Search - Dave Van Ronk :: Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk

	Dave Van Ronk Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk Genres: Folk, Pop The folk revival of the 1960s would have sounded very different if Dave Van Ronk had taken Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers up on their offer to become the third member of the group that later became Peter, Paul, and ... more » « less
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CD Details

All Artists: Dave Van Ronk
Title: Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk
Members Wishing: 3
Total Copies: 0
Label: Fantasy
Release Date: 6/4/2002
Genres: Folk, Pop
Styles: Traditional Folk, Singer-Songwriters
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 025218247221, 0090204942312, 025218247221

Synopsis

Amazon.com

The folk revival of the 1960s would have sounded very different if Dave Van Ronk had taken Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers up on their offer to become the third member of the group that later became Peter, Paul, and Mary. But, as he insisted at the time, he was a blues and jazz singer, not a folkie, and the music on Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk bears him out. This CD pairs his 1963 LP In the Tradition, which includes six tracks with the Red Onion Jazz Band, with nine of the original 11 tracks from his 1983 LP Your Basic Dave Van Ronk. Jazz and blues are pretty much interchangeable to Van Ronk, and he delights in mixing the two together, as he does when he adds some raucous scat singing to his version of the Reverend Gary Davis classic "Candy Man" or bends his guitar strings Mississippi Delta-style on his rendition of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child." The raunchy blues and raucous jazz on Two Sides of Dave Van Ronk are a welcome reminder that folk music is more than ancient ballads and sensitive singer-songwriters. --Michael Simmons

CD Reviews

An irreplacable musical iconoclast

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 08/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"More odd explorations from this late acoustic blues iconoclast. This CD reissues two of Van Ronk's jazz-oriented albums -- on 1963's IN THE TRADITION, he indulges a sweet tooth for Dixieland jazz, backed by the cheerfully riotous Red Onion Jazz Band. The second half of this CD reprises a lesser-known 1981 album, YOUR BASIC DAVE VAN RONK, where he mugs it up on solo versions of various blues and jazz standards, including "St. James Infirmary," "God Bless The Child," "Candy Man" and others -- his stream-of-consciousness rendition of "Cocaine Blues" brings a frankly bitter, world-weary wisdom to bear that could only have come from experience itself. This is unusual, sometimes challenging material, but certainly worth the effort it may take to get on Van Ronk's wavelength. Recommended."

A mixture of fun and blues

M. Miller | San Diego, CA | 11/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is true that the tracks with the ROJB are not superb music, but they still capture a hilarious and fun take on the dixieland experience. But to dismiss it as one reviewer here does would mean to deny oneself the experience of his interpretation of "death letter blues" which is one of the finest and most powerful and tender recordings he has ever made. The folk/blues tracks with DVR alone are certainly the strongest as music, but the tracks with ROJB are fun and delightful in their own way. I am glad they exist, as life needs to have its up side as well....who among us hasnt had the opportunity to enjoy the upbeat vengefulness of "if I had to do it all over again, babe I'd do it all over you?""