[Dixielandjazz] St James Infirmary

[Mike Durham]

Hi Listmates. Here's what Eric Townley ("Tell Your Story") has to say about 
this tune:

St James' Hospital (Infirmary) was founded in London about the time of the 
Norman Conquest (AD 1066) for 'maidens that are leprous'......this title is 
an offshoot of a long cycle of English folksongs, the beginnings of which 
are obscure. The earliest known versions are 'The Unfortunate Rake' and 'The 
Young Trooper Cut Down In His Prime', dating from the late 18th century, the 
former being printed under that title in London in 1808 and depicting a 
soldier dying of venereal disease outside St James' Hospital. These 
folksongs crossed the Atlantic with the English colonists, becoming part of 
an American song cycle with the Western songs 'The Dying Cowboy' and 'The 
Streets Of Laredo' and the blues songs 'The Dying Gambler's Blues' and 'St 
James Infirmary' being the best known now.

Sadly, Townley has nothing to say about the melody. Anyway, donning my 
anorak, I have checked on jazz recordings of this tune. The earliest is 
Louis in 1928, then George E. Lee's Orchestra in 1929. Both use the same 
three choruses, with identical words (I went down/Let her go/When I die). 
Then in 1930 thre is an explosion of no less than 14 recordings by both 
white and black bands and singers, from Ellington to Chick Bullock - 
suggesting sheet music publication? Another 4 follow in 1931, then the tune 
'disappears' until 1940 when bands like Shaw and Calloway revived it. The 
most intriguing is perhaps by blues singer Mattie Hite in 1930, which is 
entitled St Joe's Infirmary (Those Gambler's Blues), but which is lyrically 
and melodically the same tune - providing a link beween the 'modern' tune 
and its predecessors.

Cheers!

Mike D

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