The Mayor of MacDougal Street (subtitled Rarities 1957-1969) is a compilation album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 folksinger Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....

, released in 2005.

History

The Mayor of MacDougal Street contains previously un-released songs and is presented in chronological order. It contains both solo material and songs recorded with session musicians and bands that either backed Van Ronk or he was a member of. It was included with the memoir of the same title before being released as a separate CD. The title refers to MacDougal Street

MacDougal Street

MacDougal Street is a one way street in Greenwich Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The approximate six-block street is bound by Prince Street and West 8th Street. It has been the subject of many songs, poems, and other forms of artistic expression. MacDougal Street has been...

 in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

.

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, critic Steve Leggett wrote of the album "Van Ronk was never a part of the tradition-at-all-costs wing of the folk movement, and he readily embraced the young songwriters of the day, frequently covering their songs, as evidenced by the hushed, nuanced version of Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

's "Bird on the Wire" that is included here. A skilled raconteur, Van Ronk had the timing of a jazz hornman, and that timing and his wide-ranging musical interests are everywhere apparent on this lovingly assembled look behind the curtains."

Track listing

1. "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues" (Thomas) – 2:08
2. "On Top of Old Smoky" (Traditional) – 3:31
3. "All My Trials
   All My Trials
   All My Trials was a folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, "Hush little baby, don't you cry./You know your mama's bound to die," because, as she explains,...
   
   " (Traditional) – 3:48
4. "Buddy Bolden's Blues" (Morton) – 2:48
5. "The Butcher Boy" (Traditional) – 2:56
6. "Salty Dog" (Jackson) – 3:21
7. "Two Trains Running" (Muddy Waters
   Muddy Waters
   McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
   
   ) – 3:34
8. "Way Down in Lubyanka Prison" (Berkeley) – 4:00
9. "Willie the Weeper
   Willie the Weeper
   Willie the Weeperis a song about drug addiction, written by Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon in 1927. It is the basis for Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher The Dave Van Ronk version may be the inspiration for the Velvet Underground's Heroin....
   
   " (Traditional) – 3:07
10. "Shaving Cream" (Bell) – 3:11
11. "The Cruel Ship's Captain" (Traditional) – 2:39
12. "As You Make Your Bed" (Bertolt Brecht
    Bertolt Brecht
    Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
    
    , Kurt Weill
    Kurt Weill
    Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
    
    ) – 4:21
13. "Bird on the Wire
    Bird on the Wire
    "Bird on the Wire" is one of Leonard Cohen's signature songs. It was recorded 26 September 1968 in Nashville and included on his 1969 album Songs from a Room. A May 1968 recording produced by David Crosby, entitled "Like a Bird", was added to the 2007 remastered CD...
    
    " (Leonard Cohen
    Leonard Cohen
    Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
    
    ) – 3:29
14. "Both Sides Now
    Both Sides Now
    - Personnel : * Joni Mitchell — vocals * Mark Isham — trumpet, solo* John Anderson — oboe * Julie Andrews — bassoon * Nick Bucknall — clarinet * Stan Sulzmann — clarinet, flute * Philip Todd — clarinet, flute and alto flute...
    
    " (Joni Mitchell
    Joni Mitchell
    Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
    
    ) – 5:14
15. "In Conditional Support of Beauty" (Van Ronk) – 4:00
16. "W.C. Fields Routine [Spoken]" (Traditional) – 1:36
17. "Romping Through the Swamp" (live) (Stampfel) – 2:03

Production notes

• Produced by Elijah Wald
• Mastered by Geoff Brumbaugh
• Editing and pre-mastering by Mark Greenberg
• Compilation and annotation by Elijah Wald
• Digital transfers by Dave Palmater
• Executive producers - Nick Fritsch and Stephen McArthur
• Graphic design by Nick Fritsch

External links

• The Mayor of MacDougal Street, Dave Van Ronk's memoir of the folk revival.