Van Ronk Dave - The Mayor of MacDougal Street [2013 edition]: a Memoir

Praise for The Mayor of MacDougal Street

A genial and picaresque ramble.

New York Times Book Review

Van Ronks wonderful memoir... is mandatory reading for anybody interested in what Utah Phillips called the Great Folk Scare of the 1960s. Van Ronk is a fine raconteur, writing the compelling story of his slow rise to cult folksinger status and near superstardom without an iota of pretension. His anecdotes of rumrunners, mountebanks, and beatniks are often hilarious.... The great virtue of this memoir... is the capsule prose snapshots of about a dozen blues-folk greats including Ramblin Jack Elliot, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, and Leadbelly.... There are many lively vignettes in this memoir.... But the charm of The Mayor of MacDougal Street lies in its unvarnished simplicityjust like that of its author.

Douglas Brinkley in the Boston Globe

****. Gravel-voiced, folk singing giant Dave Van Ronk was an early Dylan mentor, and his (sadly posthumous) memoir lives and breathes the Village underground from the early 1950s through the late 60s taking in the walk-up apartments, political infighting, Washington Square hootenannies, sleazy club owners, and primitive drug copping with a scraping wit thats not afraid to deflate sacred cows on the Left, Right, and Centre.

MOJO

The Mayor of MacDougal Street will, at some point, make you want to pull out a Van Ronk record, even if its just his familiar growling blues like Cocaine. But the book is also a gem by itself, because Van Ronk was an urban griot, one of those tribal elders who passes on the history of the village interwoven with his personal asides, many of them hilarious.

New York Daily News

As a chief conspirator, guitarist Dave Van Ronk observed much, andin the posthumously completed The Mayor of MacDougal Streetcaptures the glory with wry wit.... Van Ronk is an erudite wiseacre.

Relix

A funny, insightful and honest recounting of Van Ronks early days... Many readers may go to the book looking for stories about other people including Dylanand they are herebut along the way they will discover, or rediscover, the story of Dave Van Ronk.

Associated Press

Dave Van Ronks engaging and funny memoir, finished after his death by Elijah Wald, offers what may be the best account yet of the early Greenwich Village folk scene.

Montreal Gazette

Reading this book is like spending an afternoon with Van Ronk as he regales you with anecdotes and trivia

HARP

An intriguing look into an important period in American music, and the life of a musician who deserves far more renown.

American Songwriter

Charming, evocative autobiography by one of the key figures in the mid20th-century folk revival.

Kirkus Reviews

A richly evocative paean to a lost era.

Booklist

In the engine of the NY Folk Scene shoveling coal into the furnace, one Big Man rules. Dog-faced roustabout songster. Bluesman, Dave Van Ronk. Long may he howl.

Tom Waits

Hey, you wont be able to put it down.

Pete Seeger

Dave Van Ronk was a truly inspirational artist whose music overflowed with passion, intelligence, independence, and originality. Not to mention a wicked sense of humor and a great, loving heart. I hope this book will open the way for a huge new audience to discover this tremendous musical treasure.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore

Dave was the man on MacDougal Street when I arrived in the Village over forty years ago, and he is once more raucously ruling the street in these pages. Gods in His Heaven and alls right with the world.

Tom Paxton

Everybody knew what a fine musician Dave Van Ronk was but who knew he could write a book like this! You can hear his voice on every page. Brilliant writing.

Christine Lavin

The Mayor of

MacDougal Street

Also by Elijah Wald

Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues

Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas

Josh White: Society Blues

Copyright 2005, 2006 by Elijah Wald and Andrea Vuocolo Van Ronk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Gaslight Rag, Zen Koans Gonna Rise Again, and Last Call words and music by Dave Van Ronk, copyright Folklore Music (ASCAP).

Estate of Dave Van Ronk is represented by Folklore Productions, Santa Monica CA, www.folkloreproductions.com.

Designed by Jeff Williams

Set in 11-point Granjon by the Perseus Books Group

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Van Ronk, Dave.

The mayor of MacDougal Street : a memoir / Dave Van Ronk with Elijah Wald.1st Da Capo Press ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

1. Van Ronk, Dave. 2. Folk singersUnited StatesBiography. I. Wald, Elijah. II. Title.

ML420.V246A3 2005

782.42164'092dc22

2004027556

Da Capo Press paperback edition 2006. Reissued 2013.

ISBN: 978-0-306-82217-9 (e-book)

Published by Da Capo Press

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

http://www.dacapopress.com

Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail .

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For Andrea

Contents

, by Lawrence Block

, by Elijah Wald

D ave died before this book could be completed, and it would have been impossible to finish it without all of the people who made their interviews with him available. Whenever possible, I contacted interviewers and got their permission, and I am grateful and pleased that not one of them refused the request. However, I was not able to reach everyone whose interviews I found, and hope that if I have used anyones material without permission, they will understand the special circumstances.

In the course of this project the material was worked and reworked so many times that I am not sure what ended up being used, and therefore I give equal thanks to all the people who did interviews that were consulted: Jim Allen, Scott Barretta, Ronald Cohen, Art DLugoff, Aiyanna Elliott, Bob Fass, Beth C. Fishkind, Pete Fornatale, Emily Friedman, Cary Ginell, Cynthia Gooding, Mark Greenberg, Stefan Grossman, Bill Hahn, David Hajdu, Mike Joyce, Roy Kasten, Peter Keane, Jeff Kenney, Marty Kohn, Jody Kolodzey, Joe LaMay, Christine Lavin, Doreen Lorenzo and Michael Scully, Kip Lornell, Rod MacDonald, Sonny Ochs, John Platt, Bruce Pollock, Mike Regenstreif, Ralph Rush, Anthony Scaduto, Vin Scelsa, Michael Schumacher, Richard Skelly, Michael Stock, David Walsh, and Robbie Wolliver. (And if Ive missed anyone, please forgive me...) I also must thank George Auerbach, Suze Rotolo, and David Massengill, who among other things steered me to material I otherwise would have missed.