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Regarding “St. James Infirmary” and other things related to the book “Letters From New Orleans”

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Dr. John’s Versions

March 12, 2006 by nonotes


Listening the other day to an interview with Dr. John on NPR got me thinking about a version of “St. James” he did under the title “Touro Infirmary” (which refers to an actual New Orleans institution). A few people told me about this after the very first version of the “St. James Infirmary” essay was posted, a couple of years ago now. One of them actually sent me the song, which was recorded in 1982 and appeared on the record The Brightest Smile In Town (or on the CD version, at least).

Before I lived in New Orleans, I basically thought of Dr. John as the guy who did the song “Right Place, Wrong Time,” which was an FM staple when I was very young, and which never did much for me. I’ve wised up since then: I am still not wild about that particular tune, but one of the things I learned by osmosis during our New Orleans stint is the musical context that Dr. John came out of, and I now “get” him. Actually I have a pretty specific memory of the moment that made me realize that I had totally misjudged the man: I was listening to WWOZ in the kitchen one afternoon, and they played this recording of him talking about New Orleans piano styles, and illustrating his points with music as he spoke. It was a brief but totally fascinating passage — and of course his speaking voice is mesmerizing.

More to the point, I have to say, his “Touro Infirmary” is really great, a totally passionate and gritty performance. He rewrote the lyrics completely, to make the song not about a lover, but a “running partner.”

I went down to the Touro Infirmary,
Lord knows, and I found my running partner there.
He was stretched out on a coal-black table, yes he was.
Lord, the narcotic agent left him there.

He was gone, he was gone,
God don’t you miss him?
A better man than him can never be found.
All the characters on the street all around here
They all know he’s laid his burden down. . . .

Full lyrics, to the best of my ability to transcribe them, are here.

Digging back through very old correspondence on this matter, I find that a couple of people mentioned to me that the lyrics appear in Dr. John’s memoir, Under a Hoodoo Moon, which everyone says is excellent. Apparently in the book he describes the song as “a pain-filled sayonara to a partner long gone.” On the CD, the song is credited to “Traditional,” and needless to say Dr. John is very much in the “traditional” tradition in reworking the song’s story.

More recently he recorded the song again, under the title “St. James Infirmary,” on a 2004 album called Dis, Dat, and D’Udda, but I’m less interested in that take. Also, I’ve been told of (and have seen Web references to) a bootleg version from 1996 of Dr. John performing the song live with Eric Clapton, but I have not heard this*. Finally, I should mention that the NPR interview cited above was partly tied to his recent EP, Sippiana Hericane; evidently, proceeds from that disc go to the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, the Jazz Foundation of America, and The Voice Of The Wetlands.

* Update, May 2, 2006: Now I have, see this post.

Thanks: Raymond Landry, Cal Morgan, Reagan Arthur, Rene Crowe, and Marie-Jeanne Trauth.

Dr. John - The Legendary Sessions, Vol. 2 - Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennnack - Touro Infirmary
“Touro Infirmary” (1982)

Dr. John - N'awlinz - Dis Dat or D'udda - St. James Infirmary
“St. James Infirmary” (2004)

Lyrics follow.

Touro Infirmary
[By Dr. John]

 

I went down to the Touro Infirmary,
Lord knows, and I found my running partner there.
He was stretched out on a coal-black table, yes he was.
Lord, the narcotic agent left him there.

He was gone, he was gone,
God don’t you miss him?
A better man than him can never be found.
All the characters on the street all around here
They all know he’s laid his burden down.

He said, “When I go, when I go,
Lay a ten-dollar gold piece on my eyelids.
Lord knows I want loaded craps in shoes.
I want the finest whores off of Bourbon Street
And I want to hear Professor Longhair sing a low-down blues.”

I went down to the Touro Infirmary
And I seen my sweet running partner there.
He was stretched out, with a DOA sticker
With a .32 hole in his hair.

You know they say Chief Giarrusso had warned him:
“Son you can’t win this game.”
But that never stopped him as long as he was living.
Yeah Lord, you can’t hold the boy to blame.

Yeah went down to the Touro Infirmary
Lord knows that I seen my running partner there.
He was stretched out on a coal black table, yes he was .
It made me cry to see him there.

Let him go let, him let him go, him let him go, him let him go,
Straight to heaven.
I know none of you dirty rats expect him there.
He was a better man than all the ones that expect to arrive
From that Touro Infirmary, he don’t care.

Touro Infirmary.
Yeah.

