#Dave Von Ronk

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013, Coen brothers)

14/02/2024

Inside Llewyn Davis is a 2013 film directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.

The film is inspired by the life of folk singer Dave Van Ronk, active in New York in the sixties.

It participated in competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Grand Prix.

New York, February 1961: Llewyn Davis is a struggling young folk singer whose recent solo album, Inside Llewyn Davis, was a flop; being without money and nowhere to go, he sleeps on the sofas of friends and acquaintances. One evening, after playing at the Gaslight Café in Greenwich Village, he is beaten at the back of the venue by a mysterious and rude individual for reasons not immediately specified.

He subsequently accepts Jim's proposal to record a new song, agreeing to be paid immediately 200 dollars in exchange for the transfer of the copyright, in order to have the money for the abortion.

The young man accepts a ride to Chicago in the company of the laconic poet Johnny Five and the grumpy heroin-addicted jazz musician Roland Turner; during the trip he reveals that his musical partner, Mike Timlin, committed suicide by jumping off a bridge.

In an expanded version of the film's opening scene, Davis performs at the Gaslight and Pappi reports to him that a "friend" is waiting for him in the back; Davis then watches a young Bob Dylan perform on stage.

The film starts from the Coen's reflection on the rebirth of interest in folk music in the sixties, and in particular that despite the genre's exquisitely rural identity, in that period it was followed above all in a metropolis like New York, and that so all its major performers were natives, like Brooklyn's Dave Van Ronk and Ramblin' Jack Elliott.

When writing the screenplay, the pair of directors drew mainly from Van Ronk's autobiography, published posthumously in 2005, The Mayor of MacDougal Street but, even before starting to write it, the Coens had started from a single idea: imagine Van Ronk getting beaten up outside Gerde's Folk City in the Village.

Producer Scott Rudin, who had previously worked with the Coens on True Grit and No Country for Old Men, collaborated on the project. StudioCanal helped the production financially in the absence of a US financier/distributor.

On May 9, 2013, shortly before the presentation of the film at the Cannes Film Festival, the red band trailer and a new poster were also released.

The soundtrack was curated by T Bone Burnett, songwriter, producer and Oscar winner for the song The Weary Kind, and by Marcus Mumford.

[if-only-angels-could-prevail]

When the coen brothers eventually do a comprehensive interview about their career and confirm that they envisioned llewyn davis as a queer character and then they get a lot of pushback from people saying it “should have been canon” just know i will be on the side of the coen brothers. I see what you guys were doing and I’m sorry that other people did not

[oldshowbiz]

the inspiration for Llewyn Davis recorded plenty of bleak folk music. click to hear his cover of Both Sides Now, which Joni Mitchell said was her favorite version.

[julio-viernes]

Escuchar el primer LP de Bob Dylan (Columbia, 1962) fue providencial para The Animals. El álbum contenía dos versiones de canciones tradicionales que, remodeladas al espíritu beat por el quinteto de Newcastle, serían su futuro inmediato. 

En 1964 la retitulada “Baby Let Me Take You Home” (”Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” con arreglo de Eric Von Schmidt en el disco de Dylan) fue su primer single, nº 21 UK, y “The House Of The Rising Sun”, con arreglo de Dave Van Ronk, el segundo, número uno a ambos lados del Atlántico. 

Sin pretenderlo habían generado el sonido folk rock al que Dylan, Byrds y otros se acogerían un año más tarde. En el Reino Unido, los Them de Van Morrison siguieron sus pasos en “I´m Gonna Dress In Black” y “Richard Cory” de Paul Simon.

[chiseler]

Eric von Schmidt

Eric von Schmidt, one of the interlaced folk-music crowd of the early 60s that included Geoff and Maria Muldaur, Dave van Ronk, Richard Farina, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and at least a dozen others, mostly around the Cambridge, MA, area, was a major singer/songwriter talent who has inexplicably fallen into a black hole.

Part of it, I guess, was his own fault. He saw himself primarily as a visual artist, a painter like his father Harold, and never put music in the forefront. An illustrator of countless record covers and dust jackets, he also wrote and illustrated children’s books. His art is striking, detailed, loopy – a prime example is his cover for Eric von Schmidt and the Cruel Family, a rocky landscape parody of Bosch featuring flying fish skeletons and himself playing a frying pan as banjo.

Another problem was the dreaded “major influence on Bob Dylan.” In an attempt to give them legitimacy, music historians have diminished a whole generation of superb songwriters to Dylan satellites. With von Schmidt, especially, this is a travesty.

He began his musical career as a disciple of Lead Belly – the rock-solid granddaddy of the “folk” tradition. I first picked up a jacketless copy of a 1961 Folkways record, Rolf Cahn and Eric von Schmidt, which included no song credits. Though I was initially taken more with Cahn’s rolling baritone, the higher keening of von Schmidt’s “Grizzly Bear” and the sweet nostalgia of his “Buddy Bolden Blues” are what stick with me today.

