A Conversation With David Browne

My guest today is someone I’ve spent time in court with several months ago.

I was with David Browne and fortunately neither one of us was in legal trouble. We were both there in a stuffy NYC criminal courtroom covering the then-ongoing trial involving Don Henley and some allegedly stolen Eagles lyrics, he for Rolling Stone and I for Ultimate Classic Rock. That case ended up being dropped…

But I digress! I actually met David in person for the first time before that at the Bitter End, one of the West Village’s few remaining music venues left over from its folk scene days. (Here is a picture of Joni playing at it in 1968.) We spoke a little bit at the time about a new book he was writing, and now here we are, discussing said book: Talkin’ Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital (out September 17).

David did warn me that Joni herself doesn’t play a large role in the book, but I would argue that she was still an integral figure in the Greenwich Village folk scene, even if she was only a part of it for a short time.

If you’re into music history pretty much of any kind, this will be a book you’ll want to get your hands on — excellently researched and chock full of detail.

Here’s David and I…

Thanks for listening x

• Allison

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