Synopses & Reviews
Dave van ronk (1936-2002) was not only one of the founding figures of the 1960s folk music revival; he was a pioneer of modern acoustic blues, a fine songwriter and arranger, a powerful singer, and one of the most influential guitarists of his era. He was also a marvelous storyteller, a peerless musical historian, and one of the most quotable figures in The Village.
The Mayor of MacDougal Street is a unique firsthand account of the sixties folk scene that includes encounters with young stars-to-be like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and older luminaries like Woody Guthrie and Odetta. Colorful, hilarious, and engaging, The Mayor of MacDougal Street will appeal not only to folk and blues fans but also to anyone interested in the music, politics, and spirit of a revolutionary period in American culture.
Review
NewYorker.com, 9/30/13 [A] wonderful memoir.”
Review
NewYorker.com, 9/30/13 [A] wonderful memoir.”
Slate, 12/2/13
Your best guide when it comes to Inside Llewyn Davisapart from what follows, of courseis Van Ronks posthumous memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street.”
New York Times, 11/30/13
[A] sharp cantankerous memoir.”
New York Review of Booksblog, 12/16/2013
The movie extensively mines Van Ronks remarkable posthumous memoirThe Mayor of MacDougal Street(seamlessly compiled from interviews by Elijah Wald; Da Capo, 2005) for scenes, anecdotes, and details of background, and its protagonist, Llewyn Davis (played by Oscar Isaac) sings songs closely associated with Van Ronk.”
Seattle Times,12/15/2013
[A] delightful, keenly-observed, cantankerous autobiography
which, if you love Inside Llewyn Davis you owe it to yourself to read.”
Paste Magazine, 12/12/2013
[An] acclaimed and enjoyable memoir.”
NewYorker.com, 1/22/2014
The Mayor of MacDougal Street is one of the dozen best books ever written about a New York life and time: dense with wisdom, humor, judgment, and an amazingly vivid recreation of the rites and rituals and characters of a whole lost world and scene.”
Synopsis
A colorful and engaging feast for anyone interested in the music, politics, and spirit of a revolutionary period in American culture, the early 1960s.
Synopsis
The acclaimed inspiration for the new Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis, a classic memoir of Greenwich Village
About the Author
In the course of his forty-year career,
Dave Van Ronk recorded more than two dozen albums, toured on four continents, was nominated for two Grammys, and received an ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award.
Coauthor Elijah Wald wrote the acclaimed study of the myth, music, and life of blues legend Robert Johnson, Escaping the Delta. He also wrote the biography Josh White: Society Blues as well as Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas. A musician and journalist, he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.