David Browne is a journalist and author. He has written for Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Spin and the New York Times among others. His books have largely focused on music telling the tales of Tim and Jeff Buckley, The Grateful Dead and Crosby Stills Nash & Young
“Talkin’ Greenwich Village”, subtitled “The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital”, covers a period of thirty years from the late 1950s to the late 1980’s when the clubs and music scene centred around Greenwich Village was the home to acts and movements that went on to impact music and culture beyond New York. Today the area which stretches between 14th Street and Houston Street on Manhattan’s West Side is one of the most expensive in the US.
Browne’s tale of the Village is paralleled with the career of the ‘Mayor of MacDougal Street’ Dave Van Ronk, the legendary folk singer. The story starts in the late 1950s when the music played around the clubs, bars and restaurants was predominantly jazz. At the same time, a nascent folk scene was forming based around hootenannies in Washington Square Park. These brought the musicians into conflict with city officials unhappy with unlicensed performance and as those restrictions and the colder weather bit the musicians moved inside to cafes and restaurants.
New York’s arcane licensing regime which seems to have been designed to prevent anything unfacilitated by bribery and Browne narrates in some detail a series of stories involving city officials and club owners which it’s difficult not to visualise in a grainy black and white.
Of course, the meat in the sandwich is the story of the development of the scene in the 1960s as the commercial success of the Village blossomed and its reputation acted as a magnet for folk singers from all over the US and beyond. The cast of characters passing through the narrative either centrally or peripherally is something of a who’s who of artists at the centre of the American music scene from 1962 to 1972. Many of them arrived as reinvented versions of themselves. Dylan, of course, casts a long shadow but there were many other early success stories including Peter Paul & Mary, Tom Paxton, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Judy Collins and the Blues Project.
Browne weaves their stories together with the history of the Village itself, taking the reader on a tour of nights at the different venues with many interesting performers. The artists’ interaction – portrayed in a very human form – with mutual support vs jealousy and the counterpointing of purism with commercial success.
The author doesn’t shy away from the casualties whether due to physical and mental health, alcohol or drugs. The reader is reminded of the tragedies of the loss of Phil Ochs and Tim Hardin in particular.
As a large part of the 1960s generation heads for the West coast, a new set of artists takes up residence although lacking the momentum of their predecessors. The Village meanwhile keeps adapting, albeit with some conflict with local residents who resent their home area being dominated by bohemianism and their acolytes.
New York’s fall and rise in the 1970s through the 1980’s is reflected in the Village stories. While there are some success stories – The Roches (artistically at least), Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin – they are few and far between. Meanwhile the pressures of cost increases – especially driven by landlords, so often the silent killers of local commerce – put the squeeze on the economics of the Village venues which gradually shutter and close.
Van Ronk’s story threads in and out of Browne’s tale as a continuous presence and the book’s epilogue takes in his death in 2002 and subsequent memorials accompanied by a description of the demise of the Village he loved.
“Talkin’ Greenwich Village” is an evocative journey through the people and places of this legendary slice of New York City in its prime years.
