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| | February 10, 2004 will mark two years since the somewhat unexpected death of Dave Van Ronk |
 | | That, combined with the force of Dave’s personality, and his innovations in music, made him a bit of an authority figure in the Village, and at some point the nickname, “The Mayor of MacDougal Street” (a major thoroughfare through the Village), or simply, “The Mayor of Greenwich Village,” stuck to Dave. |
 | | Dave also became a sort of guru for untold legions of aspiring guitarists of all sorts, who spent countless hours replaying his recordings — particularly his painfully intricate guitar reworkings of complicated jazz and ragtime numbers, the most famous of which is the intimidating “St. Louis Tickle”—trying desperately to emulate his precision and skill. |
 | | I had taken my Atlanta-purchased LP of “Dave Van Ronk: Folksinger,” across which he scrawled an illegible signature and complimented for its rather pristine condition, seemingly ignoring my comment that I had driven four hours to attend the performance, which was true (he had driven much further, after all!). |
| www.mishsgifts.com /~shadow1/davevanronkarticle.htm (1454 words) |
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