A Chrestomathy

A Chrestomathy is a retrospective two-CD compilation of songs by Dave Van Ronk released in 1992. Its liner notes explain the title: "CHRES-TO-MA-THY: a selection of choice passages. WHICH MEANS THIS IS A SELECTION OF CHOICE WORKS FROM MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS OF DAVE'S MUSIC ON RECORDS."

A Chrestomathy
Compilation album by Dave Van Ronk
Released	1992
Recorded	1960–1991
Genre	Folk
Label	Gazell
Producer	Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk chronology
The Folkways Years, 1959–1961 (1991) A Chrestomathy (1992) To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places (1994)

Van Ronk recorded for many record labels. This compilation was released by Gazell Records.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Writing for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlman wrote of the album "his affection for the pop music of his childhood ("Two Sleepy People," sung with Christine Lavin, "Swinging on a Star"), makes for a more varied chrestomathy than those who think of Dave Van Ronk simply as a folksinger might expect. It's hard to summarize more than three decades in the career of a steadily working musician in less than two hours, even one who recorded in as piecemeal a fashion as this one, but this compilation does a good job."

Track listing

Disc 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tell Old Bill"	Traditional	4:24
2.	"Cocaine Blues"	Luke Jordan	4:19
3.	"Motherless Children"	Traditional	3:51
4.	"Poor Lazarus"	Traditional	5:11
5.	"Mr Noah"	Traditional	1:32
6.	"Come Back Baby"	Traditional	3:52
7.	"If I Had to Do It All Over Again"	Bob Dylan	3:34
8.	"Kentucky Moonshiner"	Traditional	2:40
9.	"Fair and Tender Ladies"	Traditional	5:42
10.	"Alley Oop"	Frazier, Kaverin	3:39
11.	"Chelsea Morning"	Joni Mitchell	2:37
12.	"Clouds"	Mitchell	4:38
13.	"Swinging on a Star"	Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen	2:37
14.	"Dink's Song"	Traditional	3:34
15.	"Romping Through the Swamp"	Stampfel	1:59

• Tracks 10-15 originally on The Hudson Dusters

Disc 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Little Grass Shack"	Cogswell, Harrison, Nobel	3:39
2.	"You's a Viper"		2:35
3.	"Temptation Rag"	Lodge	3:10
4.	"Stealin'"	Shade	3:15
5.	"John Hurt"	Paxton	3:14
6.	"Sunday Street"	Van Ronk	3:29
7.	"The Entertainer"	Scott Joplin	4:57
8.	"Candy Man"	Davis	3:05
9.	"Teddy Bear's Picnic"	Bratton, Kennedy	3:07
10.	"Mack the Knife"	Brecht, Weill	2:36
11.	"Tango Ballad"	Bratton, Kennedy	4:44
12.	"Losers"	Van Ronk	3:14
13.	"Garden State Stomp"	Van Ronk	3:33
14.	"Two Sleepy People"	Carmichael, Frank Loesser	3:38
15.	"The Fresno Shuffle"	Frandsen	2:47

• Track 1 originally on Songs for Ageing Children
• Tracks 2-4 originally on The Ragtime Jug Stompers
• Track 9 originally on Peter and the Wolf
• Tracks 10-11 originally on Let No One Deceive You