notes by Kenneth Kaye Folk Arts, Inc. U4RS-1243/1244 (US 1967)
notes by Paul Geremia Folkways FTS 31023
Smithsonian Folkways custom-made CD F-31023
notes by Jack McGann and Paul Geremia Sire SI-4902 (US 1971)
Biograph BLP-12046
Paul Geremia at Caffè LenaDec 27 1997 & '76
Adelphi AD 1020 (US 1973)
= Adelphi AD 1020 (US 1973)
= Adelphi GCD 1020 (US 2000)
= Air Mail Archive AIRAC-1011 (Jp 2002)
Adelphi Records discography
Flying Fish FF 214
notes (May 1982) by Paul Geremia Flying Fish 270 (US 1982)
(=) Flying Fish FLY 395 (US 1991) (along with "My Kinda Place")
Fast Folk FF 106
Steven Alexander's(unofficial) Fast Folk page
order at Smithsonian Folkways
Flying Fish FF 395 (US 1986)
(=) Flying Fish FLY 395 (US 1991) (along with "I Really Don't Mind Living")
Shamrock DC 1016-2 (Austria 1992)
= Red House CD RHR 54 (US 1993)
Shamrock LP 1024-1 (Austria 1994)
= Shamrock DC 1024-2 (Austria 1994)
= Red House CD RHR 77 (US 1995)
Red House CD RHR 58
Blue Plate CD 305
more info
Red House CD RHR 101 (US 1997)
Easydisc CD 7051
Easydisc CD 7066
Red House CD RHR 127 (US 1999)
Cannonball RecordsCBD 29117
Red House CD RHR 172 (US 2004)
3 CD box setTompkins Square TSQ 2967
Kicking Mule KM 126
George Gritzbach discographyKicking Mule Records discography
North Star SB 008
West River Records WRR 005
Northeastern CD 5008
"Stone Sober Blues" is influenced by (amongst others) Steve Mann's "She Caught the Katy"
Gazell GPCD 2011/12
Green Linnet CD GL 2122
Gazell GPCD2013
Eric von Schmidtdiscography
Bluesette RecordsBR-CD-100
FOLKWALD 111111
Paramount PAS-6072
Waterfront WF 001
Dave Peabody discography
Rounder CD 3017
Roy Book Binder discography
Resounding RR-CD-406
"One of the major problems of the current songwriting renaissance is the dearth of discrimnating interpreters. Except for writers whose material is C & W compatible, it is next to impossible to get someone, anyone, to sing a song he or she didn't personally compose. To make matters worse, the prevailing climate among acoustical performers is very discouraging for interpreters. Not long ago, a singer-songwriter acquaintance of mine remarked of a contemporary (who is, by the way, a fine singer), 'Oh, she only does 'covers'!' (I had a sudden prophetic vision of a CD which will appear in the near future - 'Pavarotti 'Covers' Puccini'.) Record companies and the people who book clubs and concerts share this prejudice, and indeed the situation has become so grotesquely unbalanced that I suspect the pendulum is about to swing back the other way. Let's hope it doesn't swoop over to the opposite extreme where songwriters feel it necessary to fob off their tunes as 'Folk Songs', as did John Jacob Niles and others in the '30s and '40s. The flip side of this state of affairs is the vast pool of first-rate songs available to any singer with open ears - untouched material (except by its authors) just begging for an intelligent and appreciative reading. Selecting the pieces for this album has been one of the most difficult and frustrating chores I have undertaken since I gave up ballet. Finally, I hit on the notion of only doing songs by people I know. This narrowed the A-list down to a mere 120 songs (no kidding), as well as automatically selecting for me Jane Vass' lovely song for the title song and theme. Let me hasten to add - not every author represented here is a close personal friend. A few of them I have only met briefly and casually, but it comforted me to think that if I got stuck I could, at least in theory, get on the horn and ask the songwriter, 'What the hell is this line supposed to mean?' Only later did it occur to me that conversely the songwriter could just as easily get on the horn and ask,'What have you done to my song, schmuck?' Which just goes to show that if we really thought through the consequences of our actions, we'd probably never do anything. So at last, with the help of my kindly producer, Sam Charters, ('Yeah, it's a great song, but you can't sing it'.), I managed to pare the program down to a mere 27 songs. If time and the budget had allowed, it could just as easily been double that, but at least I hope it gives some idea of how much great stuff is out there. Before taking my leave, I would like to especially thank Frank Christian, guitarist and songwriter of the first chop; Keith Ingham, a pianist and arranger of almost unbelievable versatility, Dakota Dave Hull, arranger extraordinare, and man of a thousand guitars, and the aforementioned Sam Charters, who got me into this thing in the first place. My thanks also to Andrea Vuocolo (my wife), whose idea for the Friendship Quilt cover helped pull the whole concept together. Finally, I would like to dedicate this album to my boon companion Tom lntondi, whose songwriting, always good, kept getting better and better until his untimely death last May, a great loss to all of us." -- Dave Van Ronk THE MUSICIANS - Dave Van Ronk does the singing and plays the guitar on tracks 5, 1 0, 1 1, and 12 on Disc 1, and tracks 4, 6, 8, and 13 on Disc 2. Frank Christian is the electric guitarist, and plays acoustic on tracks 3, 6 (including the solo), 7, 9 on Disc 1, tracks 2, 5, 7, 9, and 13 on Disc 2. Keith lngham is the pianist and also did many of the arrangements. He is the organist on THINGS. Dakota Dave Hull plays acoustic guitars on tracks 4 (both guitars), 6, and 10 (rhythm and solo) on Disc 1, tracks 4, 6 and 13 on Disc 2, and helped set the arrangements. The guitarist on SOON MY WORK is Erik Frandsen. Murray Wall plays the acoustic bass, David Conred, electric bass. Drums, Arnie Kinselle, harmonica, Bill Ferns, accordion. Anne De Marinis, jug and washboard, Sam Charters. Special thanks to Paul Geramia for his half of the guitar duet on his STONE SOBER BLUES, Tom Paxton for singing the harmony on his RAMBLIN' BOY, and Christine Lavin for her scat chorus on her AMOEBA HOP. (Thanks to Andrea Vuocolo for 'For them it's a monster song.') The voices on WRAP THE WORLD and TO ALL MY FRIENDS IN FAR FLUNG PLACES are Brift Savage (single harmony voice on ALL MY FRIENDS), Ado Dyer, and Shelly Thompson, vocal arrangements by Sam Charters. The voices on THINGS are Christine Lavin and Eve Silber, vocal arrangement by Dave Van Ronk and Andrea Vuocolo. Our thanks to the singers on SOON MY WORK, and THE SAILORS PRAYER: Heather Wood, Christine Lavin, Peri Lyons, Frank Christian, Chris Lowe, Eric Frandson, Dove Massengill, and Sam Charters. For THE DRINKING SONG they are joined by Andrea Vuocolo, Mallay Charters, and Jenny Schuessler
2 CD set Gazell GPCD 2011/12
Dave van Ronk discography