Ah, now
\nthis<\/i> is more like it!<\/p>\n
After a day of listening to studio-polished musicians and
\nmachines that are programmed not to play a single wrong note, it’s
\nrefreshing to pull out an album that glorifies in a bit of
\ngrit.<\/p>\n
Dave Van Ronk was one of the leading musicians of the folk music
\nrenaissancein the ’60s and ’70s. After growing disillusioned with
\nthe commercialization of the scene, Van Ronk tried his hand at
\nretirement – something which didn’t last too long. Almost as a slap
\nin the face to what he saw as a decline in the folk scene, Van Ronk
\nput out
\nSunday Street<\/i> – an album of only acoustic guitar and vocals
\n– in 1976. (The album has been re-released by Philo.)<\/p>\n
Van Ronk is a singer who sounds like he gargles with battery
\nacid – and I wouldn’t want his voice to change one iota. It is that
\ngritty, take-it-as-it-is sound that really captures his true magic.
\nHe also is one hell of a guitar player – more on that in a minute –
\nwho makes me want to smash my guitars in frustration, knowing I’ll
\nnever play like he does. Simply put,
\nSunday Street<\/i> is one outstanding album.<\/p>\n
From the opening notes of the title track, Van Ronk lets you
\nknow that school is in session, and he is going to give you an
\nintense education for 44 minutes. Van Ronk successfully captures
\nthe existential anguish of those who are waiting to catch one big
\nbreak in life (“Sunday Street,” “Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This
\nMorning”, “That’ll Never Happen No More”), but shows that there is
\nmore than just a glimmer of hope in their eyes. It takes something
\nspecial to capture such raw emotion in song, and Van Ronk oozes
\nthat magic.<\/p>\n
If all this weren’t enough, he blows the doors off their hinges
\nwith two outstanding instrumentals. The first, a cover of Scott
\nJoplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” makes me wonder how one person is
\nplaying this song. Van Ronk seems to dance around the fretboard,
\nyet he captures the true essence of the classic ragtime piece. The
\nother track, a cover of Jelly Roll Morton’s “The Pearls,” is
\nanother track which shows Van Ronk’s mastery of the six-string.
\nIt’s beautiful, it’s outstanding… it’s making me green with
\nenvy.<\/p>\n
Whether it’s the “double-dare” action of “Jivin’ Man Blues” or
\nthe old, wise storyteller of “That Song About The Midway” (the
\nlatter written by Joni Mitchell), Van Ronk leaves no doubt on
\nSunday Street<\/i> that he believes every word he sings, and puts
\nhis all into every single note he plays on the guitar. This is one
\nof those rare instances where I wish that an album hadn’t been so
\nshort; Van Ronk’s talents are so great that I wish this had even
\nbeen a double-album set, just so I could have soaked up more of his
\nmagic.<\/p>\n
\nSunday Street<\/i> is an album that many people today might not
\nhave heard of – which is, as we call it in the business, a God-Damn
\nShame. Van Ronk is an artist who deserves to be recognized for the
\ntalent he is by more than just an underground culture. One listen
\nto this album, and you’ll understand why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7352],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38877","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-dave-van-ronk","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38877"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}