Dave Van Ronk - St.James Infirmary 

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

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.

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.

As long as I live I will miss him.

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.

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.

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

He was just so God damned good - RIP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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.

@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...

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

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.

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

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

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

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

DVR is a legend I value dearly!

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

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.

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

Love,...Love, love this version!

Great! Thanks!

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.

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!!!

OMG, this is so killer.

Beautiful rendition ! Thanks a lot

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.

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

JUST THE BEST.

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...

listen to his voice....damn!

this and cab calloways versions are the best

amazing

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

Obviously God's version of this song!

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

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

gold

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

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?

MY GOODNESS

Wow...

Fuck yeah

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

Strawberry Diesel I love you

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

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 RU-vid und überhaupt: unülblich, ungebildet: ABSTOSSEND! Leute - so doch bitte nicht!.

oh really?

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

what album is this from?

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

Damn, I thought Tom Waits was original...

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.

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.

It's ok/good but not feeling it