tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52340784305351238772024-03-17T20:03:59.889-07:00I Went Down to St. James InfirmaryInvestigations in the shadowy world of early jazz-blues in the company of Blind Willie McTell, Louis Armstrong, Don Redman, Irving Mills, Carl Moore, and a host of others, and where did this dang song come from anyway.Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.comBlogger210125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-62062737331280733442024-02-02T18:32:00.004-08:002024-02-21T12:05:07.136-08:00Interview with Debbie Burke re IWDtSJI
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Pz7fdaDDxwXX6hWt8nByBvlKvCf0yUnbU9wGlt08bYPCc-4psFV6pbSt3ZFZc4gaHhyphenhyphenAFfQtjVpu_QoaJ9UooIL7xZE_Fn1n4gf8DeqgHxhT1SLDDAhKtAfbjpLD6HIVIkz2dnsnZO5op1taE_afI-jJyqLW6WM9EPLDZYbo1xDoPVpLIQI7ImKr20Gk/s2359/Debbie%20Burke.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="2359" height="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Pz7fdaDDxwXX6hWt8nByBvlKvCf0yUnbU9wGlt08bYPCc-4psFV6pbSt3ZFZc4gaHhyphenhyphenAFfQtjVpu_QoaJ9UooIL7xZE_Fn1n4gf8DeqgHxhT1SLDDAhKtAfbjpLD6HIVIkz2dnsnZO5op1taE_afI-jJyqLW6WM9EPLDZYbo1xDoPVpLIQI7ImKr20Gk/w640-h64/Debbie%20Burke.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Debbie Burke recently interviewed me for her blog, "Debbie Burke - jazz author."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She hosts a remarkable site - I recommend checking it out! Her books can be found via amazon, and <a href="https://debbieburkeauthor.com/2016/11/06/first-blog-post/" target="_blank">on her site</a>.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since she was the interview<i>er</i> and I was the interview<i>ee</i>, there's not much I can add, except, of course, for the interview itself. So, for those of you interested in following further, here is the link:<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">https://debbieburkeauthor.com/2024/01/29/book-review-i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary-by-robert-w-harwood/</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thank you, Debbie!</div>
Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-88641529785915313552023-12-12T15:07:00.010-08:002023-12-16T15:32:44.389-08:00Interpretations: St. James Infirmary & Simple Twist Of Fate<p>Back in September I promised a series of contemporary interpretations of St. James Infirmary. We started with a young <a href="https://iwentdowntostjamesinfirmary.blogspot.com/2023/09/rufus-wainwright-does-sji-or.html" target="_blank">Rufus Wainwright</a>. This is the second in that series and you will find <i>two</i> variations this time (plus a delightful interpretation of "Simple Twist of Fate").</p><p>First, David Mattson.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJC8NDCO_ftGJUhQRtdgs9vcijBIO2OlX9PM0Lq6S-skfdzlZAmMzINYoA9HzSbQOrdkLy1Q0A1Jme84acjqY_SKZN7f46naX6qmDYwHATlBRwpj-InFctS7UMpjqGTiTJfLRSYtZhc-S6PfoxckU5Y-H0RrPR7rpkRAz4qv70c1mV67vPjFAD5nz7BE5c/s931/imagejpeg_0%20(4).jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="931" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJC8NDCO_ftGJUhQRtdgs9vcijBIO2OlX9PM0Lq6S-skfdzlZAmMzINYoA9HzSbQOrdkLy1Q0A1Jme84acjqY_SKZN7f46naX6qmDYwHATlBRwpj-InFctS7UMpjqGTiTJfLRSYtZhc-S6PfoxckU5Y-H0RrPR7rpkRAz4qv70c1mV67vPjFAD5nz7BE5c/w200-h150/imagejpeg_0%20(4).jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Mattson on guitar</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Now living in Largo, Florida, David has lived in all but one of the U.S. states, and a few other countries. He currently uses a Joe Beck alto guitar, made for him by a friend. His interpretation of SJI is a charming reimagining, with the refrain "her left hand brushing back her hair" transforming into a tender conclusion. He would use his rewritten SJI when doing soundchecks, or as an opener for gigs, allowing lots of room for improvisation.</p><p>This is a beautiful example of how SJI can be adapted by creative artists; always recognizable, always different.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sc9g6qu2LfQ?si=gUbMW80Wa5_YTGQU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPefDMJaXm5N53oCkDDNvxqb-MO3dsoVXxg-tvTGtsuP5OXblMwyZQE0-BeQT_EqfityczmQBSN9xghYUok6poFw_kY-MEBg4GKyouGiHwMedBIpEdSeOIkL5VbdmCOXOcDjH1DGwkWAdVPAeKq8MHUpph-LvvETeOnjF-KmJ17owuJWNcfL0uz2qBCQM/s692/Raygun.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="519" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPefDMJaXm5N53oCkDDNvxqb-MO3dsoVXxg-tvTGtsuP5OXblMwyZQE0-BeQT_EqfityczmQBSN9xghYUok6poFw_kY-MEBg4GKyouGiHwMedBIpEdSeOIkL5VbdmCOXOcDjH1DGwkWAdVPAeKq8MHUpph-LvvETeOnjF-KmJ17owuJWNcfL0uz2qBCQM/w150-h200/Raygun.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raygun Carver</td></tr></tbody></table>Our second example.</div><div><br /></div><div>Raygun Carver - a band name for Michael Soiseth - released his first album, "Moon Fields Yawning," in 2020. Raised around Port Angeles, he has an idiosyncratic sound, with refreshing interpretations and beautifully crafted originals. Of the latter, his "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh791ACofRc" target="_blank">Everywhere You Go Is Where You'll Be</a>," suggests that regardless of where we live, regardless of where we move, we remain who we are - changing the place does not change the person. Ahhhh, but maybe, changing the person <i>can</i> change the place?<br /><br /></div><div>His take on SJI is invigorating.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>And, of course, not only traditional songs are open to interpretation. Raygun Carver's phrasing and timing on Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate" opens us up for a new listen. (For instance, cue in to Carver's song at about 1:10 - "like a freight train ...")</div><div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>I am always grateful for fresh air.</div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-2513755116712226402023-10-25T17:31:00.008-07:002023-10-27T15:54:38.105-07:00About a 1930 lawsuit - you cannot copyright a song title<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3ATHxSUPfCmUPJdkPZDBPgYezwxRKxBtwbDHJUrfTZH0HNliqDJ06ynD2uk0pkw-CrwujLtZF9_pXKDJmwwhZdwmhwk_laXb5pdjpH9YY-NyOxUH_3NdREEaOQ_rj6UAJlDb6W4owxw6A8OmWv4wVAXRS1ZF7SsUvA4-TISRi90Xt27fiWdy6UpejTvK/s2880/161%20&%20163%20SJI%20sheet%20music%20inside%201930.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="2880" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3ATHxSUPfCmUPJdkPZDBPgYezwxRKxBtwbDHJUrfTZH0HNliqDJ06ynD2uk0pkw-CrwujLtZF9_pXKDJmwwhZdwmhwk_laXb5pdjpH9YY-NyOxUH_3NdREEaOQ_rj6UAJlDb6W4owxw6A8OmWv4wVAXRS1ZF7SsUvA4-TISRi90Xt27fiWdy6UpejTvK/s320/161%20&%20163%20SJI%20sheet%20music%20inside%201930.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside cover of Denton & Haskins 1930 "St. James Infirmary."<br /><i>Item should enlarge if clicked on.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>In this blog entry - and in more detail in <i>I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</i> - I write about a 1930 New York court case where Irving Mills' music company sued the music publisher <a href="https://iwentdowntostjamesinfirmary.blogspot.com/search?q=denton" target="_blank">Denton & Haskins</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Denton and Haskins (D&H) were selling a song, "St. James Infirmary," that Mills Music had been heavily promoting over the previous year. (These were the early days of song recording when sheet music outsold records.) While the song published by D&H had the SJI title, the lyrics were much different. D&H hired Claude Austin to write new music and William J. McKenna to write a new lyric. (D&H <i>also</i> included <i>current</i> lyrics inside the front cover; see first image.) D&H were really pushing this issue. The cover title was <i>St. James Infirmary or The Gambler's Blues also known as St. Joe's Infirmary</i>. These were different titles for more or less the same song. So, they were confident in their assertion that they could market a song with a title that was already in use.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNYbZ9B_5BtcWqLIg4d-zOpJTwlZVnMkdU1TxGXEbpoT6LnW-uc-tQb2L55LFtnymP3rlFB4okqGfo3B-rq_8UeKeofQG35Ry3b0VEgJuBPmAYdnYTWL3wonc7CUocgmwq4MZZ5sxmjV6FzDK0PJujjNlGWQu6IQkkWn2b8Y5CPMRcpyhLqfjpkJn4u0A/s504/SJI%20D&H%20sheet%20music%20cover%201930%205x7x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="357" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNYbZ9B_5BtcWqLIg4d-zOpJTwlZVnMkdU1TxGXEbpoT6LnW-uc-tQb2L55LFtnymP3rlFB4okqGfo3B-rq_8UeKeofQG35Ry3b0VEgJuBPmAYdnYTWL3wonc7CUocgmwq4MZZ5sxmjV6FzDK0PJujjNlGWQu6IQkkWn2b8Y5CPMRcpyhLqfjpkJn4u0A/w142-h200/SJI%20D&H%20sheet%20music%20cover%201930%205x7x72.