Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway - St James Infirmary Blues from Betty Boop Snow White

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• published: 16 Oct 2014
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Recorded in 1933. See cartoon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNG8GYrh1mg "St. James Infirmary Blues" is an American folksong 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 song was popular during the jazz era, and by 1930 at least eighteen different versions had been released by various artists. Cab Calloway performs a version in the 1933 Betty Boop animated film Snow White, providing both vocals and dance moves for Koko the clown. The lyrics as sung by Cab Calloway: Well folks, I'm goin' down to St. James Infirmary See my little baby there She's stretched out on a long, white table Well she looks so good, so cold, so fair Let her go, let her go, God bless her Wherever she may be You may search this whole wide world over But she'll never find another sweetheart like me, yeah Take apart your bones and put 'em back together Tell your mother that you are somebody new Feel the breeze blow and tell 'em all, "Look out here it comes!" Now I can say whatever I feel like to you Then keep me six crap-shooting pallbearers Let a chorus girl sing me a song Put a red-hot jazz band, we raise Hallelujah as we go along, well Well folks, now that you have heard my story Say boy, hand me another shot of that rye And if anyone else should ask you Just tell 'em I've got some of those St. James Infirmary blues "St. James Infirmary" 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"), about a soldier who uses his money on prostitutes, and then dies of a venereal disease. The title is said to derive from St. James Hospital in London, a religious foundation for treatment of leprosy. There is some difficulty in this, since it closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St. James Palace. Another possibility is the Infirmary section of the St James Workhouse, which the St James Parish opened in 1725 on Poland Street, Piccadilly, and which continued well into the nineteenth century. This St James Infirmary was contemporaneous with the advent of the song. As I was a-walking down by St. James Hospital, I was a-walking down by there one day. What should I spy but one of my comrades All wrapped up in a flannel though warm was the day. —"The Unfortunate Rake" (trad.) Variations typically feature a narrator telling the story of a young man "cut down in his prime" (occasionally, a young woman) as a result of morally questionable behavior. For example, when the song moved to America, gambling and alcohol became common causes of the youth's death. There are numerous versions of the song throughout the English-speaking world. It evolved into other American standards such as "The Streets of Laredo." The song "Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues" has been described as a descendant of "The Unfortunate Rake", and thus a 'direct relative' of "St James Infirmary Blues". Blind Willie McTell recorded a version for Alan Lomax in 1940, and claimed to have begun writing the song around 1929. However, the song was first recorded as "Gambler's Blues" in 1927 by Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra. The tune of the earlier versions of the song, including the "Bard of Armagh" and the "Unfortunate Rake", is in a major key and is similar to that of the "Streets of Laredo". The jazz version, as played by Louis Armstrong, is in a minor key and appears to have been influenced by the chord structures prevalent in Latin American music, particularly the Tango.