Although I’d first considered writing this book many years ago, it took one article to revive the idea. In the spring of 2020, my bosses at Rolling Stone, ever tolerant and supportive of my love of an off-the-grid story, allowed me to chronicle the life and times of the late singer-songwriter David Blue. Working on that story reminded me of all the mythical—in some cases, deceased—musicians who’d found their way to Greenwich Village over the decades. Combined with expeditions back into the neighborhood, where I was reminded how few live-music venues remained there by 2019, the idea of a Village music-history book made a comeback tour in my brain. Thanks to Ben Schafer at Hachette Books for immediately supporting the idea and my agent, Erin Hosier at Dunow, Carlson and Lerner, for working her usual magic on making sure the project proceeded.
Of those who generously gave of their time and allowed me to pepper them with questions about their experiences, lives, and work in the Village, I offer a sustained round of applause, in alphabetical order, to Peter Aaron, Steve Addabbo, Bruce Alterman, David Amram, Eric Andersen, Lili Añel, Joan Baez, Danny and Steven Bensusan, John Berenzy, Roy Blumenfeld, David Bromberg, Denny Brown, Peppy Castro, Chevy Chase, Shawn Colvin, John Conley, Mort Cooperman, James Cromwell, Peter Cunningham, Mark Dann, Christina Mitchell Diamente, Dennis Diken, Donna Diken, Delores Dixon, Sharon D’Lugoff, Bonnie Dobson, Dan Drasin, Peggy Duncan-Garner, Noam Dworman, Eric Eisner, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Ron Fierstein, Steve Forbert, Erik Frandsen, Robert Fripp, Jim Glover, Debbie Goodman, Deborah Gordon, Arthur Gorson, Kate Greenfield, Mitch Greenhill, Christopher Guest, Arlo Guthrie, John Hammond, Herbie Hancock, Carolyn Hester, Michael Hill, Robin Hirsch, Kristian Hoffman, David Hood, Phil Hurtt, Janis Ian, Pat Irwin, Erik Jacobsen, Billy James, Nancy Jeffries, David Johansen, Sheila Jordan, the late Danny Kalb, Jonathan Kalb, Lucy Kaplansky, Lucy Brown Karwoski, Steve Katz, Lenny Kaye, Maria Kenny, Aaron Kilberg, Carol Klenfner, Peter Kogan, Al Kooper, Barry Kornfeld, D. C. LaRue, Joe Lauro, Christine Lavin, Lowell Levinger, Arthur Levy, Rod MacDonald, Carolyne Mas, David Massengill, Paul Mills, Julia Ann Mitchell-Conley, Phillip Namanworth, Willie Nile, Sonny Ochs, Angela Page, Hap Pardo, Tom Paxton, Allan Pepper, Binky Philips, Jack Prelutsky, Roger Probert, Ron Radosh, Paul Rizzo, Susan Martin Robbins, Sonny Rollins, Suzzy Roche, Terre Roche, Brian Rose, Jay Rosen, Arlen Roth, Bridget St. John, Cristy St. John, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Paul Samwell-Smith, John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Eve Silber, Marc Silber, Larry Sloman, Jason Solomon, Peter Stampfel, Rob Stoner, Noel Paul Stookey, Steve Swallow, Michael Tannen, Jon Taplin, Terri Thal, Catherine Todd, Happy and Jane Traum, Lisi Tribble, Sylvia Tyson, Suzanne Vega, Vincent T. Vok, Andrea Vuocolo, Loudon Wainwright III, Elijah Wald, Dick Weissman, Jonathan Williams, Robbie Woliver, Douglas Yeager, Eve Young, Jesse Colin Young, and Tim Ziegler.
Several people deserve additional shout-outs. Thank you to Terre and Suzzy Roche for their time and insights. Andrea Vuocolo not only generously shared memories of her life with her late husband Dave Van Ronk but allowed me to sift through some of his papers and sit on the same part of the couch in their Village apartment where Dave always plopped down. Jonathan Kalb not only spoke of his memories of playing with the Fugs and so many others in the Village but also arranged for me to interview his brother Danny, with whom I spoke about a year before he passed away in 2022. (Jonathan is still a keeper of the blues flame, and his own performances are highly recommended.)