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover Denton&Haskins SJI</td></tr></tbody></table>Mills Music argued that Denton & Haskins was taking unfair advantage of their advertising and promotion, and thereby profiting from Mills' investment in the song. <p></p><p style="text-align: left;">When I looked into this, the chief librarian at the New York Supreme Court kindly sent about 600 pages of testimony and legal argument. On trial and appeal Mills won the case, but when it was referred to the Appeals Court, he lost, and had to pay costs.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I had interpreted the judgements as supportive of Mills' claim, and only when I received an e-mail from a New York lawyer, <a href=" https://www.krauslegal.com/" target="_blank">Bruce R. Kraus</a>, correcting my interpretation, did I realize that I had read the"dissenting opinion" as the court ruling.</p></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4SQIdFiG3WATgVg5WcLU2ovmh7b2CLXmxttmbI-Rg5UTUAw3yC8RjcI0xWQk-BAsq6nIMTJthygsHxpZmB5CALiZ-llIpX2b3XdVh9Ub0Xid7hrp4Fdlr2dW1nm7200KX7MRSClvXjkBrxbNhl9sHaanbVi-zhvxM7xiSqkbP6uCHmqZXnSp1zYabizc/s545/SJI%20Cover%206x8x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="400" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4SQIdFiG3WATgVg5WcLU2ovmh7b2CLXmxttmbI-Rg5UTUAw3yC8RjcI0xWQk-BAsq6nIMTJthygsHxpZmB5CALiZ-llIpX2b3XdVh9Ub0Xid7hrp4Fdlr2dW1nm7200KX7MRSClvXjkBrxbNhl9sHaanbVi-zhvxM7xiSqkbP6uCHmqZXnSp1zYabizc/w147-h224/SJI%20Cover%206x8x72.jpg" width="147" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover Mills Music SJI</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Irving Mills did not appear in court, but submitted a signed affidavit. Among other admissions, he agreed that the song did not originate with him, or with Mills Music, or with "Joe Primrose." But since this was not a federal court, those admissions meant little as far as copyright and song ownership. As Kraus pointed out, this lawsuit served warning that Irving Mills and Mills Music were not to be fooled with; to challenge them could become an expensive proposition - Mills Music had deep pockets and were unafraid of confrontation.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Of course, this New York case was not about copyright, which is a federal and not a state matter. But, then again ... in the arguments for Mills Music, Irving was saying that <i>I own this title, I have expended considerable effort, energy, and money in publicizing the song. It is unfair that another company gets to profit from my efforts.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Maybe it was due to this warning - the warning that Mills Music would aggressively challenge legal submissions - that the copyright for <i>St. James Infirmary </i>was never challenged in federal court, and Mills continued to profit from the song for many years.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As Bruce Kraus succinctly explained, "you cannot copyright a title." Copyright law considers titles or phrases to be too short; they contain insufficient creative effort to warrant copyright.</p><p style="text-align: left;">For instance, the Beatles famously recorded "The End" on <i>Abbey Road</i> in 1969. Two years earlier The Doors had recorded a song called "The End" on their 1967 eponymous debut
album. So did Pearl Jam (2009), Kings of Leon (2010), and quite a few others.</p><p style="text-align: left;">How many songs have been titled "I Love You"?</p></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5AoLp-mpjc0?si=uK1-KV3qp2KHTc8y" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br />
<div>From Bob Dylan's 2015 <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-grammys-2015-transcript-of-bob-dylans-musicares-person-of-year-speech-20150207-story.html#page=1" target="_blank"><i>MusiCares Person of the Year</i> speech</a>:<br /><span face=""Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"" style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b;">“I learned lyrics and how to write them from listening to folk songs. </span><span face=""Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"" style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b;">And I played them, and I met other people that played them back when nobody was doing it. Sang nothing but these folk songs, and they gave me the code for </span><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">everything that’s fair game, that everything belongs to everyone</em><span face=""Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"" style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b;">.” (italics extra)</span></div><div><span face="Open Sans, Open Sans-fallback" style="color: #1b1b1b;"><br /></span>"<i>Everything belongs to everyone,</i>" Dylan said. Utopian. Undeniably true. And that's <i>St. James Infirmary</i>.</div><div><br /></div></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-43255730791067070842023-09-25T20:05:00.003-07:002023-09-26T19:42:41.869-07:00Rufus Wainwright does SJI ... or The Unfortunate Rake?<p>There are so many interpretations of SJI. So many.</p><p>I am planning to post a few <i>recent</i> variations, starting with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Wainwright" target="_blank">Rufus Wainwright</a>. This song was recorded in 1998, part of his first album but excluded from it and re-introduced on a 25th anniversary CD.</p><p>Rufus creates a link between <i>The Unfortunate Rake</i> and <i>SJI</i>. He mixes them together as a kind of gumbo, combining lyrical touches from <i>SJI</i> and <i>Streets of Laredo</i>. Mostly, though, it's <i>The Unfortunate Rake</i> that he references.</p><p>The song starts:<br />"Early one morning at the St. James Infirmary<br />Early one morning in the month of May<br />I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen<br />Wrapped in white linen, and as cold as the clay"</p><p>And later:<br />"Call for the doctor, come and heal my body<br />Call for the preacher to heal up my soul<br />For my poor head is aching and my sad heart is breaking<br />I'm a poor, rundown cowboy and hell is my doom"</p><p>Aside from the name of the institution (St. James Infirmary rather than St. James Hospital), this is pretty well The Unfortunate Rake - and nothing in this version, or any other version of <i>The Unfortunate Rake</i>, makes me think of <i>SJI </i>- either lyrically or melodically.<br /><br /></p><p>He delivers a good song.</p><p>This is not surprising: he is always brightly original, sparkling, in both his own compositions and his interpretations.</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmx20WwNOtA</p><p><br /></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zmx20WwNOtA?si=xC5ktryP4h5h76xr" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-79384343890732221802023-07-21T11:01:00.005-07:002023-07-21T17:36:01.349-07:00Tony Bennett's first recording: St. James Infirmary<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6DjnDwwIQj4WbT3SceN2AvbvgL4OcgOP2t2Fkas81cCWwV0j84mxebjOA2H2iJqTyWDZ0qt2da51xuDXVvcgG96lGAsleDK4hocx1q69UQhFjRKxjYX8FggQVU4jgxhB08Q_PeOHSXovifbh6UlfYBmtaUHJ278tUrKBoklNnStP-5BfszdhzTPsXdxg/s864/1time%20tony%20bennett%20us%20army%201200.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="864" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6DjnDwwIQj4WbT3SceN2AvbvgL4OcgOP2t2Fkas81cCWwV0j84mxebjOA2H2iJqTyWDZ0qt2da51xuDXVvcgG96lGAsleDK4hocx1q69UQhFjRKxjYX8FggQVU4jgxhB08Q_PeOHSXovifbh6UlfYBmtaUHJ278tUrKBoklNnStP-5BfszdhzTPsXdxg/s320/1time%20tony%20bennett%20us%20army%201200.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 13.5px; text-align: start;">Tony Bennett in the U.S. Army, 1945.