His fist album of all original work, Eric Sings von Schmidt, is a beauty. “Light Rain” and “Kay Is the Month of May” are the kind of gentle love song that make you believe it could last. The islands’ lilt of “Joshua Gone Barbados” (more or less popularized by Tom Rush) makes an understated contrast to a tale of brutalized Caribbean cane field workers. “Cold Gray Dawn” is a frightening, lyrical tale of love’s intolerance and attempted suicide. But my hands-down favorite is “Rattlesnake Preacher,” the story of slick Diamond Joe who can “make the men folk weave and moan, make them women shout.”

As is too often the case, the album I treasure most is the one most forgotten. On Cruel Family, von Schmidt adopted a gruffer voice and took his songwriting to the highest level. A genuinely strange collection, it’s full of imagery that burns into your mind and stays there.

This from “You Get Old, You Get Wise”: “Now, don’t you eat chop-suey with a knife and fork./Well, the knife’s too long, honey, and the fork’s too short!” (It took me several years to realize he was talking about using them as chopsticks.) “Debt I Owe,” sung by a womanizing reprobate, includes some of his best, uniquely sprung lyrics: “…the Judge said, ‘Young man, what may be your crime?/Is it something you do habitually, or is it for the first sweet time?’”

“Sudden Garden” channels Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin to tell you that if you’ll “let a hundred chances bloom,” “You’ll be surprised, at what you’ll find/In the sudden garden of your mind.”

Most of the songs are just too intricately structured to pick apart. You need to listen to the whole thing. So just one more example, from “Icarus,” a shattering (to this father) take on the Greek myth of the boy who flies to the sun – and his death – on wings constructed by his father: “Don’t mourn for the one/Who touched the sun,/Weep for the carpenter/Weep for the carpenter/Who made the wings.”

It’s not like I love every single track von Schmidt put out. His 1972 release, 2nd Right, 3rd Row, drove  me crazy, though his other fans seem to like it.. I hated virtually every song except “Fat, Fat the Water Rat,” and even that was iffy. (But it did include a few seconds of Jules Feiffer playing pingpong with Gerald Weales. Weales, like von Schmidt far too little known, was the best teacher I had at UPenn and a superb drama critic.)

Von Schmidt died in 2007. I don’t know how many people noticed, but I’d recommend his Cruel Family album to anyone, anywhere. On Amazon it has only one review – mine.

by Derek Davis

[bobdylanrevisited]

Bob Dylan

Released: 19 March 1962

Rating: 7/10

Clearly the album of an artist discovering himself. The iconic voice hasn’t quite formed yet, and neither has the legendary penmanship, as all but two songs are covers. Dylan himself said, upon hearing the record, that he instantly regretted the song choice and wanted to record another album straight away. 

1) You’re No Good - Whilst this Jesse Fuller cover is a nice introduction to the unconventional singing, it’s a fairly unremarkable opening track save for the harmonica breaks which would become synonymous with Dylan’s music. 

2) Talkin’ New York -  Written by Bob in the ‘talkin’ style he largely picked up from Woody Guthrie, it is somewhat biographical, though he was known to lie about where’d he come from and how he got there. Whilst the song is humorous, he would prefect the style in 1963 and garner much bigger laughs. 

3) In My Time Of Dyin’ - This traditional song is interesting because it focuses on one of Bob’s favourite subjects: death. Much of this album, and his complete oeuvre, focuses on the great beyond, and here he sings with the anger and frustration of a 60 year old drifter, rather than a 20 year old beatnik. 

4) Man Of Constant Sorrow - Made much more famous by the Coen’s ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou’, Bob’s arrangement of this folk standard was often played live by the young singer, and it’s easy to hear why; his voice, harmonica, and guitar style suits it perfectly.

5) Fixin’ To Die - A blues tune from Bukka White, again capturing the fascination and anger at life ending. However, the lyrics and guitar rhythm do unfortunately make the song fairly repetitive after the first minute. 

6) Pretty Peggy-O - This type of folk song really isn’t for me. There’s nothing wrong with the vocals or instrumentation, but it’s more of a novelty song with forced rhymes. 

7) Highway 51 Blues - Ten highways prior to the one Bob would Revisit just 3 years later, this Curtis Jones song would be fairly unremarkable were it not for two reference points for Dylan’s later work. The guitar rhythm is almost identical to ‘It’s Alright Ma’, and the line ‘Out on Highway 51′ would be lifted and changed to 61 in 1965. 

8) Gospel Plow - This traditional song is all about the harmonica playing. If you don’t like the sound of the mouth organ, there’s nothing for you here. 

9) Baby, Let Me Follow You Down - Easily one of the highlights of this album, this Eric Von Schmidt arrangement is perfect for Dylan, and it’s an early glimpse of the folk icon he was destined to become over the following 3 years. What I really find interesting is subsequent versions of the song. During his (in)famous 1966 ‘electric’ tour, he plays an incredible version with The Band, which gives the song a whole new life, a move I’m convinced he only did to further piss off the booing folk nerds. He then joined The Band again to play a similar rendition during The Last Waltz concert, but I digress: all versions of this song are excellent, particularly this one. 

