Subject: lyr req/ ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: flycatcher Date: 24 Dec 02 - 02:22 AM Does anyone have the lyrics to the full version of St. James Infirmary, as sung by Doc Watson? after the intro, it starts like this: I went down to st james infirmary I heard my sweet baby groan nobody down there could cheer me cause I knew that she'd soon be gone" If you can give me the rest it would be very much appreciated, thanks, j. lewis |
Subject: RE: lyr req/ ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Morticia Date: 24 Dec 02 - 09:06 AM Detail.CFM?messages__Message_ID=328367 |
Subject: RE: lyr req/ ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: GUEST,Q Date: 24 Dec 02 - 02:06 PM Most of the threads bearing on St James Infirmary listed in thread 26976: St James Infirmary |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: GUEST Date: 25 Sep 04 - 03:26 AM i too have spent these last hours looking for the doc watson version :-( no dice in the other thread.. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 25 Sep 04 - 02:56 PM Looked at the tracks in a number of his albums, no luck. Any idea of when or where he sang it? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Morticia Date: 26 Sep 04 - 06:47 AM I have the Doc Watson on my computer, I found it at WinMX....will send it to you if you PM me your e-mail |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: JedMarum Date: 26 Sep 04 - 09:26 AM Doc Watson sings it? I never heard 'im, but I'll bet he does a good job of it. I sing the song a lot and love it ... |
Subject: Lyr Add: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: JedMarum Date: 26 Sep 04 - 09:34 AM Here's the way I sing it: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY BLUES It was down at old Joe's bar room on the corner by the sqaure the drinks were served as usual and the usual crowd was there On my left stood big Joe McKennedy His eyes were bloodshot red As he turned to the crowd around him These were the very words he said Well I went down to that St James Infrimary Just to see my baby there She was stretched out on a long white table So pale, so cold, so fair Let her go, let go God bless her Where ever she may be She can search this whole wide world over She'll never find a man sweeter then me Now when I die won;t you bury me In my high top Stetson hat Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain So the gang will know I died standing pat I want six crap shooters for my pall bearers Six pretty girls to sing me a song Put a jazz band on my hearse wagon We'll raise hell as we roll along Let her go let go God bless her Where ever she may be She can search this whole wide world over She'll never find a man sweeter then me |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Flash Company Date: 26 Sep 04 - 11:10 AM Jed : Jack Teagarden,s version varied from yours I think as follows: Verse 2 By my side sat old Joe McKinney His eyes were a bloodshot red He was drinking up that old rye whisky And these are the words he said Vese 5 When I die dress me in my black boots |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Flash Company Date: 26 Sep 04 - 11:14 AM What the hell happeened then? As I was saying Verse 5 When I die dress me in my black boots Long black coat and a stetson hat Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain So the boys will know I died standing pat. Made it!!!! FC |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Fliss Date: 26 Sep 04 - 05:25 PM Anne Lennox Martin does a wonderful version. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: M.Ted Date: 27 Sep 04 - 12:30 AM Jed tells the story the same way I do, except that Big Joe McKennedy, whose eyes were bloodshot red, "put a great big( or "big greasy") hand on my shoulder, And these are the words he said:" |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: JedMarum Date: 27 Sep 04 - 12:34 AM great song ... |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: A Wandering Minstrel Date: 27 Sep 04 - 07:54 AM less so when getting the Big Band treatment by Tom Jones ?! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 27 Sep 04 - 08:54 AM I remember another verse, after the one ending with "so pale (version I heard: so sweet), so cold, so fair": "What's my baby's chances?" I asked old Doctor Sharp. "Boy, by six o'clock this evening she'll be playing her golden harp." |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: PoppaGator Date: 28 Sep 04 - 12:41 AM If you ever get a chance, listen to Danny Barker's rendition. Danny played tenor banjo and guitar (acoustic arch-top of course) with *everybody* in jazz in his heyday -- including many years with The Man himself, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong. Danny's solo recording of this song is a masterpiece of comic vocals backed with some nicely understated guitar. Danny didn't go in for fancy high-speed picking, but his arrangements usually featured some fairly complex chord progressions -- very much in character for a traditional-jazz banjo man. Yeah, I know, the lyrics are sad and serious; it's not supposed to be a humorous song. Danny sorta treats it as an old chestnut that everyone has already heard way too often, and interjects a lot of added commentary in a good-natured clowning-around manner, as though feigning an effort to stave off boredom. He also recorded "Save the Bones for Henry Jones ('Cause Henry Doesn't Eat No Meat)" in the same style -- perhaps at the same session -- along with the old French Creole tune "Eh La Bas" and probably several others. The three songs I named are all heard pretty often on our local community radio station, WWOZ-FM. "Save the Bones" is especially hilarious. