An Evening with Dave Van Ronk

Today, Dave Van Ronk is practically a complete unknown. But once, the 6-foot-6 songwriter literally towered over Greenwich Village. He was revered by the brightest lights of the 1960s folk revival - including Bob Dylan.

Van Ronk’s memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street, was unfinished at the time of his death in 2002. Folk musician, musicologist and long time friend Elijah Wald was the man tasked to finish it. He’s also the author of Dylan Goes Electric!, the inspiration for the award-winning film A Complete Unknown.

Now, Elijah tells the story of this unsung hero.

Van Ronk was a seminal figure. He was among the very first to revisit the songs of Woody Guthrie, and helped to launch the careers of Dylan, Joni Mitchell and more. Without him, Robert Zimmerman might never have made it big. Because where Woody Guthrie was his North Star, Dave Van Ronk was Bob’s mentor down on Earth. On the day Dylan signed his first record deal, Dave was the first one he told.

Discover an artist who embodied, and shaped, the story of American songwriting in the 20th century.

A Cup and Nuzzle production for BBC Radio 4