Tell
Old Bill
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Gadfly Records is proud to release "Dave On Dave," a tribute from wildly
creative singer-songwriter David Massengill to his mentor, good friend, and
life compadre, Dave Van Ronk. On this loving portrait, Massengill mixes
up some his own songs along with some written by DVR and others that Van Ronk
performed and clearly made his own. From start to finish, this CD captures
the flavor of an artist who was truly one-of-a-kind -- conveyed by a talented
and dear friend.
Dave Van Ronk was a singer of songs like no one has been or ever will be.
He was Zeus and Babe Ruth with a touch
of lightning in your moonshine for breakfast. Next to Dave I consider myself
a passable fairy sprite whose good fortune
was to witness his many feats of magic onstage and off. Songs were revealed
when Dave sang them. He’d start out in a soft
whisper that you’d lean forward to hear, begin a slow build and pretty
soon you were caught in his web, anxious for the
poison to come, a little scared and excited too, then the final turn of the
homestretch and Dave was like some glorious
racehorse that charged and charged, charged to the end, always a winner. Sometimes
I’d say, “Dave can you do ‘Stagger
Lee’ tonight?” And the great man would say, “Sure.”
He’d tear into or caress a song from an amazing repertoire – his
own
songs, Brecht, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Tom Paxton, Leonard Cohen, Rev. Gary
Davis, and hey one of mine too. . .
Dave’s guitar playing was awesome. It was a style of fingerpicking he
learned from Rev. Gary Davis and then refined
to his own styling. At the end of our first tour together just coming back into
NYC I surprised Dave by asking for more
money for my driving and opening act services. Dave paused, gave it a thought,
then said, “Your bargaining position
would have been a lot stronger if you’d brought this up outside of Utah--”
So, no. But then he offered me something much
more valuable -- 5 free guitar lessons. I only played dulcimer at the time and
was thrilled. After 5 free lessons Dave said,
“Congratulations, you’re now a bad guitar player--”. I never
felt so proud.
--David Massengill, from
the liner notes...
Tracklist:
1. Tell Old Bill 3:46
Traditional, Arranged and Adapted by Dave Van Ronk
2. Candy Man Blues 2:47
Words and Music by Reverend Gary Davis
3. House Of The Rising Sun
4:00
Traditional, Arranged and Adapted by Dave Van Ronk
4. Talkin’ Dave Van
Ronk Blues 4:17
Words and Music by David Massengill
5. Another Time And Place
4:08
Words and Music by Dave Van Ronk
6. Green, Green Rocky Road 3:57
Len Chandler-Bob Kaufman
with additional lyrics by David Massengill
7. The Old Man 1:50
Traditional, Arranged and Adapted by Dave Van Ronk
8. Somebody Else Not Me 3:35
by Bert Williams Arranged and Adapted with
additional lyrics by Dave Van Ronk
9. The Song Of The Wandering Angus 4:06
Original poem
by William Butler Yeats
10. My Good Old Friend 4:54
Words and Music by David Massengill
11. Long John 1:56
Traditional, Arranged and Adapted by Dave Van Ronk
12. Dink’s Song 3:15
Traditional
13. Dave Van Ronk’s
Last Cigar 3:42
Words and Music by David Massengill
14. Zen Koans Gonna Rise Again 2:41
Words and Music by Dave Van Ronk
15. Honey Hair 3:21
Words and Music by Dave Van Ronk
16. He Was A Friend Of Mine
3:10
Traditional, Arranged and Adapted by
Dave Van Ronk and Eric von Schmidt
17. In Conditional Support
Of Beauty 2:52
Words and Music by Dave Van Ronk
18. Last Call 3:58
Words and Music by Dave Van Ronk
