The Bethany & Rufus version
November 22, 2006 by nonotes
Bethany & Rufus are a singer-and-cello duo, mentioned on this site the other day: She’s the daughter of Pete Yarrow from Peter, Paul and Mary, and he’s a “renowned cellist.” Their CD, 900 Miles, includes a version of “SJI,” and thus gets our attention here.
The arrangement is sort of spacey and echo-y and ethereal, with Bethany’s voice dominating the spare mix. The cello is plucked, rather than sawed, which I found a bit disappointing. Bethany has a perfectly fine voice, but like many contemporary versions of the song, this one is long emote-ing, and short on genuine emotion. It’s a bit of a lounge piece, almost. In fact, you could just about imagine it being really effective as the backdrop music in a noirish movie scene, set in some faded-glory nightclub, after hours.
“St. James Infirmary,” by Bethany & Rufus
A couple of years ago I did some research into the song "St. James Infirmary," wrote up what I found, emailed that essay to friends and posted it on my web site (as part of a series of "Letters From New Orleans," as I was living in that city at the time). Based on the feedback, I wrote a second version of the essay, and asked for more feedback. Based on that, I wrote a 
