Dave Van Ronk - vocals, guitar
Nicknamed "Mayor Of McDougal Street," few folk singers played a more vital role in the acoustic folk revival of the early 1960s than Dave Van Ronk. With a wide ranging repertoire and a healthy irreverence for genre limitations, Van Ronk directly influenced and inspired countless Greenwich Village folkies, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton and Bob Dylan included. Van Ronk also had a keen aptitude for covering brilliant songwriters and the show presented here is a prime example of that. Recorded at Windham College when Van Ronk headlined a double bill with up and comer Chris Smither in 1972, this performance covers a lot of territory - from Bertoldt Brecht to The Holy Modal Rounders! Despite suffering from an abscessed tooth, Van Ronk gives an extremely wide ranging performance that elicits not one, but two encore ovations. In addition to the more esoteric fair, highlights include Leonard Cohen's "Bird On A Wire" and no less than three Joni Mitchell numbers - opening with Mitchell's "The River," closing with "Both Sides Now" as his second encore and covering "Urge For Going" midway through the set.