St. James Infirmary Blues
Encyclopedia
"St. James Infirmary Blues" is based on an 18th century traditional English folk song of anonymous
origin, though sometimes credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose (a pseudonym for Irving Mills
). Louis Armstrong
made it famous in his influential 1928 recording.
The title is derived from St. James Hospital in London
, a religious foundation for the treatment of leprosy
. It was closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St. James Palace.
The song was first collected in England in its version as "The Unfortunate Rake" by Henry Hammond by a Mr. William Cutis at Lyme Regis
, Dorset
in March 1906.
Like most such folksongs, there is much variation in the lyrics from one version to another. As a representative version, here is the first stanza as sung by Louis Armstrong
:
, Cab Calloway
, James Booker
, Duke Ellington
, Louis Armstrong
, Kermit Ruffins
, King Oliver, Artie Shaw
, Big Mama Thornton
, Jack Teagarden
, Wingy Manone
, Billie Holiday
, Cassandra Wilson
, Stan Kenton
, Lou Rawls
, Bobby Bland
, Ramblin' Jack Elliott
, Doc Watson
, Dave Van Ronk
, "Spider" John Koerner, Janis Joplin
, The Doors
, Paul Butterfield
, Johnny Kendall & the Heralds, The Animals
, The Standells
, and more recently The White Stripes
, The Devil Makes Three
, the Stray Cats
, the Tarbox Ramblers
, Snooks Eaglin
, Hugh Laurie
, Isobel Campbell
and Mark Lanegan
, and Tom Jones
with Jools Holland
. Jazz guitarists Marc Ribot
and Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones have recorded instrumental versions.
The person holding the copyright is listed as Joe Primrose. According to the song's publisher (EMI), Irving Mills, using the pseudonym Joe Primrose, took the copyright on the song in 1929. However, the Louis Armstrong recording was actually made in late 1928. One of the only recordings, if not the "only" recording, that pre-dates Armstrong's is a performance by Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra, made February 25, 1927 in New York City. The song is listed as "Gambler's Blues," and the writer credit is "Moore-Baxter." In spite of having a different name, the lyrics and tune are close enough to be considered the same song.
Bob Dylan
used the melody in his song "Blind Willie McTell
" (released on Bootleg Series, Volumes 1–3), named for blues singer Blind Willie McTell
(who recorded a version of the song under the title "Dying Crapshooter's Blues"); the song makes reference to the "St. James Hotel" in Minneapolis.
Hugh Laurie recorded St. James Infirmary in 2011 on the album "Let Them Talk" using the same first verse words as the Louis Armstrong version. For this version Laurie added an extended intro which sampled the songs House of the Rising Sun (another song representative of New Orleans) and You Can't Always Get What You Want
(a signature song on Laurie's television show House).
Van Morrison
recorded a rendition on the 2003 Grammy-nominated album, What's Wrong with This Picture?
and a live version on the limited edition album, Live at Austin City Limits Festival
(2006). Eric Clapton
and Dr. John
performed a rendition of the song during a 1996 concert. Arlo Guthrie
performed a rendition on NPR
's Talk of the Nation on November 14, 2001. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
performed it at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival
(recorded by NPR). Robert Crumb
released a version on a CD included in the R. Crumb Handbook. Live versions appear on Joe Cocker
's albums Joe Cocker (1972), and Live in L.A. (1976).
The Bing Crosby
musical Birth of the Blues featured the song in 1941. Cab Calloway
can be seen singing it and dancing a slide dance in the Betty Boop
cartoon Snow White. His performance was filmed, then transferred into the cartoon using rotoscoping. In 2002, the song appeared in Osamu Tezuka
's anime film Metropolis
as performed by Atsushi Kimura and arranged by Toshiyuki Honda.
In November, 1975, Lily Tomlin
performed "St. James Infirmary" with Howard Shore
and His All-Nurse Band on "NBC's Saturday Night" (later to be known as Saturday Night Live
), which was the SNL band dressed up in nurse uniforms. Paul Shaffer
was the piano player in the performance.
The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo performed this song regularly on their tours of the US in the early 1970s.
This song was sung by Gloria in the episode The End of the Affair of the The Vampire Diaries
. The lyrics she sang were: I went down to St. James Infirmary / My heart felt just like lead / He was all I had to live for / I wish that it was me instead.
The St. James Hotel to which Bob Dylan was referring is located in Red Wing, MN, not in Minneapolis, MN. If one notes the title of another of Dylan's songs -- "The Walls of Red Wing," one will make the link between the Red Wing Dentention Center and the famous hotel in the small town.
Anonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
origin, though sometimes credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose (a pseudonym for Irving Mills
Irving Mills
Irving Mills was a jazz music publisher, also known by the name of "Joe Primrose."Mills was born to Jewish parents in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. He founded Mills Music with his brother Jack in 1919...
). Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
made it famous in his influential 1928 recording.
Authorship and history
"St. James Infirmary Blues" is based on an 18th century traditional English folk song called "The Unfortunate Rake" (also known as "The Unfortunate Lad" or "The Young Man Cut Down in His Prime"). There are numerous versions of the song throughout the English-speaking world. It also evolved into other American standards such as "The Streets of Laredo". "The Unfortunate Rake" is about a sailor who uses his money on prostitutes, and then dies of a venereal disease. Different versions of the song expand on this theme: variations typically feature a narrator telling the story of a youth "cut down in his prime" (occasionally "her prime") as a result of some morally questionable actions. For example, when the song moved to America, gambling and alcohol became common causes of the youth’s death.The title is derived from St. James Hospital in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, a religious foundation for the treatment of leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
. It was closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St. James Palace.
The song was first collected in England in its version as "The Unfortunate Rake" by Henry Hammond by a Mr. William Cutis at Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
in March 1906.
The song
The song involves a man telling the singer/narrator, at a bar, how he went down to St. James Infirmary (hospital) and tragically found his girl (the so-called "baby") dead.Like most such folksongs, there is much variation in the lyrics from one version to another. As a representative version, here is the first stanza as sung by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
:
- I went down to St. James Infirmary,
- Saw my baby there,
- Stretched out on a long white table,
- So cold, so sweet, so fair.
- Let her go, let her go, God bless her,
- Wherever she may be,
- She can look this wide world over,
- But she'll never find a sweet man like me.
Performers
Notable performers of this song include Abner JayAbner Jay
Abner Jay was an American multi-instrumentalist, who is best known for performing eccentric, blues infused folk music, as a one man band. His idiosyncratic lyrics and style can also be considered within the realm of outsider music.-History:...
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, James Booker
James Booker
James Carroll Booker III was a jazz, New Orleans rhythm and blues and soul musician born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.-Biography:...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Kermit Ruffins
Kermit Ruffins
Kermit Ruffins is a jazz trumpeter, singer and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has been heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and Eddy Jefferson. Ruffins accompanies a large portion of his songs with his own vocals, and he says that the highest note he can hit...
, King Oliver, Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
, Big Mama Thornton
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks in 1953. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million...
, Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
, Wingy Manone
Wingy Manone
Wingy Manone was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His major recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a Time ", and "Tailgate Ramble".- Biography :Manone was born Joseph Matthews Mannone in New Orleans,...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
, Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Bobby Bland
Bobby Bland
Robert Calvin Bland better known as Bobby "Blue" Bland, is an American singer of blues and soul. He is an original member of the Beale Streeters, and is sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues"...
, Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Ramblin' Jack Elliott is an American folk singer and performer.-Life and career:Elliot Charles Adnopoz was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents in 1931. Elliott grew up inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, and wanted to be a cowboy...
, Doc Watson
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
, Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
, "Spider" John Koerner, Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
, Johnny Kendall & the Heralds, The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
, The Standells
The Standells
The Standells are a garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as the "Godfathers of Punk Rock", and are best known for their 1966 hit "Dirty Water," now the anthem of several Boston sports teams.-The 1960s:...
, and more recently The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
, The Devil Makes Three
The Devil Makes Three (band)
The Devil Makes Three may refer to:* The Devil Makes Three , an American band* The Devil Makes Three , a 1952 film...
, the Stray Cats
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
, the Tarbox Ramblers
Tarbox Ramblers
The Tarbox Ramblers are a musical group probably best labelled as Adult Alternative or blues/folk revival; in the words of founder Michael Tarbox, a "primitive blues and jug band". The original line-up with Robbie Phillips , J...
, Snooks Eaglin
Snooks Eaglin
Snooks Eaglin, born Fird Eaglin, Jr. , was a New Orleans-based guitarist and singer. He was also referred to as Blind Snooks Eaglin in his early years....
, Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
, Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell is a Scottish singer, cellist and composer in the indie and rock genres.-History:Campbell was a member of Belle & Sebastian from their formation in Glasgow in 1996 until 2002, when she departed the band for personal reasons. She played cello and keyboards with the band, and sang...
and Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan
Mark Lanegan is an American rock musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge group Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career...
, and Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
with Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
. Jazz guitarists Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...
and Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones have recorded instrumental versions.
