Hear Me Howl: Live 1964

original item defective (unable to load into cd player for both discs on original item purchased)... received a replacement within a couple days & again experienced difficulty loading discs on cd player yet after treating the disc like an old nintendo game (blowing on it) was able to get the discs working... the content/music is great though... would have been a 5 star rating if not for the technical difficulties...

This double disc, is a generous sampling of what Dave Van Ronk was singing in the mid-sixties, lots of blues, rags and old folk tunes. A tape of a show Dave put on at Indiana University, the original recording quality is excellent. Dave's singing and guitar come through exactly as I remember him from back then. As anyone who saw him back then will recall, Dave's singing voice was loud and brash, but his speaking voice, between songs, could be soft and quiet, at least until he'd had his third or fourth glass of "pineapple juice". This is a concert recording, and Dave is supplying commentary between the songs. On the cd, the songs come through loud and clear, but Dave's in between chats and barely be heard. I listen to this in the car, and I must crank up the volume when he's speaking and quickly lower it once the next song starts. If the engineer had ridden the gain when transcribing the original tape, this problem wouldn't exist. So the missing star is for the cd production, not Dave, who could give a 5 star performance in his sleep.

A wonderful live recording of Dave Van Ronk from about 4 years before I had heard a recording of his during my college years. Ever since he has been one of my favorites and I made a six hour trip to see him perform about 2 years before he died at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. It was well worth the drive. This double CD is from an interesting time and well worth the money. These are classic folk blues and jazz sons with interesting historical patter by Dave. By the way Dave should be a lot more famous than he was.

I have not heard a Dave Van Ronk CD I did not like, and this is no exception

Applause too loud! When Dave Howls, it is also too loud.

Dave Van Ronk was at his best the night he performed this 24 song solo acoustic show at Indiana University. An enthralling and diverse set of songs. Bonus track of "He Was a Friend of Mine" from the 1977 Phil Ochs Memorial Concert.

No complaints about the artist or the music. The problem is that the discs are cd-r's, not real silver discs. I do not usually buy "burned" discs, they just do not sound as well and/or last as long as regular silver press discs. What upsets me the most is that this key piece of information should have been clearly stated in the description of the product. It is not. So just keep in mind that you are paying a lot of money for a subpar product.

My favorite Dave V. CD.