[Dixielandjazz] St James Infirmary

[Stan Brager]

Stan Kenton in the early 40's recorded the tune as "Gambler's Blues" for the
Decca label. I was always somewhat taken aback with this title until your
information cleared up the derivation.

Thanks, Mike;

Stan
Stan Brager
Trombonist-in-Training
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Durham" <mikedurham_jazz at hotmail.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 3:32 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] St James Infirmary


> 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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