St. James Infirmary is a song folk American of unknown origin, although sometimes attributed to Irving Mills (en) (under the pseudonym Joe Primrose). Its recording by Louis Armstrong in1928 made her famous.
“St. James Infirmary” is based on a traditional English folk song of the xviii th century, called “The Unfortunate Rake” (also known as “The Unfortunate Lad” or “The Young Man Cut Down in His Prime”), which tells the story of a soldier who wastes all his money to buy prostitutes , then dies of a venereal disease .
times and adaptations
There are many studio or live versions of this song:
- 1928: Louis Armstrong (in Chicago on December 12) with Earl Hines and Zutty Singleton
- 1930: King Oliver jazz band;
- 1933: Cab Calloway for Snow White cartoon with Betty Boop
- 1940: Jack Teagarden on The Jazz Off Records and several other recordings with Louis Armstrong ;
- 1956: Josh White on the album Josh at midnight ;
- 1958: Eaglin Snooks on the album New Orleans Street Singer ;
- 1961: Bobby Bland on the album Two steps from the blues ;
- 1963: Lou Rawls on the album Black and Blue ;
- 1967: The Standells on the album Try It ;
- 1968: Eric Burdon and The Animals on the album Every One Of Us ;
- 1970: The Doors on the album Bright Midnight – Live In America (published in 2001);
- 1971: Roosevelt Sykes : on the album The Honeydripper’s Duke’s Mixture ;
- 1972: Joe Cocker on the album Something to Say ;
- 1976: Joe Cocker on the album Live in LA ;
- 1983: Dave Van Ronk on the album St. James Infirmary ;
- 1993: James Booker on the album Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah ;
- 1998: Coco Briaval on the album Grand Standards Of Jazz featuring Boris Tomas LEPM;
- 1999: The White Stripes on the album The White Stripes ;
- 2003: Van Morrison on the album What’s wrong with this picture ;
- 2004: Bob Mintzer on the album Bop Boy ;
- 2006: The Devil Makes Three on the album A little bit faster and a little bit worse;
- 2007: Kevin Mark on the album Cuttin ‘Loose ;
- 2009: Allen Toussaint on the album The Bright Mississippi;
- 2010: Rising Appalachia on the album Sails of self ;
- 2011: Hugh Laurie on the album Let Them Talk ;
- 2012: Rickie Lee Jones on the album The Devil You Know
- 2013: Jessica93 b side on the Poison 45t
- 2016: Cold Folks [ archive ] on the album Descendre En Haut
- 2017: Mark Lanegan on the BO of the American Gods series ;
la France
- 1950: Django Reinhardt , notably on Intégrale Django Reinhardt vol. 19 (other recordings are available on other albums);
- 1965: Colette Magny on the album Melocoton ;
- 1965: Eddy Mitchell in a French version called I had two friends , on the album From rock ‘n’ roll to rhythm ‘n’ blues ;
- 1967: Joe Dassin on Joe Dassin’s second album Les deux mondes ;
- 1990: Patrick Verbeke on the album School Boys Blues ;
- 1991 Alain Giroux & Mahjun Album Meeting of 2 E -type ;
- 1991. Colette Magny on the album Inédits 91;
- 2001: Around The Blues on the album Autour Du Blues, double cd ;
- 2003: Spoonful on the album For A Few Sugar ;
- 2005: Maxim Saury & Michel Crichton on the album Live in Passavant ;
- 2005: Patrick Verbeke on the album ‘Captured live ;
- 2005: Joël Daydé on the album Spleen Blues ;
- 2008: Hobo Blues on the album Just Married ;
- 2009: Little Fat Daddy & The Wild Guys on the album Once Upon A Time ;
- 2010: Patrick Cany on the album Blue Planet Live ;
- 2010: The Fingers of Man on the 1910 album
- 2011: Dick Annegarn on the album Folk talk ;
- 2012: Jean-Christian Michel on the album Plays Jazz .
- 2013: Moriarty on the album Fugitives;
- 2014: Nico Wayne Toussaint on the album On The Go ;
- 2015: The Summer Rebellion on the album Strength And Beauty;
Spain
- 2000: Big Mama on the album Tableau De Blues ;
- 2006: Gaby Jogeix on the album Steel The Blues ;
Use
The song is used in the animated Metropolis . Albert Camus alludes to it in his novel La Peste .