Hesitation Blues is a compilation album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 folk and blues singer Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....

, released in 1988.

The 16 songs in the compilation come from three '60s Prestige LPs

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

 — Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger

Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger

Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger was a 1963 album by American folksinger Dave Van Ronk.-History:Folksinger was recorded in April 1962 during the same sessions that produced Inside Dave Van Ronk and that would all end up on the Fantasy Records 1989 CD release, Inside Dave Van Ronk...

, In the Tradition

In the Tradition (Dave Van Ronk album)

In the Tradition is a 1964 album by American folksinger Dave Van Ronk and The Red Onion Jazz Band. It is unusual in the fact that the tracks are evenly split between Van Ronk and the Red Onions....

, and the original Inside Dave Van Ronk

Inside Dave Van Ronk

Inside Dave Van Ronk was a 1963 album by American folksinger Dave Van Ronk.Inside Dave Van Ronk was recorded in April 1962 during the same sessions that produced Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger and that would all end up on the Fantasy Records 1989 CD release, Inside Dave Van Ronk.-Track listing:#"House...

. Most of the songs appear on the Fantasy

Fantasy Records

Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...

 compilation CD Inside Dave Van Ronk

Inside Dave Van Ronk (compilation)

Inside Dave Van Ronk is a compilation album by American folk and blues singer Dave Van Ronk, originally released in 1972 on a double LP called Van Ronk...

.

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, critic Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...

wrote of the album "Good compilation of 16 songs from three '60s Prestige LPs... that probably represent his peak as a recording artist."

Track listing

1. "Samson and Delilah" (Traditional) – 2:35
2. "Fixin' to Die" (White) – 2:52
3. "Long John" (Traditional) – 2:08
4. "Motherless Children" (Traditional) – 3:48
5. "I Buyed Me a Little Dog"
6. "Poor Lazarus" (Traditional) – 5:08
7. "Cruel Ship's Captain Traditional)
8. "Kansas City Blues" (Jackson) – 2:10
9. "House Carpenter" (Traditional)
10. "Fair and Tender Ladies" (Traditional)
11. "Hesitation Blues" (Davis) – 3:32
12. "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" (Traditional)
13. "Come Back Baby" (Davis)
14. "Sprig of Thyme" (Traditional)
15. "Silver Dagger" (Traditional)
16. "Death Letter Blues" (Traditional)