The Mayor of MacDougal Street

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What to expect

Now the 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.

Critics Review

  • “In Greenwich Village, Van Ronk was king of the street, he reigned supreme.”

    Bob Dylan

  • “A wise and very funny book.”

    New Yorker

  • “A hulking raconteur and iconoclast, [Van Ronk] fondly captures the spirit of the times.”

    Q magazine

  • “A funny, insightful, and honest recounting…Many readers may go to the book looking for stories about other people, including Dylan—and they are here—but along the way they will discover, or rediscover, the story of Dave Van Ronk.”

    Associated Press

  • “Best Book of 2005—If you thought Bob Dylan’s Chronicles emanated atmosphere, try Van Ronk’s salty, seamless, and often hilarious re-creation of Greenwich Village…Where his Bobness could be frustratingly oblique, Van Ronk is concrete to the point of 3-D.”

    Library Journal

  • “Charming, evocative autobiography by one of the key figures in the mid-twentieth-century folk revival…A must for those with an interest in the music, and of great appeal as well for anyone who enjoys a roistering life story recounted in a lively narrative voice.”

    Kirkus Reviews

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