Dave Van Ronk - St.James Infirmary

Dave Van Ronk - St.James Infirmary, Album: Your Basic Dave Van Ronk,1982
Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 February 10, 2002) was a folk singer born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York City, and was nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street."He was best known as an important figure in New York City during the acoustic folk revival of the 1960s, but his work ranged from old English ballads to Bertolt Brecht, rock, New Orleans jazz, and swing.

[@carlevans3123]

I began to listen to folk music and blues because of Dave Van Ronk. The world is diminished with his passing. No one is like Van Ronk.

[@DougAlder]

As long as I live I will miss him.

[@houndog74jh]

holy shit!!! some people can sing like this. everyone else wishes they could

[@Dubtee]

It's impossible for me to sing like Dave. I always break down in tears. It's like, how the heck didn't he do the same? The emotion.... A surreal experience all around.

[@dell177]

He was just so God damned good - RIP

[@Jasonificatiation]

This kind of music makes guitar strumming seem easy as hell. That picking!

[@jeralddean9432]

I just cried. I've heard at least 5 versions of this. . .this is the most bittersweet and emotional. Damn Van Ronk. . .Such a beautiful mind.

[@lu4y4pants]

I like how the song is sung like in a drunken stupor. It actually makes the song even sadder.

[@rjmendera]

why is this man not world wide famous??? damn this good!! THANK YOU RJM

[@angelomarinoscijr.919]

creme della creme... THE LAST TIME I saw Dave Van Ronk..we stood on the curb outside Tri-State Concert Hall in New Bedford..smoking and talking in the pouring rain... he was as crusty as ever in person and in concert... he is missed indeed...

[@gibby6904]

Man I wish I could have met him......my all time musical hero.....the ultimate folkie.....even though he hated the term folk music....

[@Kentokkil]

It's a shame I didn't know Dave Van Ronk until I finally discovered him here on the tube

[@clockwork9827]

Eisenkoch matbe not the same thing as trading whiskeys, songs and stories with ol Daveb but he has written a book about the days in Greenwich

[@gerakogiorgis]

me to!

[@KarimSarroub]

He's one of the inspirers of Dylan, along with Guthrie.

[@jackfruit9439]

Here I am 5 years behind you..

oh man, oh man, the blues, the blues......

[@dwbonny3210]

Quite possibly the best rendition ever..! Thanks, DVR...!

[@lee-anndaniel4730]

God I wish I could've been on this earth to see this man preform live. It will forever break my heart that I was just born in the wrong time.

[@ese3go]

I was there and sorry I never saw him live.

[@armandtobler7898]

Ooh yeaah !!

[@danholsopple8582]

saw him once at the The Main Point, it was a small coffeehouse venue on Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr, PA

[@fairportfan2]

Saw him three or four times at Blind Willie's here in Atlanta. First time was about three times after i saw the Washington Squares, who were recreating this era pretty well - got to hear different {excellent} versions of a couple of songs...

[@fairportfan2]

Arrgh "...about three DAYS..."

[@piratem8077]

Only just found Dave Von Ronk , WOW, Amazing !!!.

[@sheephillkennel8602]

you remade a masterpiece mister van ronk rest in peace i for one am truly grateful tdid someone once not say that the value of poetry is to console the reader hour dear craftsmanship consoles me consistently and effectively

[@fairportfan2]

Many years ago - about 1975 - I was trying to remember the lyric to this song - and a friend asked what i was singing. I told her i was trying to remember "St James Infirmary Blues" She said "It doesn't sound like blues to me." It was years later that i thought to that... and i realised that she was thinking of rhythm and blues...

[@GriffonKeeper]

He was great! You can't beat that performance with a stick.

[@Joeche2000]

Such great memories of seeing Dave perform. It was among our first excursions from Flushing, NY to Greenwich Village and we were blown away by the strangeness of the place, the layout of the streets and the energies in the clubs. One of the finest finger pickers and interpreters I have ever seen play.

[@soundslikescience]

@rjmendera Unfortunately, he has passed away. But his place in music is unique and unquestionable. You draw a line from Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan (arguably the best 2 songwriters still living) and you get back to the village and find Dave Van Ronk who influenced them both - you can hear his fingerstyle guitar for one thing. Follow that line back and you go straight to the heart of the country blues - e.g. Blind Willie McTell and the rest. He may be gone (RIP) but he's still with us...

[@jogurt5577]

Stvarno nevjerojatna glazba, jako mi je drago što uopće imam privilegij znanja o o ovom čovjeku, na jednakoj je razini kao Jackson C. Frank

[@zkafel]

DVR is a legend I value dearly!

