To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places
Encyclopedia
To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places is a 1994 album by Dave Van Ronk
, the theme of which was to perform versions of songs written by people he knew, to demonstrate the power of the "cover song".
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
, the theme of which was to perform versions of songs written by people he knew, to demonstrate the power of the "cover song".
Reception
Writing for Allmusic, critic Bruce Eder praised the album and wrote " Van Ronk does remarkably well with this material—he holds a tune less effectively than Dylan, but he also imparts a special rawness and seriousness to the songs, his voice overflowing with the sound of seemingly bitter experience... Not all of it works — his voice is sometimes way too rough even by folk-blues standards for what he's trying to do — but most of it is extremely valuable. And his cover of "Soon My Work Will All Be Done" is one of Van Ronk's greatest performances ever."Disc one
- "Subterranean Homesick BluesSubterranean Homesick Blues"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally released in 1965 as a single on Columbia Records, catalogue 43242. It appeared 19 days later as the lead track to the album Bringing It All Back Home. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit, peaking at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also...
" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) - "Where Were You Last Night" (Frank ChristianFrank Christian (singer-songwriter)Frank Christian is a Greenwich Village-based singer-songwriter and guitarist. His best known song, "Three Flights Up" was recorded by Nanci Griffith for her Grammy award-winning 1992 release Other Voices, Other Rooms....
) - "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" (Randy NewmanRandy NewmanRandall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
) - "Ramblin' Boy" (Tom PaxtonTom PaxtonThomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
) - "My Name Joe" (David MassengillDavid MassengillDavid Massengill is an American folk singer/songwriter, guitar and appalachian dulcimer player. His best-known songs include "On The Road to Fairfax County," recorded by The Roches and by Joan Baez, "The Great American Dream," and "My Name Joe," about an illegal immigrant restaurant worker...
) - "Outside of a Small Circle of FriendsOutside of a Small Circle of Friends"Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" is a song by Phil Ochs, a U.S. protest singer from the 1960s. "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", which was originally released on Ochs' 1967 album Pleasures of the Harbor, became one of Ochs' most popular songs....
" (Phil OchsPhil OchsPhilip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
) - "Entering Marion" (John Forster)
- "The Drinking Song" (Jack HardyJack Hardy (singer-songwriter)John Studebaker "Jack" Hardy was an American lyrical singer-songwriter and playwright based in Greenwich Village, who was influential as a writer, performer, and mentor in the North American and European folk music scenes for decades...
) - "Amoeba Hop" (Christine LavinChristine LavinChristine Lavin is a New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin' Babes...
) - "Things " (Mitch Greenhill)
- "Stone Sober Blues" (Paul GeremiaPaul GeremiaPaul Geremia is an American blues singer and acoustic guitarist.Geremia recorded his first album in 1968, having been significantly influenced by both the rural blues tradition and the folk music revival of the 1960s...
) - "Joshua Gone Barbados" (Eric Von SchmidtEric Von SchmidtEric "Rick" Von Schmidt was an American singer-songwriter and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk/blues revival of the 1960s and a key part of the East Coast folk music scene that included Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.-Background and associations with Dylan:Von Schmidt's father,...
) - "Soon My Work Will Be All Done" (Reverend Gary DavisReverend Gary DavisReverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...
) - "To All My Friends in Far Flung Places" (Jane Voss)
Disc two
- "Wrap the World Around Your Finger" (Judy Mayhan)
- "Jersey GirlJersey Girl (song)"Jersey Girl" is a song composed and originally sung by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits from his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine.-Waits original:Waits wrote the song with his future wife Kathleen Brennan, who had been living in New Jersey...
" (Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
) - "Punky's Dilema" (Paul SimonPaul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
) - "I'm Hip" (Dave Frishberg, Bob Dorough)
- "Harbour of Love" (Erik Frandsen, Michael Garin, Robert Hipkens, Paula Lockhart)
- "Awful Kind of Blues" (Gary White, John F. Hammond)
- "Why The Blues Don't Worry Me" (Steve James)
- "A Sailor's Prayer" (Rod MacDonaldRod MacDonaldRod MacDonald is an American folk singer/songwriter. He was a "big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs," performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the Songwriter's Exchange at the Cornelia Street Cafe for many years. He co-founded the Greenwich Village...
) - "Many a Mile" (Patrick Sky)
- "Four Strong WindsFour Strong Winds"Four Strong Winds" is a song written by Ian Tyson in the early 1960s. It was first recorded by The Brothers Four in a version that "Bubbled Under" the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1963...
" (Ian TysonIan TysonIan Tyson CM, AOE is a Canadian singer-songwriter, best known for his song "Four Strong Winds". He was also one half of the duo Ian & Sylvia.-Career:Tyson was born to British immigrants in Victoria in 1933, and grew up in Duncan B.C...
) - "The Simple Things We Said" (Les Choses Les Plus Simple)" (Gabriel Yacoub) (English Translation: Ellen Hinsey, Nikki Matheson, Gabriel Yacoub)
- "Song to a Seagull" (Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
) - "Heart on the Run" (Tom Intondi, Frank Rossini)
- "All My Friends in Far Flung Places (Reprise)" (Jane Voss)
Personnel
- Dave Van Ronk – vocals, guitar
- Samuel ChartersSamuel ChartersSamuel Charters, born Samuel Barclay Charters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1929 , is an American music historian, writer, record producer, musician, and poet...
– background vocals, washboard, jug - Frank Christian – guitar, vocals
- Dave Conrad – bass
- Ann DeMarinis – accordion
- Ada Dyer – background vocals
- Bill Ferns – harmonica
- Erik Frandsen – guitar, background vocals
- Paul Geremia – guitar
- Dakota Dave Hull – guitar
- Keith InghamKeith InghamKeith Ingham is an English jazz pianist, mainly active in swing and Dixieland revival.Ingham's first professional gigs occurred in 1964. He played with Sandy Brown, Bruce Turner, and Wally Fawkes that decade. He played with Bob Wilber and Bud Freeman in 1974, and moved to New York City in 1978...
– piano, organ - Arnie Kinsella – drums
- Christine Lavin – background vocals
- Chris Lowe – background vocals
- Peri Lyons – background vocals
- David Massengill – background vocals
- Tom PaxtonTom PaxtonThomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
– background vocals - Jenny Schuessler – background vocals
- Eve Silber – background vocals
- Shelly Thompson – background vocals
- Andrea Vuocolo – background vocals
- Murray Wall – bass
- Heather Wood – background vocals
Production notes
- Produced by Samuel Charters
- Engineered by Arthur Steuer and Steve Rosenthal
- Photography by Samuel Charters and Nora Charters