10) House Of The Risin’ Sun - With an arrangement stolen from Dave Van Ronk, it’s easy to forget that Dylan recorded a cover of this classic tune, given that The Animals had an international smash hit with their version two years later. It is, however, my favourite rendition of the song, as the guitar and vocals fill you with a sense of dread similar to what the protagonist is describing, and it’s a shame Bob had to retire the song so early in his career. 

11) Freight Train Blues - This John Lair song is a fun little track, and it never fails to put a smile on my face when Bob hits the long high notes. It’s also one of the first songs I learned on the guitar, so it holds a special place in my heart. 

12) Song To Woody - You can tell Bob wrote this from the heart, and it’s an early insight of the extraordinary lyricist he was about to become. It’s fairly common knowledge that Bob’s hero was Woody Guthrie, and they had actually met in 1960. Whilst I sit writing a fucking blog post about my hero, he composed a beautiful poem for his, and this is just a genuinely heartwarming song. 

13) See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Another blues song with a folk twist, this time by Blind Lemon Jefferson. Another morbid song with the angry singing. Unfortunately, another song that gets a bit repetitive and is a weak final track. 

Verdict: A solid folk album, with a few incredible stand out tracks. For a debut album from a 20 year old, it’s easy to see why the New York folk scene was so intrigued with this young Minnesotan.

[m00kieblaylock]

The sweet @melancoliefaery and @vulcanette tagged me in the 10 song thingo. I have done it pretty recently so I shall provide some of my classics/mandatory listens. Basically a taster of stuff you have to hear or maybe haven’t before. This time without essay responses, if you like my varied taste check em out!

Jesus Just Left Chicago - ZZ Top

Mansion Door - Shakey Graves

Gambler’s Blues - Dave Von Ronk, just treat yourself

Not Too Stoned - I’ll be disappointed if you don’t listen

Slippery People - Talking Heads, a non-negotiable fave

Dancin’ Fool - Frank Zappa 

Nothing Compare 2 U - Prince, I know Sinead’s is a classic, but it’s original or bust for me.

Yippiyo-Ay - The Presets 

Gone Daddy Gone - Violent Femmes

Somebody To Love - George Michael, this may be blasphemous but I don’t even care, I prefer this to the Queen version, in the words of Nina Bonina Brown - SUE ME

If I Were Free - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes

Right - David Bowie, my underrated fave

That I Would Be Good - Alanis Morissette 

[spintherecord]

3, 18, and 30! 🎶

3. three songs you were recently obsessed with

Withing You - David Bowie

Blackbird - Alter Bridge

King of the Clouds - Panic! At The Disco

18. three songs that remind you of your best friend

The Rain Song - Led Zeppelin

Fortress - Queens of the Stone Age

Alone Together - Fall Out Boy

30. three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than all those above)

Dink’s Song - Dave Von Ronk

Sorrow - David Bowie

Car Jamming - The Clash

thank you so much for asking!!!

[ramm-on-records-blog]

Just in! Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, a sought after 3 CD box set containing songs from our country's history. Complete with both books. This anthology was pivotal to the folk revival that gave birth to artists such as Bob Dylan, Dave Von Ronk, Pete Seeger, Josh White, Joan Baez, and Odetta Holmes. These artists in turn inspired a whole new generation of musicians. In 9 years, we have found 2 copies of this box set. It is uncommon, sought after, and waiting to become a well loved part of your collection. #harrysmithanthology #greenwichvillagefolksinger #folkrevival #folkmusic #rootsmusic #americana (at Ramm On Records)

[tailored-wax]

Dave Van Ronk, Folk Singer, 1967, Prestige Records

[andersonvision]

THE ONLY FOLK COLLECTION YOU'LL EVER NEED

THE ONLY FOLK COLLECTION YOU’LL EVER NEED

INSIDE ANDERSONVISION’S MUSICAL TASTES

Folk music runs a giant gamut. This CD compilation from Shout covers all of the major bases while taking a few trips into deep cuts. Lead Belly gets his due with Rock Island Line, while the Carter Family and Woody Guthrie get to touch upon the Great American songs. If you’re a kid just learning about folk music, then I can’t imagine a better first primer.…

[naquelescaminhos]

dave von ronk - he was a friend of mine

[zemaribeiro]

Um filme extraordinário

Faz todo sentido o subtítulo dado no Brasil a Inside Llewyn Davis [Estados Unidos, 2013, 100min.]: Balada de um homem comum traduz perfeitamente a história contada pelos irmãos Coen, cinebiografia de Dave Von Ronk carregada de ficção – não sabemos onde começa uma e termina outra.

Davis (Oscar Isaac) é um músico que não sabe o dia de…

[musicianshavesilence]

Saw the Coen Brother's Inside Llewyn Davis, and there is a good cover of this song. I'd recommend the movie and the song. 

[sollabecca]

wouldn't mind the hangin.. but the layin in the grave so long...