Note: These are the lyrics as I hear them. In Dr. John’s book Under A Hoodoo Moon, the lyrics are apparently published with a few differences. Most significantly, in place of the line, “With a .32 hole in his hair,” the book says it’s “With a .323 special in his hand.” Also, the book includes an “alternate lyric” for one section:

It was a cold black night last winter
Five coal black horses on Prytania Street
Five coal black ho’s all dressed in leather
Waitin’ by the Touro Infirmary)

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Posted in "St. James Infirmary", Antecedents and Variations, Versions |

  • “St. James Infirmary”

    [Or: The Point of this Site]

    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.

  • The Essay

    gambit-cover.jpg

    The most recent version of my "St. James Infirmary" essay is now a few years old. But it's still a fairly decent overview of what I know about the song, and why I'm interested in it. You can read it either in the book Letters from New Orleans (see below), or in the archives of The Gambit, the New Orleans weekly that published the piece as a book excerpt when LfNO came out.

  • The Book

    This site is a partial spinoff of the book Letters from New Orleans, published by the unstoppable Garrett County Press. My interest in "St. James Infirmary" is the subject of one essay in the book. All author proceeds from the book still go to post-Katrina relief efforts, so I think it's okay for me to say: You ought to buy it.

  • Podcast!

    In November 2007 I was invited to do an all-"SJI" episode of the outstanding Podcast The Sounds In My Head. My episode is here. Post about it (with playlist, so, you know, spoiler alert) is here.
  • 1. St. James (+ Tangents)

    • “I Went Down To St. James Infirmary” blog
    • * Betty Boop cartoon with Cab Calloway’s version of “St. James Infirmary.”
    • * Dutch radio broadcast featuring many versions of “S.J.I.” Part One.
    • * Dutch radio broadcast featuring many versions of “S.J.I.” Part Two
    • * Irving Mills overview via The Red Hot Jazz Archive
    • * Metafilter August 2005 “Streets of Laredo” discussion
    • * Metafilter June 2004 “St. James” discussion
    • * Mudcat discussion
    • * Tablature
    • * The Hot 8: The band I heard play “St. James Infirmary” in the late 1990s
    • * The Unfortunate Rake collection on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
    • * The Unfortunate Rake lyrics
    • * Transcript of S.N.L. with Lilly Tomlin singing “St. James Infirmary.”
    • * Unfortunate Lass lyrics
    • * Wikipedia entry
  • 2. Other Music (+ So On)

    • Alan Lomax Stuff
    • Disquiet
    • Downtown Soulville with Mr. Fine Wine
    • Folkways Smithsonian
    • Gary Giddins Essay on Louis Armstrong
    • Give the Drummer Some
    • Home of the Groove
    • Louisiana Music Directory Blog (Alex Rawls)
    • Music of New Orleans: Music of the Streets; Music of Mardi Gras
    • Myshkin’s Ruby Warblers
    • Negrospirituals.com
    • Soup Greens
    • Still Singing The Blues
    • The American Folklife Center
    • The Florida Folklife Collection
    • The Red Hot Jazz Archive
    • The Sounds In My Head
    • The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong
    • WBGO
    • WWOZ
  • 3. New Orleans (+ Like That)

    • “Class-ifying the Hurricane,” by Adolph Reed Jr.
    • * Why America Needs a City Right Where New Orleans Is
    • After the Deluge: Comic by Josh Neufeld
    • Basin Street Records
    • Culture Gulf
    • Katrina & post-Katrina shots by our friend, photographer Charles Franklin
    • Louisiana Music Factory
    • Washing Away
  • Categories

    • "St. James Infirmary"
    • Announcement
    • Announcements
    • Antecedents and Variations
    • Folk/Tradition
    • Friends
    • In performance
    • Intellectual property
    • Irving Mills/Joe Primrose
    • Letters From New Orleans book
    • Lyric deconstruction
    • MLK BLVD
    • Movies & Television
    • Musical context
    • MySpace/YouTube/Etc.
    • New Orleans
    • Non-musical context
    • One song / one album
    • Other Music +
    • Public Housing
    • Q&As
    • Questions (and sometimes answers)
    • St. James +
    • St. James Infirmary (the building)
    • Thanks
    • The Hot 8
    • The Rolling Jelly Series
    • The Thing Itself
    • Uncategorized
    • Versions
  • Versions

    I either own or am familiar with a bunch of versions of S.J.I. and close variations by a variety of artists. Here's a list, in progress. For now I'm concentrating on SJI, rather than its folk antecedents or any of the "Streets of Laredo" thread. Title is "St. James Infirmary" or "St. James Infirmary Blues" unless otherwise noted:


