Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Dave Van Ronk performing "Hesitation Blues"
CD REVIEW
Somebody Else, Not Me, Dave Van Ronk, 1970
If I were to ask someone, in the year 2008, to name a male folk singer from the 1960’s I would assume that if I were to get an answer to that question that the name would be Bob Dylan. And that would be a good and appropriate choice. One can endlessly dispute whether or not Dylan was (or wanted to be) the voice of the Generation of ’68 but in terms of longevity and productivity he fits the bill as a known quality. However, there were a slew of other male folk singers who tried to find their niche in the folk milieu and who, like Dylan, today continue to produce work and to perform. The artist under review Dave Van Ronk is one such singer/songwriter.
The following is a question that I have been posing in reviewing the work of a number of male folk singers from the 1960’s and it is certainly an appropriate question to ask of Dave Van Ronk as well. I do not know if Dave Van Ronk, like his near contemporary Bob Dylan, started out wanting to be the king of the hill among male folk singers but he certainly had some things going for him. A decent acoustic guitar but a very interesting (and strong baritone) voice to fit the lyrics of love, hope, longing and sheer whimsy as he barreled through the traditional folk catalogue he was singing about at the time. I would venture however, given what I know of his politics and the probably influence that his deep sense of folk history had on him (as well as other musical influences), that the answer above is probably no.
As for the songs themselves. "Oh, Hannah" (which I believe he wrote) stands out as a tribute to traditional shout and response music. His friend Tom Paxton’s "Did You Hear John Hurt?" about that legendary country blues singer is another stand out. His voice carries the "Casey Jones" tune with gusto. "Sportin’ Life" is his little tip of the hat to his jazz roots. And "Pastures of Plenty" a tip to Woody Guthrie (as well as Bob Dylan's "Song to Woody"). Just a nice selection that will have you screaming for more. Do it.
"Cocaine Blues"
Every time my baby and me we go uptown
Police come and they knock me down
Cocaine, all around my brain
Hey baby, you better come here quick
This old cocaine's about to make
Cocaine, all around my brain
Yonder come my baby she's dressed in red
She's got a shotgun, says she's gonna kill me dead
Cocaine, all around my brain
Hey baby, you better come here quick
This old cocaine's about to make me sick
Cocaine, all around my brain
You take Sally and I'll take Sue
Ain't no difference between the two
Cocaine, all around my brain
Hey baby, you better come here quick
This old cocaine's about to make me sick
Cocaine, all around my brain
Cocaine's for horses and it's not for men
Doctor says it kill you but it doesn't say when
Cocaine, all around my brain
Hey baby, you better come here quick
This old cocaine's about to make me sick
Cocaine, all around my brain
Hey baby, you better come here quick
This old cocaine's about to make me sick
Cocaine, all around my brain
COME ALL YE FAIR AND TENDER LADIES
(A.P. Carter)
The Carter Family - 1932
The Kingston Trio - 1961
Osborne Brothers - 1962
Anita Carter - 1963
Glen Campbell - 1963
The Browns - 1964
George Hamilton IV - 1964
Makem & Clancy - 1964
Clive Palmer - 1967
The Manhattan Transfer - 1969
Dave Van Ronk - 1969
The Hillmen - 1970
Herb Pedersen - 1977
Charlie McCoy - 1978
Mary McCaslin - 1981
Gene Clark & Carla Olson - 1987
The Rankin Family - 1992
The Whites - 2000
Also recorded by: June Carter; Rosanne Cash; Merle Travis;
Bread & Bones; Cherish The Ladies; Golden Delicious; Danú;
Murray Head; Country Gentlemen; Pete Seeger; Ian & Sylvia;
George Elliott; Black Twigs; Craig Herbertson; Tim O'Brien;
The Peasall Sisters:........and others.
Come all ye fair and tender ladies
Take warning how you court young men
They're like a bright star on a cloudy morning
They will first appear and then they're gone
They'll tell to you some loving story
To make you think that they love you true
Straightway they'll go and court some other
Oh that's the love that they have for you
Do you remember our days of courting
When your head lay upon my breast
You could make me believe with the falling of your arm
That the sun rose in the West
I wish I were some little sparrow
And I had wings and I could fly
I would fly away to my false true lover
And while he'll talk I would sit and cry
But I am not some little sparrow
I have no wings nor can I fly
So I'll sit down here in grief and sorrow
And try to pass my troubles by
I wish I had known before I courted
That love had been so hard to gain
I'd of locked my heart in a box of golden
And fastened it down with a silver chain
Young men never cast your eye on beauty
For beauty is a thing that will decay
For the prettiest flowers that grow in the garden
How soon they'll wither, will wither and fade away
******
ALTERNATE VERSION:
Come all ye fair and tender ladies
Take warning how you court young men
They're like a star on summer morning
They first appear and then they're gone
They'll tell to you some loving story
And make you think they love you so well
Then away they'll go and court some other
And leave you there in grief to dwell
I wish I was on some tall mountain
Where the ivy rocks are black as ink
I'd write a letter to my lost true lover
Whose cheeks are like the morning pink
For love is handsome, love is charming
And love is pretty while it's new
But love grows cold as love grows old
And fades away like the mornin' dew
And fades away like the mornin' dew
He was a Trot.
ReplyDeleteBric-A-Brac From A Folk Historian
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Going Back To Brooklyn, Dave Van Ronk, Gazell Productions, 1991
I have previously praised the work of folk singer/folk historian and “Mayor Of McDougall Street” (that is in Greenwich Village for those who do not know) in this space. I think that for most of his career however (and someone who has read Elijah Wald’s memoir of Dave, “Mayor of McDougall Street”, or has other knowledge, can fill in here) Dave covered earlier traditional folk songs from the old song books or that of his contemporaries in the 1960’s (like Dylan’s “Buckets Of Rain” or Joni Mitchell’s “Urge For Going”). I do not recall (other than “River”) that he wrote much that he performed (at least in public). This CD, however, is just that-filled from first to last with little ditties, snatches of songs and other pieces that are enough to fill up this short CD.
Frankly, the work here is uneven ranging from the incredibly poignant and pointed anti-war song, “Luang Prabang” that should be etched in the brain of every pacifist, to speak nothing of every radical anti-warrior, about the real stakes in war-unvarnished to the obscure Zen-like ditty/spoof “Tantric Mantra”. Along the way we are treated to some hard lessons about heavy drinking, Greenwich Village nightlife , hitting the ‘big time ‘ folk scene and other tales of greed, vengeance and whimsy (“Garden State Stomp”). Be forewarned, if you are the least bit prissy then some of this material may offend thy ear. But then, if that is the case, you probably wouldn’t be listened to this old gravelly-voiced, crotchy guy anyway.