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Rustic Rebel Date: 28 Sep 04 - 11:34 PM Here is a brief and pretty much like Jed's version. Also pretty much like my version. It's an amazing song with many versions to choose from. But...blue clicky Peace, Rustic |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 29 Sep 04 - 02:50 AM WWOZ-FM PoppaGator's link working now. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Fliss Date: 29 Sep 04 - 12:51 PM PS Mrs Lemon sang a good rendition at Warwick Festival. fliss |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY From: Joe_F Date: 29 Sep 04 - 06:59 PM A oddity I have always wondered about: Where did the stanza beginning "Let her go" come from? It clearly doesn't belong to this song, in which she is dead. |
Subject: Lyr Add: ST JAMES INFIRMARY (from Doc Watson) From: GUEST,Jeff B. Date: 07 Dec 04 - 06:08 PM I got this version from the Doc and Merle Watson compilation (and commemorative) album "Remembering Merle", and I believe the lyrics are more or less exactly the same ones Doc has sung on every other recording of this tune I've heard over the years: I went down to that St James Infirmary Heard my baby groan Nobody there could cheer me Cause I'd know'd that she'd soon be gone And as I stood there 'a grievin' My heart felt just like lead 'A knowin' that she'd soon be leavin' And wishing that it was me instead Then I went out to old Joe's bar room All the boys were there Nobody understood my troubles Cause nobody seemed to care Then I went back to the St. James Infirmary All was still as night There was my baby on a long white table She was pale and cold and white I put my hand on her pretty face Felt cold like marble stone And I know'd that no woman could ever take her place Lord and it made me feel so alone Well yes she's gone, she's gone, God bless her Wherever she might be If she'd look this wide world over She'd a never found a friend like me Give me my box back coat, and my button shoes When you lay me down to sleep Put a bad hand of cards up in my lapel Set my old guitar right down by my feet I went down to that St. James Infirmary Heard my baby groan Nobody there could cheer me Cause I know'd that she'd soon be gone |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: St. James Infirmary From: GUEST,SarahinNewcastle Date: 07 Oct 08 - 01:42 PM this is a version I know..its a mixture of a couple, I only changed one word myself conciously (- dollar to pound) I went down to old Jo's bar room on the corner by the square the drinks they all flowed as usual and the usual crowd were there To my left stood old Jo McKinley His eyes were blood shot red Old Jo is an old time gambler And these are the words he said I went down to St James Infirmary I found my baby there Stretched out on a cold white table So sweet, so cold, so fair Let her go let her go God bless her Lord wherever she might be She can search this wide world over But shell never find a sweet man like me When I die I want engraved on my gravestone In letters both large and black here lies one gambling rambler And Lord knows he's never coming back I want sixteen bootleggers as pall bearers and sixteen girls to sing me a song I want a jazz band on my coffin playing the blues as we roll along Dress me up in my fine velvet jacket My best shoes and a big top hat I want a twenty pound note for my neck tie so my friends know I died living fast I want twelve, twelve snowy white horses dressed up in feathers so fine there's twelve of us going to the graveyard but eleven of us coming back Let her go let her go God bless her Lord where'er she may be She can walk this wide world over But she'll never find a sweet man like me |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: St. James Infirmary From: GUEST,MarkS (0n the road) Date: 07 Oct 08 - 08:15 PM I always included: Bring out your old hearse wagon Bring out your rubber tired hack Cause there's twelve men goin' to the graveyard But just eleven men comin' back. Mark |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: St. James Infirmary From: GUEST,Jim Date: 08 Oct 08 - 12:21 PM My dad sang: Roll out that rubber tyred carriage, Roll out that old tattered hack, 'Cause there's twelve men goin' to the graveyard And eleven comin' back. I always though that he credited Jack Teagarden as his source. Manitoba Hal sings: Put a gang of ukuleles on my hearse wagon To raise hell as we roll along. I like to follow this song with Didn't He Ramble. I always imagine it taking place in New Orleans. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: St. James Infirmary From: GUEST Date: 04 Feb 20 - 11:07 AM What about the Hamish Imlach version ("You big galoot you, you're sitting on my oxygen tube". |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: St. James Infirmary From: Stilly River Sage Date: 19 Apr 22 - 01:05 AM I stumbled upon a 10-year-old post on YouTube of Hugh Laurie performing St. James Infirmary; I didn't catch the words to post here, but the sentiment and point of view is most like the version posted by Jeff B in 2004. |
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