St. James Infirmary (Public Domain Song - original author unknown, yet song’s title was registered to Irving Mills under the pseudonym Joe Primrose)

The song has been recorded by many famous artists such as: Louis Armstrong, Josh White, Lou Rawls, Joe Crocker, Arlo Guthrie, and Rickie Lee Jones. The Project Preservation Band’s lyrical and musical version of St. James Infirmary draws particular inspiration from the legendary 1996 live performance of the song by Dr. John and Eric Clapton. Marla Drake’s sultry and soulful performance is the perfect overlay to the latin jazz-infused style of the Project Preservation Band, featuring soaring guitar solos and a tight horn section.

Featured Artist:

Marla Drake (Lead Vocals)

Project Preservation Band:

David Adkins (Guitar, Organ, Piano)

Melvin Burke (Trumpet)

Kevin Scott (Bass)

John Seals (Drums)

Tony Staffiero (Sax, Baritone Sax)

Song History:

St. James Infirmary is an American jazz/blues song whose original composer remains undetermined.  The song’s roots may be traced back in multiple directions, yet, two of the most documented are to an American folk song “Gambler’s Blues” as well as to an 18th century English broadside song entitled “The Unfortunate Lad/Rake.” “Gambler’s Blues” was first published in 1925 by Carl Moore and Phil Baxter and in 1927 Carl Sandburg published two versions of the song in The American Songbag. However, the specific title of “St. James Infirmary Blues” is credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose (a pseudonym used by the American jazz composer Irving Mills) who first registered the title in 1929 and won a U.S. Supreme Court Case demonstrating his rights to that title of the song.  “The Unfortunate Lad/Rake” was about a soldier who spends his money on prostitutes and then subsequently dies of venereal disease. However, some of the famous recorded versions of the song do not directly correlate with that original English folk song in lyrical content or musical structure.

Lyrics:

I went down to St. James Infirmary

I saw my old man there

He was stretched on a long white table

With a D.O.A. sticker in his hair

Let him go, let him go, let him go, God bless him

Wherever he may be

He can search this whole wide world over, yeah

But he’ll never find another woman like me

He said when I go

Lay a $10 gold piece on my eyelids

Lord knows - I want some loaded craps in my shoes

I want all those rough-neck characters off Bourbon Street

I wanna hear that David Atkins play some dirty blues

(Guitar Solo) 

It was a cold, cold, cold, black night last December

12 hustlers on Britannia Street

12 cold-blooded hustlers dressed in leather

Don’t you know they were moaning outside St. James Infirmary

I went down, went down to St. James Infirmary

I saw my old man there

He could've searched the whole wide world over

And never never

Find another woman like me

And he never find another woman like me