Either I’m an idiot, or it’s supremely annoying that WordPress won’t let me embed this video. Or both. Anyway, here is something described as: “Monet of HARPNOTIC plays St. James Infirmary on a 23 string Celtic Lap Harp.”

Robert W. Harwood over at I Went Down To St. James Infirmary has the 411: “The fact is that I really like this.”

A fairly traditional treatment, but the sound is haunting and lovely. Enjoy.

UPDATE October 29: See the comments — seems that this is actually Josh White singing (although those are pictures of Leadbelly, I’m pretty sure.) A humiliating turn of events for no notes! Our thanks to Robert W. Harwood for setting the record straight! And apologies to all…

–> Thx: G.K.!

A brief recap. An old Betty Boop cartoon by Max Fleischer is an astonishing and surreal piece of work, and happens to feature a Cab Calloway rendition of “St. James Infirmary.” Fleischer made several cartoons featuring jazz works. The 1933 Boop cartoon (considered a classic) features the character Koko the clown — referenced by The White Stripes in their cover of “SJI,” which throws in an extra verse that I believe must have been inspired by the vintage cartoon.

A while ago I started hearing that a new cartoon was in the works. And that it would be produced under the auspices of Preservation Hall, which has been balancing out its deep traditions with new ideas. Details emerged last month: The new animation would feature a version of “SJI” remixed by King Britt, whose work I like a lot.

So the above video is the result. I think it’s pretty great, and the animation is full of nice references and allusions that will demand a separate post … later.

P.S.: Gambit’s site also compares this cartoon to “Steamboat Willie,” here.

P.P.S.: Friend of no notes Alex Rawls has some great info and observations on this, here.

The Globe and Mail has an article about a Canadian TV show called Battle of the Blades, which I gather is like one of those silly dance-competition reality shows, but, with skating. Who cares? Well, I only know about it because of this:

On a recent show, one duo performed a routine to the music of the White Stripes’ version of St. James Infirmary . It was devastatingly good – a remarkable dance dramatization of the great blues song. “I went down to St. James Infirmary/ Saw my baby there/ Set down on a long white table/ So sweet, so cold, so fair.” The performance was chilling.

Sadly, there is no video.

[UPDATE: That link's not working anymore because they've password-protected the video for now, per comments. Boooo! Oh well, we'll be patient.]

Fantastic! Loaded with great N.O. and SJI details that I’ll address more later. But for now, check it out:

Preservation Hall Jazz Band – St. James Infirmary (King Britt Remix) from Lantian Xie on Vimeo.

Alex Rawls passes along this (obviously exciting!) news:

Preservation Hall Recordings is proud to present a brand-new, locally produced animated music video! Directed by Lafayette-based teacher and animator James Tancill, the music video for the Preservation Hall / King Britt remix of “St. James Infirmary” by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band is an animated romp in the style of Max Fleischer (Betty Boop, etc.) that plays out like a storybook caper set against a backdrop of beloved New Orleans characters and institutions both old and new. Audiences familiar with the iconography of New Orleans music and culture will thrill as characters and beloved landmarks from the past and present find new life in an animated tableau.

Set to music by The Preservation Hall Jazz Band (as led by dearly departed bandleader John Brunious, Jr. and remixed by noted Philadelphia DJ and producer King Britt (Digable Planets, E-Culture) and Preservation Hall Creative Director Ben Jaffe) the video for “St. James Infirmary” follows the antics of Ronnie Numbers and Mr. The Turk of The New Orleans Bingo! Show through a dark and mischievous imagining of the song’s classic narrative as sung by Clint Maedgen (PHJB, The New Orleans Bingo! Show). Starring animated versions of Clint Maedgen, Ben Jaffe, and King Britt; and featuring appearances by such departed icons as John Brunious Jr., Sweet Emma Barrett, and Marie Laveau in such familiar settings as Preservation Hall, Jackson Square, and the long-defunct Pontchartrain Beach amusement park, “St. James Infirmary” is the third music video from Preservation Hall Recordings to feature the cross-over appeal of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The New Orleans Bingo! Show.

“We were looking for a fun way to visually document some of the great icons of New Orleans music and culture. What better way to bridge the past and the present than with a modern cartoon in an instantly recognizable, classic style. And made right here in New Orleans.”

- Preservation Hall Creative Director Ben Jaffe
Son of Preservation Hall founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe

Previously:

1. Animation in progress?

2. Trad v. Prog at Preservation Hall.

3. The Betty Boop Cartoon.

THX ALEX!!

Actually: Speaking of the Toussaint/Costello tune “Ascension Day,” it’s the song that made me zero on the phrase “let her go” in “SJI,” because I assumed (and actually still believe) that “SJI” is what Costello was referencing when he dropped it into his lyrics.

A reader pointed out to me some time ago that the phrase probably found its way into “SJI” from elsewhere. Moreover, heroic “SJI” researcher and author Robert W. Harwood and the readers of his I Went Down To St. James Infirmary blog have since traced it back to at least 1909. Now: He has a new post on the matter, concerning a tune called “She’s Gone Let Her Go,” appearing in, of all places, a 1902 book of “Harvard University Songs”:

“She’s Gone, Let Her Go,” with its chorus that is so familiar from SJI, appears on page 72. The melody is utterly ordinary, a kind of parlor ditty that one could imagine being sung by hearty fellows in argyle sweaters, gathered around a piano with drinks in their hands. The lyric is the same as that identified in a March 21st entry on this blog, from the 1909 Harvard song book. The fact that it has appeared in at least two of these books, and that it is joined by only twenty-six others in this 1902 book, attests to its popularity at the time – at least among students at Harvard.

Mr. Harwood’s new post is here.

I went down to St. James Infirmary
60 people were waiting there
It was 8 AM in the morning
And we barely had the cab fare

First they handed me a pile of papers
The first page was easy to do
It said who is your health insurer
I wrote ‘none’ and turned to page two

All the same old questions
I answered 20 times before
Did they ever hear of computers?
This is what they were invented for ...

Full lyrics and the actual song — which has a good sound, too — are here, at the site of Polarity/1, the musicians responsible.

I think this is a fantastic development. Truly inspired. Via Danny Schechter News Dissector.