<br />(TonyBennett.com)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tony Bennett, who died today at 96, made his first recording seventy-seven years ago:</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a distinguished career in the army (and a short-lived demotion for eating in a restaurant with a black friend, after which he was put on </span>gravedigging<span style="font-family: inherit;"> detail), Tony Bennett recorded his first song. This was "St. James Infirmary," made in 1946. The song was on a V-disc, for American troops, and never released in the U.S. </span><a href="http://adaged.blogspot.com/2011/11/st-james-infirmary.html" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">George Tannenbaum</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> explains what V-discs are:</span><br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span><i>"V-discs were recordings done for American soldiers during World War II. Because there was a musicians strike in the U.S. at the time, V-discs were recorded but they never went on sale in the States. They were only for our overseas troops. Most of the records never came home and the masters of the recordings weren't treated with any special reverence. So for years it was rare to get a hold of a V-Disc recording--especially a rare one."</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">You can read about his army career</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/military-transition/famous-veteran-tony-bennett.html" style="background-color: white; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white;">.<br /><br />Bennett became Grandmaster of the Great American Songbook, a superb stylist whose <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Bennett_discography" target="_blank">recording history</a> extended from 1952 ("Because of You") to 2021 ("Love for Sale," with Lady Gaga).</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">We miss you, Tony!<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can listen to the 1946 SJI here:</span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XCWRT8EHNp4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>And here's a more contemporary version, from 1994:</div><div><br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3id1aGM6HO4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-45574379028028377772023-06-16T08:09:00.002-07:002023-06-16T13:42:25.169-07:00Dylan, Rawls, McTell, SJI ...<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1ISUVru9AYtAJTmz7-W4PtbjbyoPQFQJoAxB76tEVgHi3vc5VbzHjeEF4g361ARtF3OeJO2Y4aTNk6NlyCLUfImbyxxYMbFDRsTPS82Z_iH9_sJXIoESl-WsYRQ49xQHqTkrhdTFkWp06AzWyS3cy-D2TaG4rZin50NfZkMOWA5rlkQAn5GmpcR9MA/s1152/20040910%20200711%20SJI%20painting2%2012x16x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="844" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1ISUVru9AYtAJTmz7-W4PtbjbyoPQFQJoAxB76tEVgHi3vc5VbzHjeEF4g361ARtF3OeJO2Y4aTNk6NlyCLUfImbyxxYMbFDRsTPS82Z_iH9_sJXIoESl-WsYRQ49xQHqTkrhdTFkWp06AzWyS3cy-D2TaG4rZin50NfZkMOWA5rlkQAn5GmpcR9MA/w293-h400/20040910%20200711%20SJI%20painting2%2012x16x72.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the people involved in the complex<br />and intriguing story of "St. James Infirmary."</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">MOMENTS BEFORE LAUNCHING INTO A PERFORMANCE of “St. James Infirmary” in 1941, jazz great Jack Teagarden referred to it as “the oldest blues I ever heard.” The first time</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">I</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"> </span></span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">heard the song, sixty years later, it sounded utterly contemporary.</span></span><p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> I was alone in my apartment and listening to a new CD, <i>The Finest in Jazz Vocalists</i>. Lou Rawls was singing “St. James Infirmary.” I had been a Rawls fan as a teenager, and paid close attention. Rawls began with a mournful preamble, one that — I found out later — was written by Irving Mills in 1930 and is an infrequent addition to the song:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> <i>When will I ever stop moaning?</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> When will I ever smile?</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> My baby went away and she left me</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> She’ll be gone for a long, long while.</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; margin-top: 6pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> I feel so blue, I feel heartbroken</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> What am I living for?</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> My baby she went away and she left me</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> No no no never to come back no more.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> The band picked up the tempo and launched into the body of that version of the song (there are many versions):</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> <i> I went down to St. James Infirmary</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> I heard my baby groan</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> I felt so broken-hearted</i></span></div><div class="MsoQuote" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><i> She used to be my own.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> Hearing that melody, I shot out of my chair and shouted into the empty room, “That’s ‘Blind Willie McTell’!” It brought to mind, with a jolt, the Bob Dylan song of that name. It’s not that the Rawls' melody was identical to Dylan's, but there were similarities. For instance, both songs use the same basic chords. Thousands of songs are based on those chords, however, so it was probably in the pulse or the phrasing that the similarities revealed themselves. I have played these two songs to friends, who often hear no resemblance. For me, it was a revelation.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> Dylan recorded “Blind Willie McTell” in the spring of 1983 for his <i>Infidels</i> album, released in November of that year. “Blind Willie McTell” did not appear on the record, and neither did several others from those New York sessions ("Foot of Pride," "Someone's Got a Hold of my Heart"). “McTell” emerged on no <i>official</i> Dylan recording (bootlegs were another matter) until 1991, when Columbia released a three-CD set of alternate versions and previously unreleased material called <i>The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1–3</i>. This is where I first heard Dylan’s “Blind Willie McTell.”<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> “Blind Willie McTell” is a magnificent piece of songcraft in which both the poetry and the music carry us into broad terrain. Dylan accomplishes this not through conventional narrative, but through a series of vignettes, a cascade of images that, coupled with a compelling melody, conveys a landscape of conflict and despair. The chorus summons the musician of the title: “Nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell.” Asked why he had omitted the song from his album, Dylan said he didn’t think he had recorded it right. The first time he performed the song in concert was August 5, 1997, at Montreal’s Du Maurier Stadium, fourteen years after recording it in the studio.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"> Standing there, listening to Lou Rawls, I remembered Dylan’s words near the end of “Blind Willie McTell” — “I’m gazing out the window of the St. James Hotel.” Here, in a song melodically reminiscent of “St. James Infirmary,” Dylan seemed to be paying homage. I made up my mind to find out more about “St. James Infirmary.” Little did I know that this was the beginning of a <i>very</i> long journey, eventually leading to <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary?variant=39732430438499" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a></i>.</span></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-41123475176853432752023-05-02T09:25:00.008-07:002023-05-03T15:06:09.002-07:00RIP Gordon LightfootAs a music lover (and fellow Canadian), I need to mark Gordon Lightfoot's passing.<br />He died yesterday, May 1, at the age of 84.<br /><br /><i> "Ring Them Bells"</i><br /><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qKJCf6kXdxc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><div><br />Most remembrances will mention "In the Early Morning Rain," "If You Could Read My Mind," "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," and so on. He wrote hundreds of songs with nary a bad one among them. I prefer to include a couple of more obscure songs. His cover of Dylan's "Ring Them Bells," and "Black Day in July," a song that was banned in the U.S. due to sensitivity over the 1967 Detroit race riots (from which the city has not recovered).<br /><br /></div><div><i> "Black Day in July"</i></div><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L07TKGjseyg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>It is difficult to overestimate Lightfoot's importance to North American folk/popular music.</div><div><br /></div><div>You're a singular talent, Gordon! Keep on singing!!!<div><i> </i></div>