The person holding the copyright is listed as Joe Primrose. According to the song's publisher (EMI), Irving Mills, using the pseudonym Joe Primrose, took the copyright on the song in 1929. However, the Louis Armstrong recording was actually made in late 1928. One of the only recordings, if not the "only" recording, that pre-dates Armstrong's is a performance by Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra, made February 25, 1927 in New York City. The song is listed as "Gambler's Blues," and the writer credit is "Moore-Baxter." In spite of having a different name, the lyrics and tune are close enough to be considered the same song.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
used the melody in his song "Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell (song)
"Blind Willie McTell" is a song by Bob Dylan, titled after the blues singer Blind Willie McTell. It was recorded in 1983 but left off Dylan's album Infidels and officially released in 1991 on the The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 1961-1991. The melody is loosely based on "St. James Infirmary Blues"...
" (released on Bootleg Series, Volumes 1–3), named for blues singer Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell , was an influential Piedmont and ragtime blues singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues, although, unlike his contemporaries, he used exclusively a twelve-string guitar...
(who recorded a version of the song under the title "Dying Crapshooter's Blues"); the song makes reference to the "St. James Hotel" in Minneapolis.
Hugh Laurie recorded St. James Infirmary in 2011 on the album "Let Them Talk" using the same first verse words as the Louis Armstrong version. For this version Laurie added an extended intro which sampled the songs House of the Rising Sun (another song representative of New Orleans) and You Can't Always Get What You Want
You Can't Always Get What You Want
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a song by The Rolling Stones released on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. Written primarily by Mick Jagger with assistance from Keith Richards, it was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone in its 2004 list of "500 Greatest Songs of All...
(a signature song on Laurie's television show House).
Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
recorded a rendition on the 2003 Grammy-nominated album, What's Wrong with This Picture?
What's Wrong with This Picture? (Van Morrison album)
What's Wrong with this Picture? is the thirtieth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on October 21 2003 ....
and a live version on the limited edition album, Live at Austin City Limits Festival
Live at Austin City Limits Festival
Live at Austin City Limits Festival by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison is a limited edition live album recorded from the Austin City Limits Festival concert at which he was the first night headliner on September 15, 2006...
(2006). Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
performed a rendition of the song during a 1996 concert. Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
performed a rendition on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Talk of the Nation on November 14, 2001. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the name for numerous groups of Dixieland Jazz and traditional jazz bands at Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana, and on tours as organized by the Preservation Hall...
performed it at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
(recorded by NPR). Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
released a version on a CD included in the R. Crumb Handbook. Live versions appear on Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
's albums Joe Cocker (1972), and Live in L.A. (1976).
The Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
musical Birth of the Blues featured the song in 1941. Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
can be seen singing it and dancing a slide dance in the Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
cartoon Snow White. His performance was filmed, then transferred into the cartoon using rotoscoping. In 2002, the song appeared in Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
's anime film Metropolis
Metropolis (anime)
Metropolis is a 2001 [anime] film and loosely based on the 1949 Metropolis manga created by the late Osamu Tezuka, itself inspired by the 1927 German silent film of the same name, though the two do not share plot elements. The anime, however, does draw aspects of its storyline directly from the...
as performed by Atsushi Kimura and arranged by Toshiyuki Honda.
In November, 1975, Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
performed "St. James Infirmary" with Howard Shore
Howard Shore
Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,...
and His All-Nurse Band on "NBC's Saturday Night" (later to be known as Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
), which was the SNL band dressed up in nurse uniforms. Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
was the piano player in the performance.
The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo performed this song regularly on their tours of the US in the early 1970s.
This song was sung by Gloria in the episode The End of the Affair of the The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
. The lyrics she sang were: I went down to St. James Infirmary / My heart felt just like lead / He was all I had to live for / I wish that it was me instead.
See also
The St. James Hotel to which Bob Dylan was referring is located in Red Wing, MN, not in Minneapolis, MN. If one notes the title of another of Dylan's songs -- "The Walls of Red Wing," one will make the link between the Red Wing Dentention Center and the famous hotel in the small town.
External links
- MP3 Download and Lyrics from Roger McGuinn's Folk Den
- Lyrics and Historical Info at the Mudcat Cafe
- Historical investigation by Rob Walker
- Suspense (1953) "St James Infirmary Blues" starring Rosemary Clooney.
- Huge collection of "St. James Infirmary Blues" songs
- http://www.salon.com/ent/col/vowe/1999/10/06/onesong/index.htmlMagical Mystery Tour Sarah VowellSarah VowellSarah Jane Vowell is an American author, journalist, essayist and social commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer," Vowell has written five nonfiction books on American history and culture, and was a contributing editor for the radio program This American Life on Public Radio...
discusses the song's history and affect] - Betty Boop cartoon Snow White - includes a performance by Cab Calloway