As I was constantly being reminded, history was being erased even while I was at work on this project. During those four years, we lost not only Danny Kalb but also Ian Tyson, Len Chandler, Bob Neuwirth, Alix Dobkin, Roger Sprung, Patrick Sky, Bill Lee, the Night Owl’s Joe Marra, the Cafe Au Go Go’s Ella Solomon, temporary Blues Project member Emmaretta Marks, and preeminent folk scholar Ronald Cohen—a list that will surely, sadly, grow in the years ahead. I was able to speak with some of those players before they passed, others not. I was fortunate to interview Maggie Roche in 2009, eight years before she passed away from breast cancer, and a few of her recollections of her early days in the Village are included here.
A huge archival tip of the hat to the legendary Mitch Blank, who tolerated my numerous visits to his home archive with its awe-inspiring documentation on all things Dylan and Village. Mitch also allowed me to quote from his vintage interview with Danny Kalb. With help from Mitch, Paul Lovelace shared with me interview footage of Izzy Young, Art D’Lugoff, and WBAI’s Bob Fass. Philomène Grandin graciously allowed me to quote from some of the writings of her father, Izzy Young.
Bob Porco talked with me about his memories of his late grandfather Mike and the early days of Gerde’s Folk City, even that mysterious apostrophe. Thanks to Andre Marcell for allowing me to quote from his late, legendary uncle Joe Marra’s notes on his club, the Night Owl. Teddy Lee granted me access to his wealth of photos from Folk City in the eighties, which rekindled many of my own memories of that period and club. Aviva Frankel generously gave us permission to use a few photos from her late uncle Irwin Gooen’s historic photography of Gerde’s Folk City and the early Village.
For helping me connect with sources and pointing me in any number of right directions, all due respect to Eric Alpert, Judd Apatow, Paula Batson, Andrew Berman of Village Preservation, Amy Blume, Angie Carlson, Jayni Chase, David Cooperman, Jim Della Croce, Jesse Cutler, Katherine DePaul, Erick Feucht, Parker Fishel, Raymond Foye, Michelle Garramone, Noah Gest, Erica Glenn, Benny Goodman, Matt Hanks, Jennifer Harrington, Mara Hennessey, Terri Hinte, Gary Jacobson, Larry Jenkins, Lisa Jenkins, Michael Jensen, Carol Kaye, Alisse Kingsley, Venta Leon, Nick Loss-Eaton, Meredith Louie, Mark McKenna, Aiyana Partland, Susan Patricola, Roger Paul, Mark Pucci, Gaynell Rogers, Jeff Rosen, Lee Rothchild, Carol Rothman, Elaine Schock, Steve Schweidel, Victoire Selce, Johanna Shapiro, David Singleton, Mark Spector, Michael Steiner, Elizabeth Stookey Sunde, Virginia Tate, Britnee Walker, Ken Weinstein, Judy Werle, Kathleen Whaley, and Howard Wuelfing.
A hootenanny-style shout-along to the fellow journalists and authors who allowed me to pick their brains no matter the Village era or genre of music. David Hajdu shared transcripts of his interviews with many Village luminaries, including the Mary Travers and Sam Charters quotations included here. Jesse Jarnow passed along his astoundingly detailed chronology of the Almanac Singers and the Weavers as well as the FBI’s extensive file on Fred Hellerman, which he’d received while researching his definitive Weavers biography, Wasn’t That a Time. Aaron J. Leonard did the same with Dave Van Ronk’s FBI paperwork as I awaited my own FOIA request. (Aaron’s books on government oversight of music, particularly The Folk Singers and the Bureau and Whole World in an Uproar, are worth seeking out.)
Doug Silver offered his astute analyses of chord and harmonic progressions, musical notation, and other detailed matters that enhanced my own understanding of this music. Hank Shteamer, Gary Giddins, and Dan Ouellette made sure I was on solid jazz ground. Jim Farber, David Hinckley, Ira Mayer, and John Rockwell allowed me to dig into their Village-beat brains. Belated gratitude to Helen Epstein, who, as one of my journalism professors at NYU, signed off on my idea to cover the Village music scene for our magazine-writing class. Thanks also to Richard Barone, Nick Canfield, Deirdre Cossman, Patrick Doyle, Fred Goodman, Andy Greene, Kory Grow, Joseph Hudak, Karen Kramer, Barbara Landreth, Jeff Place, Steve Schwartz, Sean Wilentz, and Dave Zimmer for advice, tips, and suggestions.
Scott Barretta shared memories of Izzy Young. Liz Thomson did the same about working with the late Robert Shelton. She and Cliff Pearson are doing their own formidable part to honor the neighborhood’s history with their annual Village Trip festival. Olympia Kazi was a valuable resource for cabaret-law history in the city.