</div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-4921201188485074102023-03-25T15:57:00.005-07:002023-03-25T17:14:29.104-07:00Gallimaufry and SJI<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2FovqkqLVr3IqNNhF8f6hU1eFx5xMbL-zAH2XH0Y2Kb5D2MwEGfTrGOgh4by7lRGCtD57bXNWYSVPUKeSXSSEaqQIrrZ8BhZB38WqVkjwGCbezAI5BVDekqn1yra5_H2pdz-2GWRRQhn9CbCfyBdGgDmKHoE9GJjd4nnklw7c1J9g4zhSUIH8nGanQ/s979/Attic%20of%20Gallimaufry14x6x72.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="979" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2FovqkqLVr3IqNNhF8f6hU1eFx5xMbL-zAH2XH0Y2Kb5D2MwEGfTrGOgh4by7lRGCtD57bXNWYSVPUKeSXSSEaqQIrrZ8BhZB38WqVkjwGCbezAI5BVDekqn1yra5_H2pdz-2GWRRQhn9CbCfyBdGgDmKHoE9GJjd4nnklw7c1J9g4zhSUIH8nGanQ/w400-h184/Attic%20of%20Gallimaufry14x6x72.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i>Gallimaufry</i>. I'd never heard this word until I encountered the website, <a href="https://www.gregorystrachta.com/index.html" target="_blank">The Attic of Gallimaufry</a>. The word has a French origin and derives from a kind of 16th century stew. Hash. Hotchpotch. Jumble. Jambalaya. Grab bag. Conglomeration. Pastiche ... <br />As the site says, the entries are: "Things found by the way, Beyond the temporal horizon, Halcyon shades of kindled times."<p></p><p>Such as? Well, you'll just have to pay it a visit. You <i>will</i> find something that grabs you. I am reading about <i><a href="https://www.gregorystrachta.com/113.html" target="_blank">When WWII paratroopers shouted "Geronimo!" </a> </i>and <i><a href="https://www.gregorystrachta.com/111.html#Top" target="_blank">When Jazz Was Cool</a></i>.</p><p>Among this fascinating menagerie I was pleased to find my book, <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary?variant=39732430438499" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a></i>.<br /><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNK9u5CpzVKk__oMlm2y9Q9IHTLbLRN9denqRhr0GurjX5Joi_kcMp28M8tJ4HcGDUYOIq5Cy_CS740lRitZT7P_RWCt-FhRpKoXqfXv0Uzkoz5y5Vd-wBfCVp8_FcanVv5SoXH6VB-VccXSNuZj0hfMwPvphnyGc31Ac_AOF5K3lFyrrhN26qra9hbg/s767/Attic%20of%20Gallimaufry11x6x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="767" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNK9u5CpzVKk__oMlm2y9Q9IHTLbLRN9denqRhr0GurjX5Joi_kcMp28M8tJ4HcGDUYOIq5Cy_CS740lRitZT7P_RWCt-FhRpKoXqfXv0Uzkoz5y5Vd-wBfCVp8_FcanVv5SoXH6VB-VccXSNuZj0hfMwPvphnyGc31Ac_AOF5K3lFyrrhN26qra9hbg/w400-h243/Attic%20of%20Gallimaufry11x6x72.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The head page for The Attic of Gallimaufry article</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>All images in this entry are from <a href="https://www.gregorystrachta.com/95.html#Top" target="_blank">The Attic of Gallimaufry</a>. This article is heavily illustrated; you will find Janis Joplin, Carl Sandburg, Josh White, King Oliver, Jack Teagarden, Allen Toussaint, Coleman Hawkins, Washboard Leo, Django Reinhardt, Eric Clapton, and many others.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCi8DKf1zX8EBI959amaT63q668RjMg11z6rNb3uBziTchFwTcSvhBKfHP_WVSzW1Luu8zDMfss64jbpJ41I0Ds-O7y7UZO-BBB0KuYLgR1rpXbzm0LhUNYMQPvWp21t_wVxM-_Bp-yl9Py1EZloLbIpeNGOJt7MfO0Gih-elw5seVScJv3lnLyqJ3A/s500/Attic%20of%20Gallimaufry%207x7x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCi8DKf1zX8EBI959amaT63q668RjMg11z6rNb3uBziTchFwTcSvhBKfHP_WVSzW1Luu8zDMfss64jbpJ41I0Ds-O7y7UZO-BBB0KuYLgR1rpXbzm0LhUNYMQPvWp21t_wVxM-_Bp-yl9Py1EZloLbIpeNGOJt7MfO0Gih-elw5seVScJv3lnLyqJ3A/w178-h178/Attic%20of%20Gallimaufry%207x7x72.jpg" width="178" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob Walker, founder of the<br />first blog dedicated to SJI</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br />The entry also features a 45-minute <i>The Sounds in My Head</i> program guest-hosted by <a href="https://robwalker.substack.com/" target="_blank">Rob Walker</a>, creator of the first-ever blog dedicated to St. James Infirmary. Here Walker presents variations of the song with a relaxed, informed commentary. This one's a lot of fun so put some time aside and give it a listen.</div><div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br />This is good stuff! Thank you, Attic of Gallimaufry, for your attention.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.gregorystrachta.com/index.html" target="_blank">Great web page</a>! Give it a try.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-50100968273666319252022-12-04T16:32:00.005-08:002022-12-09T07:49:47.207-08:00"Dylan-Related-Books" presents, live on stage, "I Went Down to St. James Infirmary"<p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtRkSJOL8scmdDKl0KYbtgVvq2dKMWRpvKyFsFNpkIdjxOxNzayWBKyY2Mc512tJyPqaM2kqJEgAZSQCEoBhBMN78Uz8ho53GHk0U80UiPRccb26jc8GbQWlr2rAuxUlShLUxOT5Wlb4BO5fORGT2YV41HMW5VwLK4b8V9JPDtiFlvkKM4TAAPD8nAw/s1403/Flyer%209.12.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1403" data-original-width="992" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtRkSJOL8scmdDKl0KYbtgVvq2dKMWRpvKyFsFNpkIdjxOxNzayWBKyY2Mc512tJyPqaM2kqJEgAZSQCEoBhBMN78Uz8ho53GHk0U80UiPRccb26jc8GbQWlr2rAuxUlShLUxOT5Wlb4BO5fORGT2YV41HMW5VwLK4b8V9JPDtiFlvkKM4TAAPD8nAw/w164-h233/Flyer%209.12.jpg" width="164" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster for the concert</td></tr></tbody></table>Marco Demel and I have ongoing email exchanges due to <i>his</i> enthusiasm for <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary?variant=39732430438499" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a>, </i>and <i>my</i> enthusiasm for his <a href="https://www.radiodarmstadt.de/news/dylanhour-dylan-related-books.html" target="_blank">DylanHour radio program</a> from Radio Darmstadt, Germany.<p>Demel also publishes German language <a href="https://steadyhq.com/en/darmstadtdylandays2021/legal_notice" target="_blank">Dylan related books</a>. Many of these are translations, such as Louie Kemp's recollections of his long friendship with Dylan: <a href="https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Louie-Kemp/dp/B08GLP2R2K/ref=sr_1_1?crid=LM8CM7JA7QJ4&keywords=Dylan+%26+Ich%3A+50+Jahre+Abenteuer&qid=1670198285&s=books&sprefix=dylan+%26+ich+50+jahre+abenteuer%2Cstripbooks%2C189&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Dylan & Ich: 50 Jahre Abenteuer</a>.</p><p><i>And</i> he has a book of his own, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tempest-Under-Control-meinem-German-ebook/dp/B087HWZ1W4" target="_blank">Tempest Under Control</a> subtitled <i>Mit dem Mond im meinem Auge</i> ("With the Moon in my Eye"). Although Dylan is never mentioned, he is obviously the subject of this engaging book, part biography, part fiction, part commentary.</p><p>Marco is a busy man! He is also sponsoring a live concert series, starting December 9, 2022, at the HoffArt Theatre in Darmstadt.</p><p>The first of these concerts is actually called "I Went Down to St. James Infirmary," featuring musical guests <a href="http://www.candyjane-band.de/" target="_blank">Candyjane</a> and Lesung. There will be readings from my <a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary?variant=39732430438499">book</a>.<br /><br />This from Marco a few minutes ago:<br /><i>Your book will be part of the concerts at all dates of the series. In March, when the series continues, I<br />will have Winfried Klima with me, who will perform "Blind Willie McTell," or in April with a Darmstadt Quartet, Hot Jazz Company, who will perform "St. James." The leader is in his 70s and has a voice like Louis Armstrong. Then, in May, Roland Heinrich takes the stage with his German Jimmie Rodgers adaptations, and so on.</i><br /></p><p>That's exciting, Marco! I wish I could be there for all of them!!</p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-89879956999810184042022-10-21T10:54:00.018-07:002024-02-23T10:08:10.468-08:00From Norway - could this be how the "St. James Infirmary" melody arrived in the U.S.?<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3b9CNHIyaHv86a7Jbs9nUd6QEGrgY3xeiF31FwLICzuZi78ZcBLA-atoz8Tn0WW7_mhKBgi7d9kNJDf8B2XgwOyORu8UV3uAdC0gdYPAZLkkBwJwNgx2LMt9iJf03NgjM3qtwiQ-7OXShezCjyGKbdQWxLAM8KZx4GvbpBXHRb0T6o86Fu04Ok7hPOQ/s1019/Van%20Gogh%2014x12x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1019" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3b9CNHIyaHv86a7Jbs9nUd6QEGrgY3xeiF31FwLICzuZi78ZcBLA-atoz8Tn0WW7_mhKBgi7d9kNJDf8B2XgwOyORu8UV3uAdC0gdYPAZLkkBwJwNgx2LMt9iJf03NgjM3qtwiQ-7OXShezCjyGKbdQWxLAM8KZx4GvbpBXHRb0T6o86Fu04Ok7hPOQ/s320/Van%20Gogh%2014x12x72.