The croaky, gravel-throated voice of New York's 1960s folk scene, Dave Van Ronk
barked out charismatic renditions of long lost American classics and became a
father figure to Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joni Mitchell and the hordes of young
folk troubadours who poured into Greenwich Village's coffee houses. Starting out
playing guitar in ragtime jazz bands, Van Ronk discovered the blues of Blind
Lemon Jefferson, Furry Lewis and Mississippi John Hurt and transformed into a
story telling, finger picking, bard of old time ballads, sea shanties and
country blues singalongs. Though mainly r...