Will do a review of The Mayor of MacDougal Street on Edgeleft when I get a chance, but want to add to the notes below, that Van Ronk is a kind of libertarian radical, hostile to Stalinism, he calls himself a Trotskyist but I would take that with a grain of salt. He was not, so far as I know, a member of any group, though he did belong to YPSL at one point, but politically disagreed with the Shachtman group. I think he was more drawn to the anarchist and libertarian tradition of Marxism. He has an excellent political take on the economics of the music scene - and on life in general. To his credit, in his attacks on the CP he admits that (this is during the McCarthy period) it was easy for him, a kid, to be politically correct and radical, he had no family to support, not much to lose, while CP members often had families There is little real bitterness to the book, some real musical information that escapes me (I have no idea what a guitar chart is). For music lovers of the genuine folk scene, as well as those interested in the history of this part of the left, the book is hard to put down. Interesting to meet Bob Dylan when he was unknown, or to read Daves gentle comments on Phil Ochs. Almost painful to realize, as I listen to his music now, that I met him (though hardly have the right to say I knew him) more than fifty years ago. His music holds up (better than I do!)
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 20:05:50 +0000
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