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Van Gogh<br />Gypsy Camp near Arles (1888)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div>The song, "St. James Infirmary" is so utterly American, so utterly Blues and Country and Jazz. It feels born in the southern U.S. And yet, and yet ... things migrate and resonate and percolate and integrate and odd things emerge from the substrate. Could the melody for SJI have originated with Norwegian gypsies in the nineteenth century?<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.uis.no/nb/profile/nicolay-gausel " target="_blank">Nicolay Gausel</a> is a professor of Social Sciences at Universitetet i Stavanger, on the southwest coast of Norway. His studies include researching present and historical abuses of minorities.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>Nicolay sent us a Norwegian song, probably from the turn of the 20th century, with the <i>St. James Infirmary</i> melody.<p></p><p>He wrote:<br /><i style="color: #1d2228;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"You don't know me, but I came over some information you might like. There is some debate about the origin of the folk/jazz tune 'St.James infirmary'. I just would like to let you know that it resembles a great deal an old Norwegian/Swedish Tater song (Scandinavian word for Gypsy) entitled "Nu står jeg på resan så ferdig" ("Now here I stand ready to travel"). It's a song about a man leaving a woman he used to court, asking her to remember him but not for his faults. </span></i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">"If you like to listen to the song you can find it on Spotify. It's a rare take based on a social anthropology field study to record what is left of the old Norwegian Swedish Gypsy songs. Here's the link to the song:"</span></i></p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/4NJFoQw3FK3Oj3uNm8ZWSc?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><p><br />You can also listen to it on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVafeBgaM6U&t=1s" target="_blank">YouTube, here</a>.</p><p>Tatars is another name for gypsies. They were heavily persecuted in Norway, Sweden, and probably every other country on the planet. As lads living near Belfast, Northern Ireland, my brother and I, sixty-five years ago, climbed a grassy hill one evening and looked down at a gypsy camp. This was an extraordinary sight resplendent with colorful carriages arranged in a circle, horses reigned to posts, a fire burning in the middle of the encampment. We ran home to tell our parents and they warned us to stay away. "These are dangerous people." Our parents believed that gypsies kidnap little children. Ethnic minorities are routinely accused of horrible things, the better to justify their persecution.</p><p>In a later email Nicolay wrote:<br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"This song is most likely from the period when Norway was in union with Sweden (1814-1905). In this period there was great emigration from Norway to the US starting in 1820 with a peak in 1860 ending around 1920. The Taters were heavily persecuted with organized hunts by hunters and local communities. So many of them would probably seek safety and a better life as far away from danger as they could get. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tune got song on these boats crossing the Atlantic, especially since the lyric is about taking goodbye to someone dear – and the song is melancholic (like all Tater songs) so it would surely fit the situation people on the boats were in."</span></i></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This melody, then, could not have travelled from North America to Norway. People were migrating in a single direction, escaping persecution, forced sterilization, murder. They had no reason to travel in the opposite direction, which would have been fatal, They were travelling from east to west. From Norway to the U.S. Bringing their songs (and melodies) with them.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Could the melody for SJI have originated with the Norwegian gypsies?</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As Professor Gausel added,<i> "</i></span></span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><i>I played the songs to a musician I know. He said there’s a very low chance a theme like this can be duplicated by chance."</i></span></p><p><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><br />Readers of this blog will recall that a Romany/Gypsy/Tatar version of "St. James Infirmary" was arranged by accordionist/multi-instrumentalist <a href="https://compmjwb.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Michael Ward Bergeman</a>, who recorded it with <a href="https://soundcloud.com/gypsy-blues/st-james-infirmary" target="_blank">a gypsy band</a> and then with Yo Yo Ma. He felt the melody suited the gypsy style. And maybe there is good reason for that.</span></p><p><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><br /></span></p><p><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;">The entry below features N. Gausel's translation of </span><i style="color: #1d2228;">Nu står jag på resan så ferdig.</i></p>
</div></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-24189692571501772302022-10-20T09:28:00.013-07:002022-10-25T13:42:30.297-07:00N. Gausel's translation of "Nu står jag på resan så ferdig" / "Now here I stand ready to travel."<p>In the above entry <a href="https://www.uis.no/nb/profile/nicolay-gausel" target="_blank">Nicolay Gausel</a> identified an old Norwegian/Swedish folk song with the same melody as "St. James Infirmary." He kindly transcribed the lyric and sent along his own <i>literal</i> translation of "<span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVafeBgaM6U&t=1s" target="_blank">Nu står jag på resan så ferdig</a></i>" / "</span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><i>Now here I stand ready to travel.</i>" <span style="font-family: inherit;">T<span style="color: black;">he song ends each verse with the poignant "Forget my wrongs, but never forget me."</span></span></span></p><p>Nicolay added that the lyric is in a combination of old Swedish and old Norwegian. Both songs, "Now Here I Stand Ready to Travel" and "St. James Infirmary," are about saying goodbye.</p><p>This, Nicolay says, is probably the first time the lyric has either been written down or translated.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aaCGtTnFmffPeoQrimv0_xDy4ZyjNlYpTXy75mOyMQgXbtnWTu1QFWCnmVnxC5lkvCWWNsTMRI4tVh_q1lvPRm32tgsSiozZqIrhumfde2PjIn6Ac--5UmdBt7GU-2eA6Ze5M85BHAfbWPVqFi4UnpTELu1BwmqlYPrwWWH-LwuFAnKGvU3OM9JIvg/s2704/Nu%20star%20jag%20p%C3%A5%20resan%20s%C3%A5%20ferdig-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2704" data-original-width="2180" height="754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aaCGtTnFmffPeoQrimv0_xDy4ZyjNlYpTXy75mOyMQgXbtnWTu1QFWCnmVnxC5lkvCWWNsTMRI4tVh_q1lvPRm32tgsSiozZqIrhumfde2PjIn6Ac--5UmdBt7GU-2eA6Ze5M85BHAfbWPVqFi4UnpTELu1BwmqlYPrwWWH-LwuFAnKGvU3OM9JIvg/w609-h754/Nu%20star%20jag%20p%C3%A5%20resan%20s%C3%A5%20ferdig-1.jpg" width="609" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-26312112949800695322022-09-30T13:36:00.004-07:002023-07-30T17:19:57.484-07:00Irving Mills' birth name - from fallacy to fact on the Internet<p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIu4RYGeb_CFN3TaCXFp94cvqL1-MXAkxz-UIxzNK0PSVD7E9_ByPQ_3dJBz79-S_nEckh1tGiI1SnJX-RVtP1DCLgopZ3odtDYjghkDp9GZBJUui7RkE4LDKyEDBtQHsfa5oJPIU2-7d9e8ELpT1PaKjf7CAvl1nAyJyIMtmmN2LvyVZHgAe2pfq5Q/s1152/Irving%20Mills%2011x16x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="798" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIu4RYGeb_CFN3TaCXFp94cvqL1-MXAkxz-UIxzNK0PSVD7E9_ByPQ_3dJBz79-S_nEckh1tGiI1SnJX-RVtP1DCLgopZ3odtDYjghkDp9GZBJUui7RkE4LDKyEDBtQHsfa5oJPIU2-7d9e8ELpT1PaKjf7CAvl1nAyJyIMtmmN2LvyVZHgAe2pfq5Q/s320/Irving%20Mills%2011x16x72.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irving Mills</td></tr></tbody></table>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Mills" target="_blank">Wikipedia post on Irving Mills</a> opens:<p></p>"Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 16, 1894 - April 21, 1985) ..."