production here, and now and then the orchestration (not to mention the material) turns surprisingly schmaltzy, but for the most part this shouted melee of song collection is a riot."

Track listing

Side one

Bird on the Wire "Bird on the Wire" is one of Leonard Cohen's signature songs. It was recorded 26 September 1968 in Nashville and included on his 1969 album ''Songs from a Room''. A May 1968 recording produced by David Crosby, titled "Like a Bird", was added to ...

" (

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

) – 3:55 #"Fox's Minstrel Show" (Michael Small) – 3:05 #"

Port of Amsterdam The port of Amsterdam ( nl, Haven van Amsterdam) is a seaport in Amsterdam in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the 4th busiest port in Europe by metric tonnes of cargo. The port is located on the bank of a former bay named the IJ and the Nor ...

" ( Jacques Brel,

Eric Blau Milton Eric Blau (June 1, 1921 – February 17, 2009) was an author and is best known as the creator of the Off Broadway show ''Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris''. Biography Blau was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on June 1 ...

Mort Shuman Mortimer Shuman (12 November 1938 – 2 November 1991) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including "Viva Las Vegas". He also wrote and sang many songs in French, such as " ...

) – 3:25 #"Fat Old John" (

Peter Stampfel Peter Stampfel (born October 29, 1938, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) is an American fiddle player, old-time musician, and singer-songwriter. Stampfel is best known as a member of the Holy Modal Rounders, a psychedelic folk band that he founded with ...

) – 1:06 #"Urge for Going" ( Joni Mitchell) – 4:37

Side two

#"Random Canyon" (

) – 2:05 #"

I Think It's Going to Rain Today "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (or "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today") is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album ''You're Gonna Hear from Me'', Eric Burdon's 1967 album ''Eric Is Here'', on N ...

" ( Randy Newman) – 3:50 #"Gaslight Rag" (Dave Van Ronk) – 2:55 #"Honey Hair" (Van Ronk) – 3:15 #"Legend of the Dead Soldier" ( Bertolt Brecht, Eric Bentley) – 4:05 #"

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" is a popular song which was published in 1944. The music was written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was nominated for the "Academy Award for Best Original Song" at the 18th Academy Awa ...

" ( Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen) – 2:30

Personnel

*Dave Van Ronk – vocals, guitar

Production notes

*All Songs Arranged by Dave Woods except "Gaslight Rag" by Dave Van Ronk *Produced by Dave Woods *Engineered by Steve Katz *Cover Art by Anne Friedman *Morale by Joanne Grace *Manager – Ron Shelley *Spiritual – John Jameson *Polydor: Karen Austin, Jon Sagen

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums Dave Van Ronk albums Polydor Records albums