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{{Infobox album|
| name = A Chrestomathy
| type = [[compilation album]]
| artist = [[Dave Van Ronk]]
| cover = AChrestomathy.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1992
| recorded = 1960–1991
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = [[Folk music|Folk]]
| length =
| label = Gazell
| producer = [[Dave Van Ronk]]
| prev_title = [[The Folkways Years, 1959–1961]]
| prev_year = 1991
| next_title = [[To All My Friends in Far-Flung Places]]
| next_year = 1994
}}

'''''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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dave Van Ronk - A Chrestomathy |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/2420676-Dave-Van-Ronk-A-Chrestomathy |access-date=2022-10-22 |website=Discogs |language=en}}</ref>

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

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 =[[Allmusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}} <ref name="AM">{{cite web |first=William |last=Ruhlman |title= ''A Chrestomathy'' Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id= r129296 |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=[[Allmusic]] |accessdate=June 15, 2011}}</ref>
}}
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."<ref name="AM" />

==Track listing==

===Disc 1===
{{Track listing
| title1 = Tell Old Bill
| writer1 = Traditional
| length1 = 4:24
| title2 = Cocaine Blues
| writer2 = [[Luke Jordan]]
| length2 = 4:19
| title3 = Motherless Children
| writer3 = Traditional
| length3 = 3:51
| title4 = Poor Lazarus
| writer4 = Traditional
| length4 = 5:11
| title5 = Mr Noah
| writer5 = Traditional
| length5 = 1:32
| title6 = Come Back Baby
| writer6 = Traditional
| length6 = 3:52
| title7 = If I Had to Do It All Over Again
| writer7 = [[Bob Dylan]]
| length7 = 3:34
| title8 = Kentucky Moonshiner
| writer8 = Traditional
| length8 = 2:40
| title9 = Fair and Tender Ladies
| writer9 = Traditional
| length9 = 5:42
| title10 = [[Alley Oop (song)|Alley Oop]]
| writer10 = Frazier, Kaverin
| length10 = 3:39
| title11 = Chelsea Morning
| writer11 = [[Joni Mitchell]]
| length11 = 2:37
| title12 = Clouds
| writer12 = Mitchell
| length12 = 4:38
| title13 = [[Swinging on a Star]]
| writer13 = [[Johnny Burke (lyricist)|Johnny Burke]], [[Jimmy Van Heusen]]
| length13 = 2:37
| title14 = Dink's Song
| writer14 = Traditional
| length14 = 3:34
| title15 = Romping Through the Swamp
| writer15 = [[The Holy Modal Rounders|Stampfel]]
| length15 = 1:59
}}

*Tracks 10-15 originally on ''The Hudson Dusters''

===Disc 2===
{{Track listing
| title1 = My Little Grass Shack
| writer1 = Cogswell, Harrison, Nobel
| length1 = 3:39
| title2 = [[If You're a Viper|You's a Viper]]
| length2 = 2:35
| title3 = Temptation Rag
| writer3 = Lodge
| length3 = 3:10
| title4 = Stealin'
| writer4 = [[Will Shade|Shade]]
| length4 = 3:15
| title5 = John Hurt
| writer5 = [[Tom Paxton|Paxton]]
| length5 = 3:14
| title6 = Sunday Street
| writer6 = Van Ronk
| length6 = 3:29
| title7 = The Entertainer
| writer7 = [[Scott Joplin]]
| length7 = 4:57
| title8 = Candy Man
| writer8 = [[Reverend Gary Davis|Davis]]
| length8 = 3:05
| title9 = Teddy Bear's Picnic
| writer9 = Bratton, Kennedy
| length9 = 3:07
| title10 = Mack the Knife
| writer10 = [[Bertold Brecht|Brecht]], [[Kurt Weill|Weill]]
| length10 = 2:36
| title11 = Tango Ballad
| writer11 = Bratton, Kennedy
| length11 = 4:44
| title12 = Losers
| writer12 = Van Ronk
| length12 = 3:14
| title13 = Garden State Stomp
| writer13 = Van Ronk
| length13 = 3:33
| title14 = Two Sleepy People
| writer14 = [[Hoagy Carmichael|Carmichael]], [[Frank Loesser]]
| length14 = 3:38
| title15 = The Fresno Shuffle
| writer15 = Frandsen
| length15 = 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''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dave Van Ronk}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chestomathy, A}}
[[Category:1990 compilation albums]]
[[Category:Dave Van Ronk compilation albums]]

{{1990s-folk-album-stub}}

A Chrestomathy - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: add {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}