<p></p><p>This comes from my research into Irving Mills, during which I scoured census records and ships logs (they emigrated from Odessa). The family name in the United States was Minsky; they Americanized their names. The family can be found in the 1900 U.S. census living at 176 Essex Street in Manhattan. Many of their neighbours were fellow Russians.</p><p>BUT - regarding the name Isadore I wrote, based on that 1900 census:<br />"Hyman (<i>Irving's father</i>) was thirty-four years old that June and headed a household consisting of his wife Sophia (thirty years old), and sons Jacob (eight years old) and another son of six <i>whose name is barely legible but could have been Isidor </i>(italics mine)."</p><p>I made a mistake writing this. First, neither Isidor nor Isadore are Russian names (although rare in the Jewish diaspora, the names are usually found in England and France). Second, as you can see from the census record (it should expand if you click on it), the writing is indistinct. All of the other family members can be clearly read (with a bit of concentration) but Irving's entry is, well, illegible.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YHJvgQvtMfWTrQx6FlDpN-JfjK7VmGvjDjRtxWeFBDiqSTk0u32cTrBwaCrgHWAmOAXrH754poprrJs1gqjc8dRujpFtHPRdV8UzBNkMXEo2UmERIl4ditBxHWdLZtbpFQ_YWgBSOQDdLgTm3HKciIOyqlXShKsJZPizl4-E6-gyRYoJCX6tAODCrg/s2417/Minsky%201900%20census%20sharpened2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2417" data-original-width="2327" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YHJvgQvtMfWTrQx6FlDpN-JfjK7VmGvjDjRtxWeFBDiqSTk0u32cTrBwaCrgHWAmOAXrH754poprrJs1gqjc8dRujpFtHPRdV8UzBNkMXEo2UmERIl4ditBxHWdLZtbpFQ_YWgBSOQDdLgTm3HKciIOyqlXShKsJZPizl4-E6-gyRYoJCX6tAODCrg/s320/Minsky%201900%20census%20sharpened2.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1900 U.S. census - the Minskys are listed near<br />the bottom at 08 (possibly meant to be 108)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>I had stared at this entry for long periods. In the end I thought "the name is barely legible but <i>could be</i> Isidor."</p><p>Now it has become "fact" that Irving was born Isidor (or Isadore).</p><p>From supposition to fact.</p><p>It is certainly untrue. I should have simply written that the name is indecipherable.</p><p>Irving Mills was the pseudonymous "Joe Primrose," who was given credit for writing "St. James Infirmary," the only song that has his name. Among many other clients (including Milton Berle), Mills managed the careers of Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. He started a record company. With his brother Jack he ran one of the most successful music publishing houses of the era.</p><p>On the 1896 ship's log which brought the family to the U.S. from Odessa, when Irving was two, their names were recorded as Chaim (a hatmaker), Schifre, Jacob, and Isaac. That should have been enough.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ps Terry Teachout in his biography of Duke Ellington, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Duke-Life-Ellington-Terry-Teachout/dp/1592407498" target="_blank">Duke: The Life of Duke Ellington</a>,</i> wrote <span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">"No biography of (Irving) Mills has been written. The best short treatment of his life and work is in Harwood."</span></p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-55475638578844712892022-08-03T10:56:00.014-07:002022-08-04T16:02:49.422-07:00Genius Music Books - from "The Great White Wonder" bootlegs, to Traveling Wilburys, and beyond<p>Earlier this year <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary?variant=39732430438499" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a></i> was picked up by Genius Book Publishing, in the United States. Of course I became curious about other music books they are selling and bought some for myself. They have some exciting stuff! Here are a couple of examples.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_UM1Mq6w0kkN3siVzIWs0ebQ_Q4n8YycKA1rsfLY4rJFUdc3u1TTKdZBbFpR10Ut5DIeaj-p60XPNTaRFXJzouRCYwJlOQGQ49_MygOh4bgSdyWCsWklkIyPR8XFef6jLlFmXGtiSYhJhF6e8abjLhjPtpucMVBWT3MkWRRyxDFU3iGQe-ZIHI3xGA/s1229/Pigs%20Tale%20cover%2017x12x72.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1229" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_UM1Mq6w0kkN3siVzIWs0ebQ_Q4n8YycKA1rsfLY4rJFUdc3u1TTKdZBbFpR10Ut5DIeaj-p60XPNTaRFXJzouRCYwJlOQGQ49_MygOh4bgSdyWCsWklkIyPR8XFef6jLlFmXGtiSYhJhF6e8abjLhjPtpucMVBWT3MkWRRyxDFU3iGQe-ZIHI3xGA/w320-h226/Pigs%20Tale%20cover%2017x12x72.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/a-pigs-tale-open-edition?variant=39432020164707" target="_blank"><i>Trade Mark of Quality</i> (click here to find the book)</a> is the most famous maker of bootleg records. The first of all bootlegs was Bob Dylan's <i>Great White Wonder</i>. I remember seeing that double lp, with its stark white cover and blank labels, in an Ontario record store in about 1969. "The Underground Story ..." devotes a couple of dozen pages to the creation of this album, including photographs of labelled tape reels, recording grids, etc. They devote as much attention to other Dylan bootlegs they created, plus the Stones, Beatles, Hendrix, The Who, and so on. How did they get the master tapes? How did they record live performances without getting caught? What equipment did they use? How did they adapt to a burgeoning market? All of this is recorded in minute detail in this book, including photos, news clippings, track listings, and more. At 320+ pages of a large format volume (8.5"X12"), it is a well-written and exciting read.<div><br /></div><div>Tales of actual bootleg excursions are so thorough, you might think that one of the authors is the notoriously anonymous Pigman himself!<div><br /></div><div>Maybe that's a question for the author of the next book.<br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1233T8MhLYBo8_vApBZzL9k0xtSzifMiCn_n73mT0wafmPFhTRZJwHjGqv-9W5krGabhO5FsY_G_YldOPQwSrNZJwgwppnf-WAB3vWbJkHJZNiH5iDEC6Lj5Cd9cGdqc0WPXlo5FOtu1a2v7jU2NzYfQVTBuAueusP51rRTNsrOAwo7j6Z6hUgC8rOg/s720/Mysteries%20in%20Music%207x10x72.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1233T8MhLYBo8_vApBZzL9k0xtSzifMiCn_n73mT0wafmPFhTRZJwHjGqv-9W5krGabhO5FsY_G_YldOPQwSrNZJwgwppnf-WAB3vWbJkHJZNiH5iDEC6Lj5Cd9cGdqc0WPXlo5FOtu1a2v7jU2NzYfQVTBuAueusP51rRTNsrOAwo7j6Z6hUgC8rOg/s320/Mysteries%20in%20Music%207x10x72.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>Jim Berkenstadt is "The Rock and Roll Detective." He investigates mysteries and puzzles, secrets and hoaxes, myths and intrigue in the world of rock&roll.</div><div><br /></div><div>What is the story behind the formation of The Traveling Wilburys? Did the Beach Boys steal a song from Charlie Manson? Who really discovered Elvis Presley? What tales lie behind Nirvana's "Nevermind" album?</div><div><br /></div><div>These and more are addressed in "<a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/mysteries-in-the-music?variant=39588582522979" target="_blank">Mysteries in the Music</a>."</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a well-researched book. Well written. I found it thoroughly enjoyable.<br /><br /><p>So thank you, <a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Genius Books</a>, for these offerings.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>It's a pleasure to find <i>I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</i> in such good company.</p></div></div></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-64022886618243139412022-05-28T17:24:00.002-07:002022-05-28T17:30:18.999-07:00Nate Wilcox, "Let It Roll," and an interview about "St. James Infirmary"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9oEnBYnYxwK9bAP3TcJ7eJ5nCHl6S_1r9Oqq0hsIkhOFZJrmIfYCImCdBXCCHqQylH40rRXCL8UnJmTvgdTxouhjpyp1jDwCHASHV3zyYxbeF_0iJlHg6FqGzmR5eupTjfSbQlhPlflz7py0oAfTuHQCwlvvL7atxZ199zsumsWugJOTWGc-1LJXRg/s400/Let%20It%20Roll%206x6x72.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9oEnBYnYxwK9bAP3TcJ7eJ5nCHl6S_1r9Oqq0hsIkhOFZJrmIfYCImCdBXCCHqQylH40rRXCL8UnJmTvgdTxouhjpyp1jDwCHASHV3zyYxbeF_0iJlHg6FqGzmR5eupTjfSbQlhPlflz7py0oAfTuHQCwlvvL7atxZ199zsumsWugJOTWGc-1LJXRg/w200-h200/Let%20It%20Roll%206x6x72.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is an interview I had with Nate Wilcox for his "Let It Roll" podcast - which aims at "putting together a history of popular music in America with a focus on the social, technological and business forces that drive the culture."</span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wilcox is an engaged, very knowledgeable historian of the evolution of popular music. The interview went to some extraordinary places.
