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1992 compilation album by Dave Van Ronk
A Chrestomathy is a retrospective two-CD compilation of songs by Dave Van Ronk released in 1992.
Van Ronk recorded for many record labels. This compilation was released by Gazell Records.
Reception
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic [1]
Writing for Allmusic , critic William Ruhlman wrote of the album "his affection for the pop music of his childhood ("Two Sleepy People," sung with Christine Lavin, "Swinging on a Star"), makes for a more varied chrestomathy than those who think of Dave Van Ronk simply as a folksinger might expect. It's hard to summarize more than three decades in the career of a steadily working musician in less than two hours, even one who recorded in as piecemeal a fashion as this one, but this compilation does a good job."[1]
Track listing
Disc 1
Title Writer(s) 1. "Tell Old Bill" Traditional 4:24 2. "Cocaine Blues" Luke Jordan 4:19 3. "Motherless Children" Traditional 3:51 4. "Poor Lazarus" Traditional 5:11 5. "Mr Noah" Traditional 1:32 6. "Come Back Baby" Traditional 3:52 7. "If I Had to Do It All Over Again" Bob Dylan 3:34 8. "Kentucky Moonshiner" Traditional 2:40 9. "Fair and Tender Ladies" Traditional 5:42 10. "Alley Oop" Frazier, Kaverin 3:39 11. "Chelsea Morning" Joni Mitchell 2:37 12. "Clouds" Mitchell 4:38 13. "Swinging on a Star " Johnny Burke , Jimmy Van Heusen 2:37 14. "Dink's Song" Traditional 3:34 15. "Romping Through the Swamp" Stampfel 1:59
Tracks 10-15 originally on The Hudson Dusters.
Disc 2
Title Writer(s) 1. "My Little Grass Shack" Cogswell, Harrison, Nobel 3:39 2. "You's a Viper " 2:35 3. "Temptation Rag" Lodge 3:10 4. "Stealin'" Shade 3:15 5. "John Hurt" Paxton 3:14 6. "Sunday Street" Van Ronk 3:29 7. "The Entertainer" Scott Joplin 4:57 8. "Candy Man" Davis 3:05 9. "Teddy Bear's Picnic" Bratton, Kennedy 3:07 10. "Mack the Knife" Brecht , Weill 2:36 11. "Tango Ballad" Bratton, Kennedy 4:44 12. "Losers" Van Ronk 3:14 13. "Garden State Stomp" Van Ronk 3:33 14. "Two Sleepy People" Carmichael , Frank Loesser 3:38 15. "The Fresno Shuffle" Frandsen 2:47
Track 1 originally on Songs for Ageing Children
Tracks 2-4 originally on the Ragtime Jug Stompers
Track 9 originally on Peter and the Wolf
Tracks 10-11 originally on Let No One Deceive You
References
Studio albums Live albums Compilations