LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Folk singer Dave Van Ronk, a respected figure on the early 1960s New York music scene and an early mentor of Bob Dylan, died Sunday after a battle with colon cancer, his record company said. He was 65.

Nicknamed ``the mayor of Greenwich Village'' on account of his authoritative knowledge of jazz and blues, Van Ronk died at 9:30 a.m. at New York University Medical Center, said Mitchell Greenhill, president of Folklore Prods., who was at his bedside.

Although Van Ronk never achieved commercial success, he remained an influential performer in the folk community. He toured and recorded -- and taught guitar -- until the end of last year when he underwent colon cancer surgery in November.

One of the main reasons I came to New York City was so I could drink from the crock of whatever bon homme primordial soup created "The Movement." And while that mythical soup certainly had too many cooks, none was as charming with the ladle as Dave Van Ronk.

We saw him many times, both in performance and, shit, just, like walkin' around Sullivan Street. Van Ronk's live performances, often in struggling little not-for-profit holes in the wall, were like time warps back to some mid-sixties, post-Beat, pre-Yippie, all-Coed, Fifty Dollars pays your rent on Bleeeeeeecker Street Universe that maybe only exists in Sam Shepherd one acts, but, hell, meant a lot to me back then and still means a lot to me now. Van Ronk's wit exuded "what the hell" idealism. He knew he was no celebrity, but he knew that his music, his humor, his politics and his way of life was important.

I saw him once at some poorly organized all day affair at some church on the Upper West Side. Between sets he went outside and sat on the stairs and smoked cigarettes. I sat out there with him, maybe said something lame like, "you sounded great" and listened to him hold court. He had no "people" with him, but strangers engaged with him on varying topics of the day. He looked everyone in the eye. A 20 year old kid asked him about some picking technique. He politely told him what he knew, checked his watch, and figured it was time to get back on stage.

To a select few, Dave Van Ronk will be a legend whose name will never die. Those are our people.