    A - B -C
  • Aempirei
  • Henry "Red" Allen
  • Little Pink Anderson
  • Glenn David Andrews
  • The Animals
  • Louis Armstrong (more than once, but the 1928 version is the one I'm partial to); 1967 version discussed here

  • Baby Boyz
  • James "Iron Head" Baker ("St. James Hospital;" a Lomax field recording)
  • Danny Barker
  • Count Basie
  • "Antoine Batiste"
  • Bethany & Rufus
  • Bobby "Blue" Bland
  • Dock Boggs
  • The Graham Bond Organisation
  • James Booker
  • Elton Britt
  • Peter Brötzmann/Die Like a Dog

  • Cab Calloway
  • Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan
  • Sister Wynona Carr ("I'm A Pilgrim Traveler")
  • Big Al Carson / The Magnificent Sevenths
  • Eric Clapton and Dr. John (live)
  • Joe Cocker
  • Anat Cohen
  • Ray Condo
  • Harry Connick Jr.
  • J. Lawrence Cook
  • Scatman Crothers

  • D-E-F

  • Joe Dassin
  • Herman Davis ("Barroom Blues")
  • The Doors

  • Snooks Eaglin
  • Ramblin' Jack Elliot

  • Bob French's Original Tuxedo Jazz Band & Friends

  • G-H-I

  • Michael Galasso ("Blue"), an amazing piece.
  • Red Garland (a nice one)
  • Errol Garner
  • Benny Goodman
  • Andy Griffith
  • Arlo Guthrie

  • Hall Johnson Negro Choir
  • Harlem Hot Chocolates
  • Alex Hill and His Orchestra
  • Earl Hines
  • Mattie Hite ("St. Joe's Infirmary")
  • Nils Hoffmann
  • Toshiyuki Honda
  • The Hokum Boys ("Gamber's Blues," two excellent takes)

  • J-K-L

  • Janis Joplin (mentioned to me by multiple people; I don't have it)
  • Dr. John ("Touro Infirmary")
  • Tom Jones

  • Kansas City Frank and his Footwarmers
  • Johnny Kendall & The Heralds (I'm told this was huge in The Netherlands in the 1960s)
  • Stan Kenton (twice, I think, one of those as "Gambler's Blues")
  • Chris Thomas King
  • Spider John Koerner
  • Joe Krown

  • George E. Lee and his Novelty Singing Orchestra
  • Julia Lee
  • Blake Leyh, Davis Rogan, Tony Jarvis
  • Limelighters

  • M-N-O

  • Magnolia Sisters ("Barroom Blues")
  • Colette Magny
  • The Main Squeeze Orchestra
  • Roger McGuinn
  • Jimmy McPartland
  • Blind Willie McTell (as "Dyin' Crapshooters Blues," in 1942 and 1956; I prefer the latter)
  • Irving Mills and His Hotsy Tosty Gang
  • Van Morrison
  • Megan Mullally
  • The Mumlers

  • Nelstone's Hawaiians ("You'll Never Find A Daddy Like Me")

  • (Mystic Knights of) Oingo Boingo
  • King Oliver
  • The Outsiders Featuring Maddie Ruthless
  • Kid Ory

  • P-Q-R

  • Moses "Clear Rock" Platt. ("St. James Hospital," a Lomax field recording)
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Yim Yames
  • Hot Lips Paige
  • Perez Prado

  • Lou Rawls
  • Jerry Reed
  • Della Reese
  • Django Reinhardt
  • Marc Ribot (Solo guitar instrumental; one of my favorites)
  • Tony Rice ("St. James Hospital")
  • Jimmie Rodgers ("Those Gamblers' Blues," one of my very favorites; "Gambling Barrooom Blues" is similar)
  • Kermit Ruffins

  • S-T-U

  • Artie Shaw
  • Archie Shepp
  • Frederick "Shep" Sheppard ("Habari Gani")
  • Ezra Sims ("Sextet")
  • Sin the Tik
  • Jimmy Smith
  • Snakefarm
  • James Solbere
  • Muggsy Spanier
  • Pete Special/Old Town School of Folk
  • Standells
  • The Stolen Sweets
  • Jack Teagarden (at least two versions)
  • Alphonso Trent and his Orchestra
  • Triffids
  • Trombone Shorty

  • V-W-X-Y-Z

    Dave Van Ronk

  • Doc Watson ("St. James Hospital")
  • Josh White
  • The White Stripes
  • Fess Williams and His Royal Flush Orchestra ("Gambler's Blues")
  • Cassandra Wilson
  • Garland Wilson
  • Jackie Wilson
  • Marva Wright

  • The Ventures

  • Frank Zappa ("Ain't Necessarily the St. James Infirmary Blues," a pretty cool take)

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