[@joedohn9727]

To this day, my favorite folk artist. I like really old stuff, like Robert Johnson, Michel Larue, I like old slave songs, folk/blues music from the 20s and 30s, stuff like that. I love all of it. But no one did folk as much justice (in my opinion) as Dave Van Ronk. Maybe it's because of recording quality. But I think it's more than that. He got to view the world of folk/blues more wholly and freely.

[@jogurt5577]

Jackson C. Frank was as good as Dave

[@mrblues1147]

So Good blues man! Start listing to him about 40 years ago! Great blues man.

[@tonipalie3606]

This man ❤ I wish I knew him earlier Bob Dylan made me listen him

[@christopherfujino]

OMG, this is so killer.

[@MrGarruk123]

killin' it dawg, killin' it

[@simaginfan]

@john Adcock. Very true. Dylan was a big admirer of dave van Ronk. This is the best version of this song i know of.

[@wildbill3638]

Bet he had a gullet full of Tullamore Dew when he belted out this one. Knew him from my Village days,cool cat.

[@Myworthi]

Not to mention his wonderful renditions of Joni Mitchell songs (my favorite was always "Need For Going") Just to watch his face and listen to his gravelly voice in person was always an out of body experience - have not seen him live since the 70's at the Main Point, but I miss knowing I could.

[@shaneq5565]

Damn, wish I was alive back then, what a Legend.

[@loricox3321]

Shane Q I was alive back then. In fact I worked at the Cafe Lena in Saratoga Springs. I first met Dave in 1966 and again in 1994 at the Cafe..As I spoke to him about Lena and stuff I said “” l used to have a leather shop in the back, but nobody remembers me! He said “ I remember you--made my fuckin day!

[@Mariekesone]

Love,...Love, love this version!

[@jamminjoy]

Saw him twice in the early '60s in Philadelphia. Mesmerizing presence!

[@tanDlegen]

Great! Thanks!

[@mikebean2123]

21 people didn't like this ?

[@123must]

Beautiful rendition ! Thanks a lot

[@sweetlovest2965]

Amazing...love seeing his music here...he ranks with Bob Dylan to me ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[@wolfyk95]

He mentored dylan.

[@shembob3601]

I love Bob but he doesn't rank with Dave as a performer, though he is probably the greatest songwriter. You need the authenticity to really make it work. Dave was up there with the real deal blues performers he admired.

[@KingMinosxxvi]

@@shembob3601 I'll give Dylan this....He sure did know how throw a thesaurus out a car window real good. But Dave van Ronk was for real. Without DVR that other guy doesn't exist.

[@RedbrushDan]

Obviously God's version of this song!

[@mr.natural233]

Saw DVR at Club 47 in Boston way back in ‘73. The place has a different name now, can’t remember it... Van Ronk put on an amazing show. Been a big fan ever since.

[@herbertdunn5525]

Club 47 was in Cambridge not Boston. It's now called Passims.

[@stephengriffths6072]

JUST THE BEST.

[@reykjavik82]

the last time I saw d v r was around 2000 at the Keswick theatre outside of Philadelphia. a triple header. d v r, doc Watson, jimmy dale Gilmore. does not get any better than that. the first time I saw d v r was at the 2nd fret coffee house in Philadelphia circa 62,63.

[@debbyledbetter4434]

One of the best artists I ever heard! 1st heard him about 40 yrs. ago by a blues singer~~(I keep thinking Bobby Blue~Bland) Not thinkin too clearly right now!!!

[@christopherfujino]

Wow, I'm now convinced Dylan was inspired by this arrangement when he wrote "Blind Willie McTell".

[@johnnyc6915]

That's exactly what I thought! You've got a good ear man!

[@marcusharton5463]

It's a lot of interrelated stuff. That arrangement is inspired by Blind Willie McTell's "Dying Crapshooter's Blues", which is in turn inspired by the original version of this song, which is in turn an adaptation of an old English folk song, "Gambler's Rake(something's rake, can't remember).

[@danzbmw]

christopher fujino , Bobby Dylan slept many a night at the Von Ronk’s pad Learning licks and listening to their record collection.

[@eblackbrook]

See also Cab Calloway's "Ghost of Smokey Joe"

[@eblackbrook]

There's a line in the Dylan song about "gazing out the window of the St. James Hotel" which has to be a nod to this. He was always pretty open about lifting melodies.

[@ciaranbradley2356]

amazing

[@TimothyPinecone]

Oh so, so lovely. I posted the '59 recording Van Ronk did of this as well. It's neat to compare the two.

[@nudge2626]

Very cool, combination of St James infirmary - Louis Armstrong and Dying Crapshooter's Blues - Blind Willie Mctell. Love it

[@hatakescreams]

is this a combination of the songs mentioned above; rather than st Jame Infirmary?

