3 thoughts on “louis armstrong – st james infirmary”

1. Such cool trumpet playing. The song is a standard that was performed by hundreds of great and small musicians … derives its title from St. James Hospital in London, a religious foundation for the treatment of leprosy, which was closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St. James Palace … so it goes back quite a way! the sins of alcohol and whoring around result in the young soldier’s death by venereal disease ..

2. Wow, that is really fascinating, D, thanks for that insight… I knew it was a standard, but I didn’t know any of that detail. Part of what I loveso mch about these old songs that belong to no one in particular is all the layers of meaning they take on down the years… It’s so interesting to peel them back. The first time I came across this song was years ago via Betty Boop/Snow White – Cab Calloway’s sad, rotoscoped, singing clown… It was amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDATXtewPrg

3. He he great cartoon … cool version of the song as well … ja its like a language or an accent, things just get grafted onto the song, it grows by its own momentum … innaresting stuff ..