Few are as dedicated to chronicling day-by-day, week-by-week histories of classic venues and bands as Corry Arnold, and his detailed Cafe Au Go Go time line (https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/01/cafe-au-go-go-new-york-city-152.html) was essential reading. Bruno Ceriotti’s nearly week-by-week reconstruction of the Blues Project (one of many such music archaeology digs on his site, http://brunoceriotti.weebly.com) is second to none. George Vellonakis made sure I had my facts straight about the life and times (and roadways) of Washington Square Park, and John Sorenson’s walking tour of the park brought the past back to life in so many ways.
Michele Romero, who knows her way around photo archives like no one else, applied her formidable research skills to the images you see here. Mark Davidson of the Bob Dylan Center handled numerous queries with diligence and grace. Joe Lauro at Historic Films allowed me access to his incredible treasure trove of archival clips, especially his own footage of interviews and performances from the early-eighties Village folk scene. (Note to Joe: Finish that doc.) Thank you as well to Kevin Rice at Historic Films for making it technically possible for me to view it all.
Kathy Heintzelman, not only a friend but also one of the best editors with whom I’ve ever worked, untangled sentences, corrected glitches in grammar, and simply made this a better book than it would have been before she dove in.
Elijah Wald, Dan Katz, and Stephen Petrus gave of their time to read through an early draft of the book, offering pointed insights and corrections along the way. Needless to say, The Mayor of MacDougal Street, the Van Ronk memoir that Elijah completed after Van Ronk’s passing, is as vivid a firsthand recollection as you’ll ever read about the late-fifties and early-sixties Village. Dan’s deep-seated understanding of New York and American history, labor issues, and race relations—as revealed in his book All Together Different: Yiddish Socialists, Garment Workers, and the Labor Roots of Multiculturalism—added to my understanding of the outside-music forces at work in the Village. Stephen and the late Ronald D. Cohen’s Folk City: New York and the American Folk Music Revival should be on the reading list of anyone interested in the Village’s contribution to music history.
Brenna Ehrlich helped me navigate the byzantine world of New York City court records and pointed me in valuable research directions I wouldn’t have considered. Andy Abrahams and his diligent fact-checking saved me more than a few times. Lily Marks assisted with transcribing and, more importantly, on-the-ground research in the New York City archives. I thank them all for their help in what was, for me, an often-overwhelming project.
At the NYC Department of Records and Information, Kenneth Cobb, Marcia Kirk, and Katie Ehrlich sent me to the right microfilm drawers and files and navigated permissions paperwork with patience and professionalism. Janet M. Bunde at New York University guided me through the school’s massive archives. Katie Morrison at the Indiana University Archives allowed me access to the school’s invaluable Richard A. Reuss collection. Many thanks as well to Jessica Gavilan at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; Aaron Smithers at the Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jonny Verbeten and Weston Marshall at the Southwest Music Archive, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, at Texas Tech University; Maya Lerman, Judith Gray, and Allina Migoni at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress; Kate Long at Smith College; Jonathan Kuhn of the New York Parks Department; Joe Marvilli at the NYC Department of City Planning; Joseph Jourdan at the NYC Department of Small Business Services; and the Business Department of the New York County Clerk.
An old-school five-star shoutout to my bosses at Rolling Stone throughout this process—Jason Fine, Sean Woods, Christian Hoard, and Noah Shachtman—for their support and allowing me some time off to work on this book. Also at Hachette Books, thank you to David Shelley and Michael Pietsch for signing off on this book and the encouraging words as I was completing it. As always, it’s a pleasure working with the Hachette crew, including Michelle Aielli, Ashley Kiedrowski, Mary Ann Naples, Michael Giarratano, Carrie Napolitano, Fred Francis, Amanda Kain, and Terri Sirma. Thanks too to Donald Pharr for the sharp-eyed copyedit.
As always, none of this would have been conceivable or possible without my wife, Maggie, and our daughter, Maeve. In so many ways, Maggie was there from the start, including with this book: we met while we were both at NYU; she accompanied me to shows at the Bottom Line, Speak Easy, the Village Gate, and Folk City; we lived together in the Village for years; and she probably knew I was going to write this book someday. During this project, Maeve joined me at a jazz club in the Village and a Suzanne Vega concert, where she recognized “Tom’s Diner” and, in doing so, confirmed what a classic it had become. With any luck and changes in New York City, she’ll venture back down to that neighborhood someday to take in the next generation of singers, songwriters, and musicians.