<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The interview is about an hour long and focuses on </span><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a>, published by <a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Genius Books</a>.<p></p><div>Nate Wilcox's podcast can be found <a href="http://www.letitrollpodcast.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The interview can be caught <a href="https://dcs.megaphone.fm/PAN7409661697.mp3?key=88b19ebe68a8e2af240b1e5f37548e22" target="_blank">here</a>.</div></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-36396362021928271942022-04-21T10:47:00.002-07:002022-04-21T11:53:38.675-07:00St. James Infirmary played on a carrot<p> A <a href="http://alanrinehart.com/" target="_blank">friend</a> brought this item to my attention, prefacing it with "And now for something completely different."</p><p>The musician in the video below is Hugh Levey. He writes: "My grandson quite often picks up a toy and pretends to play it like a clarinet, so last week I thought we could make a carrot clarinet together ..."</p><p>Mr. Levy runs <a href="https://woodwindly.onlineweb.shop/" target="_blank">Woodwindly</a>, a music store in the UK. He also has a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/woodwindly/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page. And he plays a darned good carrot!</p>
<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="476" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fwoodwindly%2Fvideos%2F1079833172596145%2F&show_text=false&width=476&t=0" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="476"></iframe>
<div><br /></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-64092388589391785002022-03-11T14:50:00.002-08:002022-03-12T07:58:37.421-08:00Bob Dylan and St. James Infirmary<p> <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0sqRtL7FRbHT545nbxLsPpRBRS-1-CmO_enMTe0SxYHVWzmSbgX7YSXkM3vPqKRu3KLbtO37OON77702_vx6rI7CC17U-tIkIYh_hoZFyVUvm0UsV_dXNMtf8DRtXqlUmUGc-FAyfuizPXZlqA3JVu9b4kQEQBS9n6CWBQeNQAKcLRw1n7IKckNtezw=s589" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="589" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0sqRtL7FRbHT545nbxLsPpRBRS-1-CmO_enMTe0SxYHVWzmSbgX7YSXkM3vPqKRu3KLbtO37OON77702_vx6rI7CC17U-tIkIYh_hoZFyVUvm0UsV_dXNMtf8DRtXqlUmUGc-FAyfuizPXZlqA3JVu9b4kQEQBS9n6CWBQeNQAKcLRw1n7IKckNtezw=w489-h184" width="489" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above, Blind Willie McTell and Bob Dylan, from a collage by the author.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am aware of three times Bob Dylan has sung or spoken about "St. James Infirmary."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first was in his 1983 song, "Blind Willie McTell," which closes:<br /><br />I'm gazing out the window<br />Of the St. James Hotel<br />And I can tell you one thing<br />Nobody can sing the blues<br />Like Blind Willie McTell</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Readers will recall that McTell claimed authorship of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrGfRMnkPAE" target="_blank">"The Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues"</a> which was long thought to have been inspired by "St. James Infirmary." McTell did not write the song, which was recorded two years before the first version of "St. James Infirmary." But he sure sang it well.<br /><br /><br />The second was in a Feb. 20, 2008 radio broadcast. It was the 69th episode of his <i><a href="https://www.themetimeradio.com/" target="_blank">Theme Time Radio Hour</a>,</i> the theme was "Doctors," and Dylan spoke for quite a while. I have written about this <a href="https://iwentdowntostjamesinfirmary.blogspot.com/search?q=theme+time+radio" target="_blank">elsewhere on the blog</a>, so suffice it to say Dylan played <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5QCMWi53h4" target="_blank">Snooks Eaglin's 1959 interpretation</a> of the song.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The third time was in the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NbQkyvbw18" target="_blank">"Murder Most Foul,"</a> which he recorded in 2020.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Play me a song, Mr. Wolfman Jack<br />Play it for me in my long Cadillac<br />Play that Only The Good Die Young<br />Take me to the place Tom Dooley was hung<br />Play St. James Infirmary in the court of King James<br />If you want to remember, better write down the names<br />Play Etta James too, play I'd Rather Go Blind<br />Play it for the man with the telepathic mind</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />Dylan's "Blind Willie McTell" lyric was a key reason I began researching the byways of "St. James Infirmary." It's a grand journey!</div><p></p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-91966340247537170622022-02-18T17:17:00.003-08:002022-02-19T07:54:56.314-08:003rd Edition launched by Genius Books!!!!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2AfUtROtANwDE6rK_80-uvD9IbRYeI8zJ1dmmSjjtiURaN8orBfvYXkkfBydWK0aIixHWfQvcIOvIvpnFuDiP_v9Wv3aOLW036Pi5ZdmUncL2zID26A_r8wbWLthtaGPi2XTCq8U18rWrtlCXEGrLrAOQeUwtdT7Bbyd9aXXYNMm0p85O0-E6MRpf2A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="93" data-original-width="166" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2AfUtROtANwDE6rK_80-uvD9IbRYeI8zJ1dmmSjjtiURaN8orBfvYXkkfBydWK0aIixHWfQvcIOvIvpnFuDiP_v9Wv3aOLW036Pi5ZdmUncL2zID26A_r8wbWLthtaGPi2XTCq8U18rWrtlCXEGrLrAOQeUwtdT7Bbyd9aXXYNMm0p85O0-E6MRpf2A=w269-h150" width="269" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div>February 18th, 2022. Today is the launch date for the 3rd edition of <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary?variant=39732430438499" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a>.</i> Updated with new material, it is now being published by <a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Genius Books</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Operating out of Los Angeles, <a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Genius</a> is developing an impressive array of music-centric volumes, along with, of course, other genres. Their music books will have historical impact.<br /><br /></div><div>For instance, there is author/photographer Michael Cooper's photo book on Brian Jones, <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/brian-jones-butterfly-in-the-park?variant=39259854733411" target="_blank">Butterfly in the Park</a>.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Another is a pictorial history titled <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/a-pigs-tale-open-edition?variant=39432020164707" target="_blank">A Pig's Tale: Open Edition</a>, by Ralph Sutherland and Harold Sherrick. This is about the folk who created, among others, Dylan's "Great White Wonder" bootleg, and spawned an underground industry.</i><br /><br />There's the "Rock and Roll Detective," Jim Berkenstadt, who "examines the secrets, myths, legends, hoaxes, conspiracies, and the widely inexplicable events that are such an intriguing part of rock and roll history," in <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/collections/genius-music-books/products/mysteries-in-the-music?variant=39588582522979" target="_blank">Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed</a></i>. Including tales of Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, and more. </div><div><br /></div><div>And others enticing titles. Including, now, this 3rd edition of <i><a href="https://geniusbookpublishing.com/products/i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary?variant=39732430438499" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a></i></div><div><br /></div><div>This is an exciting publisher on an exciting journey, and I am happy that SJI has settled here.