It has been noted that Dylan was influenced by Dave Van Ronk's version of the song, given Van Ronk's claim that Dylan used his version of "House of the Rising Sun" which also appears on Dylan's first album.
It has been noted that Dylan was influenced by Folk Revivalist Dave Van Ronk's version of the song. This possibility is borne out by Martin Scorsese's recent documentary on Dylan-- "No Direction Home"--where Van Ronk claims that Dylan used his version of "House Of The Rising Sun", which also appears on Dylan's first album.