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 third version.
And now, this site: A place to collect some of the links, leads, thoughts, and suggestions relating to the song that readers (from Finland, The Netherlands, Australia, Spain, England, Sweden, Canada, and all over the U.S.) have sent me. This may lead to a fourth and significantly expanded version of the essay, some day. Also on this site: Plenty of tangents.
Never heard “St. James Infirmary”? Start here.
Greetings … just wanted to point out, as a frequent reader of your blog, that my book, “Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song,” about the history of the song “House of the Rising Sun,” was published last month. You had mentioned it in a post last year and I thought you might be interested in checking it out.
Best,
Ted Anthony
Montclair, NJ
Hi,
GREAT site. I’ve not heard many versions of this song - one of my favorites among favorites. I have only seen part of your site, but I don’t see anything about the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s version from Preservation Hall Jazz Band: New Orleans Vol IV (http://www.amazon.com/Orleans-Vol-Preservation-Hall-Jazz/dp/B0000026PH) here, which is strange considering your thoughts on the King Oliver Version. I’m sure you’re familiar with the band itself, so i won’t go into any detail regarding them other than to say you should also check out their newest box set Made In New Orleans: The Hurricane Sessions. It includes loads of classic new orleans printed ephemera as well as a dvd, but the cd itself is the treasure. After the water receded the owner went to Seasaint Studios where the band had recorded for years and found the tape vault had been flooded to nearly the top level of tapes - ruining masters by masters in many cases (paul mccartney and on and on) - - leaving only a row or two of unruined 2″ master tapes including archived unreleased recordings of the preservation hall jazz band. Some of these unfinished recordings were now finished with members of the new band and as such it stands as a testament to the band over the years, plus it’s nice to hear collaborations between members generations apart, over 30 years in the making.
Really - though - the version of SJI on New Orleans Vol IV is amazing.
Meh - i don’t see an edit button - I meant to say i haven’t heard many versions of this song that I don’t like! I’ve indeed heard many - but not as many as you have collected here!
What a treasure for a casual researcher who is now completely hooked on Saint James Infirmary.
Casual, as I was just looking for guitar tabs to Van Morrison’s version I came across on Austin City Limits. In Googling around, the first references I pursued were to Gambler’s Blues and other versions, Arlo Guthrie’s among others, and having lost at poker tonight, I was further intrigued.
Wikpedia informed me, among other things, that the song’s origins were apparently in the “old world”, and that the major changes in the lyrics basically involved shifting the source of the subject’s “blues” from prostitution and / or a lost love to gambling and alcohol. I was further intrigued. And finally, at the bottom of the Wik page, I found where they must have gotten all this - your research.
Thank you, and I look forward to following your pursuit. Hope I can contribute some day. I won’t be surprised if you don’t get into some really old Celtic traditional songs eventually. If the Rake songs were collected in the late 18th century in England, and were old at all, they would likely have already been carried by many Scots Irish immigrants to the states. And the Scots Irish immigrants basically influenced every aspect of the settlement of the South, including its music.
thanks for the tantalizing history behind “St. James Infirmary Blues” which has haunted me for some time. My first hearing of this song brought an unshakeable sense of familiarity, like a memory which I simply could not have. Subsequent listening and versions compel me to try and remember.
blessings.
Thanks for doing all of this research. SJI is one of my favourite songs of all time.
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the Australian singer Chrissy Amphlett (lead singer with the Divinyls) makes several references to SJI in her biography ‘Pleasure And Pain’ published in 2005 or so.
If you would like me to go through the book and pick out the references for you, let me know.
Hi Kerry,
Yes, of course I’d like to hear more about that. Email me at rw@robwalker.net.
I’m very curious to hear!
Cheers. rw
I couldn’t find it listed anywhere on here, so I thought you might be interested to know that Holy Cow did a version of “St. James Infirmary Blues”. Here’s their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/holycowtheband . As of this comment, they have a live performance of SFI on the page.
Hello, I really like your site. I first heard the song in the Betty Boop cartoon and loved it. I thought you might be interested to know of a version I found of it sung by one of my favorite singers, Rufus Wainwright, and his mother and sister. This version seems quite unlike the others, especially the lyrics. Let me know if you’d like the link.
Hello! I’ve just bumped into your research on SJI, while musing over the very same two lines that captured your attention years ago (she can (…
man like me), and simply cannot stop reading.
I should add that my first encounter with the song was a version by the Graham Bond Organisation.
Bond - Hammond organist, alto saxophonist and singer - was a key figure in London’s 60’s jazz, blues and r&b scenes. A member of (father of British blues) Alexis Korner’s Blues, Inc. for some time in the early Sixties, Graham Bond featured many future high-profile musicians in his band, including jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin; drummer Jon Hiseman and the late tenor sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith, founders of jazz-rock band Colosseum; and, last and fame-most, bassist/harmonica player/singer Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, two thirds of world-renowned band Cream (the third being Eric Clapton).
http://www.grahambond.net/singles.html
So much for pop pedantry. Thanks a lot for your dedication!
tex
(EDIT: that smiley was unintentional…
Oh well. I guess it can serve an a posteriori purpose. Add a not-uncalled-for touch of lightness, maybe?)