‘Talkin’ Greenwich Village’ Book to Tell History of NYC’s Most Famous Musical Haven
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
The history of one of New York City’s most vibrant havens for musicians and artists — from Dave Van Ronk, Sonny Rollins and Bob Dylan to Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega — will be chronicled in the new book, Talkin’ Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital, by Rolling Stone senior writer David Browne.
More from Rolling Stone
Did Barack Obama Inspire Bob Dylan to Bring Back Eighties Deep Cut 'Silvio' After 20 Years?
Hear Bob Dylan and The Band Play 'Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues' From New 1974 Live Box Set
Bob Dylan to Cover 'Don't Fence Me In' for Ronald Reagan Biopic
Out Sept. 17 via Hachette Books (and available to pre-order now), the book traces the rise and heyday of neighborhood’s music community, where art, bohemian culture, and politics collided for much of the second half of the 20th century. Focusing on the Fifties through the Eighties, Talkin’ Greenwich Village will dig into the scene’s origins in the late 1950s as a young generation of musicians, poets, and artists flocked to the neighborhood at a fraught moment in New York City history, marred by racial tensions and police crackdowns.
Over the next several decades, the art that came out of Greenwich Village would spread around the world and have a massive effect on popular music and culture. As the book explores, the scene began to falter in the mid-Eighties as storied venues like Gerde’s Folk City finally closed to mark the end of an era.
Browne interviewed over 150 people for the book, including Village denizens like Vega, Colvin, Herbie Hancock, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, Sonny Rollins, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Carolyn Hester, Joan Baez, John Sebastian, Terre and Suzzy Roche, Steve Forbert, Christopher Guest, David Johansen, and members of the Blues Project.
His research also led to a trove of previously unseen documents and recordings, some of which pertain to FBI and NYC government surveillance of people like Dylan and Van Ronk. Other archival information shed new light on how efforts to stop folk singing in Washington Square Park in the Sixties led to the so-called “beatnik riot.”
Other tales will center around John Belushi, Patti Smith, and the creation of the Village People; the falafel shop that played a major role in the Eighties folk revival; and the creation of era-defining songs like Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind,” Eric Andersen’s “Thirsty Boots,” and Vega’s “Luka.”
Talkin’ Greenwich Village follows Browne’s 2019’s book, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock’s Greatest Supergroup. He’s also written biographies of the Grateful Dead, Sonic Youth, and Jeff and Tim Buckley, while his book Fire and Rain examined the year 1970 through the lens of the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, and CSN&Y.
Best of Rolling Stone
Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
