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Dave Van Ronk | |
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 Van Ronk at the 1968 Philadelphia Folk Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk |
| Born | June 30, 1936 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | February 10, 2002 (aged 65) New York City, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1959–2002 |
| Labels | Folkways |
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 MacDougal Street".[1]
Van Ronk's work ranged from old English ballads to blues, gospel, rock, New Orleans jazz, and swing. He was also known for performing instrumental ragtime guitar music, especially his transcription of "St. Louis Tickle" and Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag". Van Ronk was a widely admired avuncular figure in "the Village", presiding over the coffeehouse folk culture and acting as a friend to many up-and-coming artists by inspiring, assisting, and promoting them. Folk performers he befriended include Jim and Jean, Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Joni Mitchell. Dylan recorded Van Ronk's arrangement of the traditional song "House of the Rising Sun" on his first album, which the Animals would later cover and would become a chart-topping rock single in 1964,[2] helping inaugurate the folk rock movement.[3]
Van Ronk received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in December 1997.
- ^ "Dave Van Ronk". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- ^ Rohter, Larry. "For a Village Troubadour, a Late Encore", The New York Times, December 5, 2013. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
- ^ Von Schmidt, Eric, and Jim Rooney (June, 1994), p. 261. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down: The Illustrated History of the Cambridge Folk Years.