My uncle and my grandfather both worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Quote by Dave Van Ronk

Topics: Dave Van Ronk Quotes

I don't think I went a year or so without a record between 1959 and...

I don't think I went a year or so without a record between 1959 and...

Most of what I listen to now is mainstream jazz from 1935 right up to...

Most of what I listen to now is mainstream jazz from 1935 right up to...

If there was ever any truth to the trickle-down theory, the only evidence of it...

If there was ever any truth to the trickle-down theory, the only evidence of it...

If you look at music, you see theme, variation, you see symmetry, asymmetry, you see...

If you look at music, you see theme, variation, you see symmetry, asymmetry, you see...

I think I have more in common with a carpenter than you might think. We're...

I think I have more in common with a carpenter than you might think. We're...

You can't be afraid of failure and you can't be afraid of success, because either...

You can't be afraid of failure and you can't be afraid of success, because either...

In the early 1970s. 1971, '72. The rooms were closing down, record labels weren't signing...

In the early 1970s. 1971, '72. The rooms were closing down, record labels weren't signing...

They basically said that if I didn't show up for school they'd mark me present,...

They basically said that if I didn't show up for school they'd mark me present,...

If I do a piece in my living room, if I practice it - and...

If I do a piece in my living room, if I practice it - and...

There is an apprenticeship system in jazz. You teach the young ones. So even if...

There is an apprenticeship system in jazz. You teach the young ones. So even if...

I cut myself off from the mainstream of jazz. It stood me in good stead...

I cut myself off from the mainstream of jazz. It stood me in good stead...

Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone and...

Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone and...

I'm a very, very stubborn man.

I'm a very, very stubborn man.

If you asked anybody in my family, they would have very stridently proclaimed themselves middle...

If you asked anybody in my family, they would have very stridently proclaimed themselves middle...

Ian and Sylvia, who, when you got right down to it, were essentially country and...

Ian and Sylvia, who, when you got right down to it, were essentially country and...

Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone -...

Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone -...

One of my earliest memories... I knew three full verses of the Star Spangled Banner...

One of my earliest memories... I knew three full verses of the Star Spangled Banner...

I'm an exhibitionist, I was an exhibitionist as a kid.

I'm an exhibitionist, I was an exhibitionist as a kid.

By the mid-70s, I wanted to get out of the business. I was tired anyway.

By the mid-70s, I wanted to get out of the business. I was tired anyway.