![]() Here's a picture of the present day Gaslight Cafe. On this night Dave Van Ronk was leading a hootenanny – an informal gathering of folksingers and musician, taking turns playing, often with audience singalong participation. One of the early folkie clubs was The Gaslight Cafe in the basement of 116 MacDougal Street. The rest of the movie is a composite of other singers and scene-makers from the MacDougal scene. ![]() While there are certain plot points taken from Van Ronk's autobiography, The Mayor of MacDougal Street, including a series of scenes based on a time when when Van Ronk went to Chicago to try to get a gig at the Gate of Horn club there. The movie is about a folksinger who comes to the Village around 1960. In the photo, Llewyn is walking a few doors north from where Van Ronk's album cover picture was taken. Seen below is a poster from the new movie Inside Llewyn Davis. In the background of both pictures you can see a small tower on a residential building bordering on the west side of Washington Square Park. It was taken on the front steps of the Folklore Center (glass window right) which was at 110 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. Here's the album cover to Dave's 1963 album Folksinger While Dave Van Ronk never achieved the commercial success of Bob Dylan or Peter, Paul, and Mary, he will always be remembered as a mentor and supporter to all of the fresh-off-the-bus young, green, folksingers who created what he jokingly called the "Great Folk Scare" of the early 60's ( folk scare being a pun on Red Scare, since folksingers were often seen as socialists and communists for their leftist views.)įor this reason he was referrred to as The Mayor of MacDougal Street, the eventual title of his fascinating and amusing autobiography co-written by Elijah Wald, and now partly the basis for the Coen Brothers' new movie – Inside Llewyn Davis – about the pre-Dylan folk years along MacDougal Street. In his book Chronicles: Part One, Bob Dylan described Dave Vank Ronk like this: "In Greenwich Village, Van Ronk was king of the street, he reigned supreme.He turned every folk song into a surreal melodrama, a theatrical piece - suspenseful down to the last minute.If you were on MacDougal Street in the evening and out to see somebody play, he'd be the first and last vital choice of the night."ĭave's wife, Terri Thal, was, in effect, Dylan's first manager, arranging dates for him to play, while Dylan was crashing at their 1st apartment at 219 West 15th street, after he first came to town in 1961, and later while hanging out at their 2nd apartment at 190 Waverly Place. Van Ronk, born in Brooklyn, and after having been a merchant seaman, arrived in the Village in the mid-50's where he played blues and jazz in early folk clubs like the Café Bizarre and the Gaslight Cafe to audiences who paid by passing a wicker basket around for change and bills.Ī large man with an expressive voice that could boom or whisper, and an excellent blues, folk, and jazz guitarist, his performances were said to be captivating. He was was also one of the last to leave living a few blocks away at 15 Sheridan Square until he died in 2002 at age 66. ![]() To be notified of new PopSpots entries, follow PopSpotsNYC on Twitter:įor questions or comments you can email me (Bob)ĭave Van Ronk - Album Cover Locations also a look at locations from "Inside Llewyn Davis" by Ethan and Joel Cohen, the movie party based on Dave's autobiography, The Mayor of MacDougal Street: a Memoir co-written with Elijah Wald (2005).ĭave Van Ronk was one of the first folk singers to arrive at what turned out to be the Bleecker/MacDougal folk scene of the late 50's and early 60's. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |