The Mayor of MacDougal Street Audiobook By Dave Van Ronk, Elijah Wald cover art

The Mayor of MacDougal Street

A Memoir

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The Mayor of MacDougal Street

By: Dave Van Ronk, Elijah Wald
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
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Hear the memoir that served as inspiration for a major motion picture written and directed by the Coen brothers.

Dave Van Ronk was one of the founding figures of the 1960s folk revival, but he was far more than that. A pioneer of modern acoustic blues, a fine songwriter and arranger, a powerful singer, and one of the most influential guitarists of the ’60s, he was also a marvelous storyteller, a peerless musical historian, and one of the most quotable figures on the Village scene.

The Mayor of MacDougal Street is a firsthand account by a major player in the social and musical history of the ’50s and ’60s. It features encounters with young stars-to-be like Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Joni Mitchell, as well as older luminaries like the Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, and Odetta. Colorful, hilarious, and engaging, The Mayor of MacDougal Street is a feast for anyone interested in the music, politics, and spirit of a revolutionary period in American culture.

©2005 Elijah Wald and Andrea Vuocolo (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity Memoir Guitar Musician Witty

Critic reviews

“In Greenwich Village, Van Ronk was king of the street, he reigned supreme.” (Bob Dylan)
“A wise and very funny book.” ( The New Yorker)
“A hulking raconteur and iconoclast, [Van Ronk] fondly captures the spirit of the times.” ( Q)
Vivid Memoir • Entertaining Narrative • Insider's Perspective • Unique Record • Compelling Account • Authentic Voice
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The first time I heard Dave was on a Phoenix underground radio station in 1971. I loved folk music then as now. The first impression was that this guy is the real thing and have, over the years, collected every piece of his that I could find. And I saw the movie. This book validates my original conclusion.

Dave

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Van Ronk had a bitingly sharp wit, and this collaborstive auto-biography is a great read.

Informative and entertaining, surprisingly funny

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Van Ronk is a critical piece in the tapestry of American Music. He was a student of American forms and a curator and caretaker of it at one of the inflection points in the history of American Music. He deserves to be celebrated and remembered. He is the primary inspiration for the Cohen Brothers’ film “Inside Llewyn Davis” and they did their job so well that hardly anyone knows that the film is even named after the album “Inside Dave Van Ronk.” His story is the story of the 99.9999% of people who have devoted their lives to perfecting their craft:

Little known, hardly remembered, small successes and no fame or fortune to speak of, but part of the “invisible college” of people who have vouchsafed our creative heritage to us. He would hate my nod to Carl Jung. Which is why I hope it would make him laugh the way his wit makes me laugh.

If I had wings like Noah’s dove….fare the well, Dave.

Classic tale from the American Music Scene

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If you like folk music of the mid- to late 20th century, you'll probably enjoy this memoir, an insider's perspective of the folk music scene, mostly around Greenwich Village. Mention Dave Van Ronk to someone today and you are likely to get a blank stare. Van Ronk never was a superstar but was well known, especially among other folk singers. The narrative is first person, but this is more like an autobiography of his professional life than his personal life. For example, we learn that he was married twice, but you learn little more about his wives than their names. Wald has done a brilliant job editing the material left by Dave Van Ronk. In an epilogue by Wald, you can tell this was a labor of love.
Although the book was the inspiration for the Coen Brothers film "Inside Llewyn Davis," van Ronk differed in important ways from the character in the film. For example, Dave's first love was jazz, and he never abandoned it. Although he hitched a ride to Chicago and back once in hopes of playing at The Gate of Horn, there was never involved a jazz musician resembling Roland Turner nor the Kerouac-like driver/beat poet Johnny Five.

Overview of NYC folk music scene of '50's & 60's.

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Dave Van Ronk had the absolutely best window on the world that spawned the folk revival in Greenwich Village in the 1960s. His memoir is full of fascinating details (e.g., folk music was originally scheduled in Beat coffee houses to clear the room between sets, so that a new round of coffee drinkers would come in to hear the next poet). I wished this could have been 2X as long.
If you're interested in the Village, in folk music, in NY history (political radicals, musicians, hipsters), this will stand out as a unique record. Never boring, often funny and always well-spoken. Note for Dylan fans (of which I'm one): DVR was one of Dylan's earliest admirers/fellow-travelers. He writes with gentle insight about Dylan, worth hearing, but it's a minor part of the memoir.

Pitch perfect, humble, witty

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I’ve loved the man’s music for years, but knew next to nothing about his deep involvement in the Greenwich Village folk scene. His unique perspective, having been deeply involved in the community for years before it became a phenomenon, allows for an overview of the contributing factors that I had never considered. Deeply subjective as his view may have been, Van Ronk stays self-aware and self-effacing in a way that is often missing in such personal editorials. I am so grateful for this book, and the man who made it, and love how much more vivid my view now is of this fairly ordinary man who led an extraordinary life, rubbing shoulders with incredible talents like Rev Gary Davis, Bob Dylan, and Mississippi John Hurt, recognizing their deep appreciation of their craft, and emulating them as best he could, and making their styles his own. I am inspired and deeply appreciative of this work, and cannot recommend it highly enough.

An absolute joy

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Where does The Mayor of MacDougal Street rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I love this biography/mini-history of the mid-Twentieth century Greenwich Music music scene. It magically transported me to a very special time and place through the eyes and heart of a person who devoted his life to music despite all of the "slings and arrows". His sense of humility, intelligence and humor shined a great spotlight on "The Folk Scare" of the early Sixties. Two of the things that I liked a lot were how hard it was to make it as a musician and the cultural description of NY and other places when he was on road trips elsewhere and briefly living in California.

What other book might you compare The Mayor of MacDougal Street to and why?

Keith Richards biography. Keith barely acknowledges his good luck and seems vain and thin skinned compared to this guy.

Have you listened to any of Sean Runnette’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have never listened to the narrator before but he did a wonderful job kind of becoming Dave in a way.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Although the Coen Brothers movie "Inside LLewyn Davis" borrows generously from this book, and I really love the Coen Brothers movies, it is not any kind of accurate reflection of Van Ronk's personality. You would be best served watching it afterward. I saw it both before and after with very different perspectives. If you have already seen it it won't diminish the book in any way.

Long Live the Mayor!

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This was a wonderful and enjoyable book about jazz and blues and bluegrass and folk and singer songwriters it also gave a true feel for a Greenwich Village was like in the 50s and 60s. At the same time it was an autobiography a wonderfully entertaining one about one of the true great characters of music.

Great book about New York music and the 50s and 60s

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After hearing the epilogue I understood why a trip to California took up such a chunk of the book. We are fortunate to have this document of a special time, place, and musician.

Interesting, but not what I expected

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Delightful and honest- as always, Dave shoots from the hip. ‘Tis refreshing, to say the least.

Van Ronk

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