Down in Washington Square: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection

by Dave Van Ronk

Overview

The very template of the urban folk singer in the late '50s and early '60s, Dave Van Ronk was born and grew up in Brooklyn, learning to play ukulele, banjo, and guitar at an early age. Initially drawn to jazz, he was influenced, like so many others, by Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, and began spending time at the famous impromptu Washington Square Park folk jam sessions. He developed a gruff, bluesy, intelligent, and authentic-sounding urban folk style that made him the Dean of New York's folk singers. This three-disc set spans Van Ronk's career, beginning with early live recordings he made in 1958 in advance of his first Folkways album, through his final studio recordings in 2001 just months before his death. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	10/29/2013
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074021323
Rank:	50276

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Duncan and Brady
2. River Come Down (Bamboo)
3. Spike Driver Blues
4. John Henry
5. Backwater Blues
6. K.C. Moan
7. Haul on the Bowline
8. Just a Closer Walk With Thee
9. Gambler's Blues
10. Sweet Substitute
11. Bed Bug Blues
12. Winin' Boy
13. Georgie and the IRT
14. Betty and Dupree
15. Come Back, Baby
16. My Baby's So Sweet
17. Black Mountain Blues
18. Ya-Yas-Yas

Disc 2

19. Willie the Weeper
20. Dink's Song
21. Santy Anno
22. Leave Her, Johnny
23. Tell Old Bill
24. Careless Love
25. Standing By My Window
26. Please See My Grave is Kept Clean
27. Had More Money
28. If You Leave Me, Pretty Mama
29. Hesitation Blues
30. In the Pines
31. Oh, What a Beautiful City
32. Mean Old Frisco
33. Stackalee
34. How Long
35. Ain't No Grace Can Hold My Body Down
36. House of the Rising Sun

Disc 3

37. Hootchie Kootchie Man
38. Reckless Blues
39. Trouble in Mind
40. Oh Lord, Search My Heart
41. God Bless the Child
42. Losers
43. Another Time and Place
44. Garden State Stomp
45. Motherless Children
46. Don't You Leave Me Here (I'm Alabama Bound)
47. Spike Driver Blues
48. Down South Blues
49. St. James Infirmary (Gambler's Blues)
50. Ace in the Hole
51. Going Down Slow
52. Buckets of Rain
53. Jelly Jelly
54. Sometime (Whatcha Gonna Do)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dave Van Ronk   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Keisha Martin   Coordination
Stephanie Smith   Archivist
Jackson Foster   Design,Art Direction
Ferdinand Joseph Morton   Composer
Joan Hua   Production Assistant
Andy Cavacco   Photo Research
Cecilia Peterson   Photo Research
Craig Meirop   Cover Photo,Photography
Will Griffin   Marketing
Bob Dylan   Composer
Billie Holiday   Composer
Billy Eckstine   Composer
Arthur Herzog, Jr.   Composer
Jack Gee   Composer
Elijah Wald   Editorial Assistant
Fred Longshaw   Composer
Furry Lewis   Composer
Ernest Rodgers   Composer
Lewis Weissman   Composer
John A. Lomax   Composer
Leroy Carr   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Engineer,Compilation Mastering
Scrapper Blackwell   Composer
Earl Hines   Composer
Dave Van Ronk   Arranger,Composer,Adaptation
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup   Composer
Brownie McGhee   Composer
Kevin Wait   Engineer
James Oden   Composer
D.A. Sonneborn   Executive Producer
Joel Katz   Engineer
Jeff Place   Annotation
John Hurt   Composer
Josh White   Composer
Ronnie Freeland   Engineer
Willie Dixon   Composer
J.C. Johnson   Composer
Daniel E. Sheehy   Executive Producer
Bess Lomax   Composer
James Dempsey   Composer
John Smith   Marketing
Aaron Rennert   Photography
Joseph M. Davis   Composer
Diana Davies   Photography
Mary Monseur   Production Manager
Matthew Fritz   Engineer
Carla Borden   Editorial Assistant
Andrea Vuocolo   Liner Notes
Ray Sullivan   Photography
David Horgan   Marketing
Bessie Smith   Composer
Laura Dion   Marketing