[@nudge2626]

Dominic Lindsay Well I have no idea on Dave Van Ronk's influences when composing. But it sounds to me like he got most of his inspiration from st james infirmary and then borrowed some lyrics from Willie Mctell and then threw in his own unique style into the mix. It's a very unique rendition of the song. Saying that St James Infirmary is a very old song possibly written in the 18th century so who knows who inspired him! But my bet is Louis Armstrong

[@hatakescreams]

Thanks for the reply. sweet I'll check Willie McTell out!

[@marioski54]

+nudge2626 wonderful Louis, but Cab Calloway is also moving (my own opinion)

[@markrush5013]

listen to his voice....damn!

[@lightbox617]

When he was writing and performing in NYC , I was digging ditches and attending classes in NJ. I could have gone to see him perform but I chose other priorities. Maybe the wrong ones

[@viralkings123]

this and cab calloways versions are the best

[@TheGunnCat]

The Hokum Boys did the best version I've heard.

[@Weekend_Washouts]

Never heard anyone sing like this man. So much pain, drunken almost, as you would expect someone would be singing about such events if they were true for the singer. What an amazing singer. Smooth? No. Rough? Yes. Could it be done differently? Yes, but it would be nothing like this (not to put down other great versions of this son). This one is unique. But I have to ask: is the first bit of this song original? I heard a song by an old country singer called "Drunkard's Blues" in which he sings almost exactly what Dave sings at the beginning of this one but I can't remember who it was from and never caught when it was released. No, now that I think about it, I believe I looked it up when I heard it and it said 1959 if I am not mistaken which, I believe is when Dave released his original version of "Gambler's Blues" so it is still a mystery in my opinion. I may have got something wrong there? Can anyone help?

[@49dwalin55]

A lot of artists have put their spin on old blues and folk standards and some exist in part to this day. The most recent popular example of this song would be The White Stripes but I'm not sure what the earliest is. It may very well be from before Dave's time.

[@49dwalin55]

An 18th century ballad called 'The Unfortunate Rake' was the origin. Louis Armstrong popularised it in 1928, with Don Redman credited as composer (over a century after the original ballad)

[@hanshan7645]

I think you mean the Bob Wills 1939 Drunkard Blues. It's on YT. Great song.

[@fairportfan2]

Some versions of j Jimmy Rodgers "Drunkard's Blues" start that way Some don't.

[@jackmaxwell1997]

gold

[@silentstryker1590]

MY GOODNESS

[@fiddler26]

Wow...

[@stornkolson]

Fuck yeah

[@alberts1985]

Strawberry Diesel I love you

[@orektiko]

i tried to sing this song one night , drunk after my girlfriend had dumped me ...i failed ..

[@smfvmd]

Those who say white men can’t sing the blues should listen to this.

[@JuleRousee]

what album is this from?

[@metachic9070]

^.^

[@tarkic13]

oh really?

[@deltabluesfritz15]

Ich lese gerade die Kommentare und schrei Hilfe. Dieses Lied ist genauso wichtig wie viele andere: Manchmal braucht man nur einen kleinen "Fitzlefitz"-Anstoss, um einen Text zu interpretieren, den Text ausser den netüblichen Recherchenhilfen zu finden, zu singen. Was soll diese unter den Unterhosen liegende üble, ja absolut üble Anmache einander. Das ist KZbin und überhaupt: unülblich, ungebildet: ABSTOSSEND! Leute - so doch bitte nicht!.

[@Sydwayman]

So, don't post your personal opinion on a comment board!

[@krakfar5254]

This is just rude. Makes the rest of us look bad. I got goosebumps all over. God damn it

[@jerrysmither5489]

Damn, I thought Tom Waits was original...

[@muhrvis]

+Jon Smith The roots of this song go back to jazz versions in the 1920s, and then probably much earlier.

[@LuciferMorningStar666Satan]

Listen up, Everyone, Just because I don't like this version of the song and don't agree with it doesn't mean you can talk shit to me, assholes. Just like music today, I don't like it, but that doesn't mean you can talk shit about someone just because they don't like something. Everyone in the U.S. has a First Amendment right, so if you don't like what someone has to say them just ignore the comment, that is the best thing you can do.

[@LuciferMorningStar666Satan]

Besides parents from 30's and 40's generations thought the Beatles were nothing but noisy crap. Everyone doesn't agree with music, deal with it.

[@ttylbodydark]

It's ok/good but not feeling it

[@albaby6954]

Not feeling it? Man, I think you better get someone to check your pulse!