Various Artists - Greenwich Village Folk - Four Classic Albums (2025 Digitally Remastered) (2025)

About

At last a folk follow up to our hugely successful Joan Baez: Four Classic Albums set (AMSC1213). AVID presents the work of four very different folk artists who hit the streets of Greenwich Village towards the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. Bob Dylan, you can tell by the original liner notes (featured on all AVID Classic Album releases), that the arrival of the twenty-year old Bob Dylan was an important event, there’s a lot of words written on the back of that album cover! However due to initial poor sales he became known as “Hammonds Folly”, so named after the famed producer who had signed him to Columbia, John Hammond. That was soon forgotten of course when he followed it up with the stunning “Freewheelin’” and of course the rest is history. And the guy is still out there on his The Never Ending Tour. Here’s where it all started.

Dave Van Ronk, better known locally as The Mayor Of Macdougal Street was a larger than life character who prowled the streets of Greenwich Village singing in his gravelly voice with a repertoire that would later become known as “Americana”. His songs ranged from blues, folk, country and gospel to ragtime, jazz and swing and not forgetting his interpretations of the songs of Brecht & Weill. And famously he never forgave Dylan for nicking his version of “House Of The Rising Sun” as featured on Dylan’s debut album, (featured on this set). Having said that, Dylan was gracious enough to say this about the old growler:- "I'd heard Van Ronk back in the Midwest on records and thought he was pretty great, copied some of his recordings phrase for phrase…. Van Ronk could howl and whisper, turn blues into ballads and ballads into blues. I loved his style. He was what the city was all about. In Greenwich Village, Van Ronk was king of the street, he reigned supreme".

Tom Paxton, who still performs sporadically today at the age of 87, was born in Chicago and moved around with his folks quite a bit before settling in Oklahoma which he still considers to be his hometown. Like many other folkies of the era his interest in folk was stirred by Woody Guthrie and The Weavers. Soon after he left the army he began performing in Greenwich Village with a mix of traditional and self-written songs. The majority of these would appear on his privately produced live debut album recorded at The Gaslight Club and of course is presented here on our second disc.

Erik Darling was another folkie inspired by The Weavers and Woody Guthrie, in fact in 1958 he actually joined The Weavers as the replacement for the legendary Pete Seeger, having been in the influential group The Tarriers before that.By 1962, Erik was performing solo but still found time to join The Rooftop Singers who would go on to have a huge Number 1 hit record with the 1929 Gus Cannon classic “Walk Right In”. In its turn, his second album “True Religion”, as featured on this set, would go on to become a very influential album to the emerging folk scene of the early 1960s.


Tracklist:
1-1 Bob Dylan - You're No Good (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [1:40]
1-2 Bob Dylan - Talkin' New York (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:19]
1-3 Bob Dylan - In My Time of Dyin' (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:41]
1-4 Bob Dylan - Man of Constant Sorrow (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:09]
1-5 Bob Dylan - Fixin' to Die (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:22]
1-6 Bob Dylan - Pretty Peggy-O (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:23]
1-7 Bob Dylan - Highway 51 (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:52]
1-8 Bob Dylan - Gospel Plow (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [1:45]
1-9 Bob Dylan - Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:36]
1-10 Bob Dylan - House of the Risin' Sun (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [5:22]
1-11 Bob Dylan - Freight Train Blues (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:19]
1-12 Bob Dylan - Song to Woody (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:43]
1-13 Bob Dylan - See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (Bob Dylan) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:46]
1-14 Dave Van Ronk - He Was a Friend of Mine (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:34]
1-15 Dave Van Ronk - Motherless Child (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:51]
1-16 Dave Van Ronk - Stackalee (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:38]
1-17 Dave Van Ronk - Mr. Noah (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [1:31]
1-18 Dave Van Ronk - Come Back Baby (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:57]
1-19 Dave Van Ronk - Poor Lazarus (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [5:15]
1-20 Dave Van Ronk - Samson & Delilah (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:39]
1-21 Dave Van Ronk - Cocaine Blues (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [4:22]
1-22 Dave Van Ronk - You've Been a Good Old Wagon (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:22]
1-23 Dave Van Ronk - Fixin' to Die (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:55]
1-24 Dave Van Ronk - Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:12]
1-25 Dave Van Ronk - Long John (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:14]
1-26 Dave Van Ronk - Chicken Is Nice (Folksinger) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:31]
1-27 Tom Paxton - I'm the Man That Built the Bridges (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:12]
1-28 Tom Paxton - I'm Bound for the Mountains and the Sea (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:08]
1-29 Tom Paxton - The Fatal Glass (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:02]
1-30 Tom Paxton - Every Time (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:09]
1-31 Tom Paxton - Willie Seaton (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:56]
1-32 Tom Paxton - My Dog's Bigger Than Your Dog (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [1:44]
1-33 Tom Paxton - Columbus, Ga (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:32]
1-34 Tom Paxton - Mary Ann (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:47]
1-35 Tom Paxton - The Marvelous Toy (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:42]
1-36 Tom Paxton - When the Morning Breaks (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:09]
1-37 Tom Paxton - Goin' to the Zoo (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:01]
1-38 Tom Paxton - Deep Fork River Blues (I'm the Man That Built the Bridges) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:26]
1-39 Erik Darling - True Religion (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:34]
1-40 Erik Darling - St. John's River (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:04]
1-41 Erik Darling - Woody Knows Nothing (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:58]
1-42 Erik Darling - Virgin Mary (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:54]
1-43 Erik Darling - Diamond Ring (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [4:13]
1-44 Erik Darling - Blackeyed Susie (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:30]
1-45 Erik Darling - I'm on My Way (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:23]
1-46 Erik Darling - Cuckoo (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:31]
1-47 Erik Darling - Jumping Judy (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [2:05]
1-48 Erik Darling - Moanin' Dove (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:42]
1-49 Erik Darling - Frankie and Johnny (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:14]
1-50 Erik Darling - Everytime I Go to Town (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [1:30]
1-51 Erik Darling - Lonesome Valley (True Religion and Other Blues, Ballads and Folksongs) (2025 Digitally Remastered) [3:24]