</div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-29465681093581049222022-01-29T22:41:00.003-08:002022-02-01T10:12:29.784-08:00The Owners Of El Torreon Ballroom, Home of Phil Baxter, Have Big Plans For Renovations<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-gCtYQ6Al1mk_kDFqStEJnFeRIrHGjVJbOmrvc-Wy74RIZazfoZz70_cDPo-LrYc5Ve7Iq6VbnRtVRswe76VdwzlG9qnNuRbGrEZ0QeV6dxbsTLUBv31xcZ9hV0SLMHBRg-j96ubJmr5JDhD5Y8kopZb2fIzKZgMIWt4FH4RdtCbBLO4QL2NNJgRp5Q=s1024" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1024" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-gCtYQ6Al1mk_kDFqStEJnFeRIrHGjVJbOmrvc-Wy74RIZazfoZz70_cDPo-LrYc5Ve7Iq6VbnRtVRswe76VdwzlG9qnNuRbGrEZ0QeV6dxbsTLUBv31xcZ9hV0SLMHBRg-j96ubJmr5JDhD5Y8kopZb2fIzKZgMIWt4FH4RdtCbBLO4QL2NNJgRp5Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div>The El Torreon lives!<p></p><p>This is where Phil Baxter, the <u>first</u> registered co-author (along with Carl Moore) of "Gambler's Blues" - aka "St. James Infirmary" - held sway from 1927-1933 (with his big band, "The Texas Tommies.").</p><p>In the previous post we visited the resurrection of the famous mirrored ball which reflected light onto the ceiling in the days of dance bands and huge dance floors. And now, news of the renovation of the dance hall itself!</p><p>You can read about it here:<br /><a href="https://kansascitymag.com/news/the-owners-of-el-torreon-one-of-kansas-citys-most-iconic-music-venues-have-big-plans-for-renovating-it/" target="_blank">https://kansascitymag.com/news/the-owners-of-el-torreon-one-of-kansas-citys-most-iconic-music-venues-have-big-plans-for-renovating-it/</a></p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-35401926719997201972021-10-05T18:07:00.001-07:002021-10-05T19:25:27.577-07:00Resurrection of the El Torreon mirrored ball!<div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrFipVq6O1dn38Blho-NPGCzFLn9fhvxRpkJErqDb2jbPDIQwFF5BCO1gdTBWBwFSYHgc04_g4n24_peOKL068vTpN5Kp4HUAVicGlEtGQxOcA4Lg7bp2qs-EOTqQ_Ohw9D03Ri07iMpw/s648/Gamblers+Blues+cover+7x9x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="471" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrFipVq6O1dn38Blho-NPGCzFLn9fhvxRpkJErqDb2jbPDIQwFF5BCO1gdTBWBwFSYHgc04_g4n24_peOKL068vTpN5Kp4HUAVicGlEtGQxOcA4Lg7bp2qs-EOTqQ_Ohw9D03Ri07iMpw/s320/Gamblers+Blues+cover+7x9x72.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover for 1925 sheet music.</td></tr></tbody></table>Phil Baxter (music), along with Carl Moore (lyrics), were the first of many to claim authorship of the song "St. James Infirmary." They printed the sheet music (then named "Gambler's Blues") in 1925. This was three years before Louis Armstrong recorded it with writing credit to Don Redman (well, until the second pressing, when Joe Primrose emerged as the "author").</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfgOmEkRTG-RDQl6t8UgMZWJJ3E1gup63rrsBxEhFgwEDrY3WNwR0osscscPfrXx4cnLelvM1islsHRN1H0Xd2QLaTF8IAYlPajHlL9CamUX3-u2XnOz3E1AVEw6XfLv4evKyWj3kfqsG/s864/Carl%2526Phil+12x7x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="864" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfgOmEkRTG-RDQl6t8UgMZWJJ3E1gup63rrsBxEhFgwEDrY3WNwR0osscscPfrXx4cnLelvM1islsHRN1H0Xd2QLaTF8IAYlPajHlL9CamUX3-u2XnOz3E1AVEw6XfLv4evKyWj3kfqsG/s320/Carl%2526Phil+12x7x72.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil Baxter and Carl Moore<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;">Both Baxter and Moore are important characters in the tale of "St. James Infirmary," and both are detailed in the book <i>I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</i>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabHl3Iar61ZXCsIhUBwl5QWxiRbATnKRrNSAPngoWj5mBBp-oVUFiZSph7iQD9fK4u-cErIBjJzHIFeQy0E-pS2uBGb2ukkgB7kypgUdki1hzFRs91gtwzhR1Aa5l8kOMb7TMAZwJ9Omw/s1000/202110+Phil+Baxter+%2526+Texas+Tommies+1926.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1000" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabHl3Iar61ZXCsIhUBwl5QWxiRbATnKRrNSAPngoWj5mBBp-oVUFiZSph7iQD9fK4u-cErIBjJzHIFeQy0E-pS2uBGb2ukkgB7kypgUdki1hzFRs91gtwzhR1Aa5l8kOMb7TMAZwJ9Omw/s320/202110+Phil+Baxter+%2526+Texas+Tommies+1926.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil and the Texas Tommies in 1926, a year before they<br />became the house orchestra at the El Torreon Ballroom.<br />Trombone. Trumpet. Drums. Piano. Clarinet. Banjo.</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">Phil Baxter, a Texan, and his band "The Texas Tommies" roamed the land dressed in Stetson hats and cowboy boots, performing hot jazz in the many dance halls that spotted the landscape. Forgotten today, they were a major draw. In the years 1927-1933 they served as the house band in Kansas City's hottest dancehall, the El Torreon Ballroom.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjblI_8BmqglXbNzFTB-pOfKwOAtACYZWKBh-eaiiDj9UAfn2DhU53UviH0dnkinHGQ6-ekMfUi7TbWqgUMMdALmSDZhUzideRVjR2hXR9WToqymlI9vc-QBICTVCPQhqEo79umBo0uQcyK/s1341/Baxter+at+El+Torreon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1341" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjblI_8BmqglXbNzFTB-pOfKwOAtACYZWKBh-eaiiDj9UAfn2DhU53UviH0dnkinHGQ6-ekMfUi7TbWqgUMMdALmSDZhUzideRVjR2hXR9WToqymlI9vc-QBICTVCPQhqEo79umBo0uQcyK/w400-h179/Baxter+at+El+Torreon.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil and the Texas Tommies in Kansas City c 1927 <br />Photo taken at the El Torreon Ballroom.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Here is an excerpt from <i><a href="http://www.stjamesinfirmary.ca/purchase.html" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a></i>:<p style="text-align: left;">"The El Torreon was huge. It had room for two thousand dancers. It was decorated in an exotic Spanish motif. Clouds, projected onto the high vaulted ceiling, floated across glistening stars. The dance floor was illuminated by a massive mirror ball of a hundred thousand facets that hung from the ceiling. The El Torreon's opening night featured a double bill. The Texas Tommies, now an orchestra of sixteen musicians, had traded in their cowboy gear for tuxedos. At the opposite end of the dance hall stood the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, back in Kansas City for a three-week stint. The Nighthawks were once the most popular band in the city but had relocated to Chicago three years earlier."<br /><br /><br />That mirrored ball struck me as extraordinary, prefiguring the decorations of the disco era. It must have been a fantastic sight in the 1920s, giving the dancehall an exotic, unforgettable atmosphere.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Almost a century later the mirrored ball has been resurrected. The El Torreon underwent many changes since Phil Baxter's day. From a 1920s fancy ballroom ("the tallest building in Kansas City") to a skating rink to a rock 'n roll arena renamed "The Cowtown Ballroom" in the 1970s - where Frank Zappa, Ravi Shankar, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Paul Butterfield, Van Morrison, The Byrds, BB King, King Crimson, Captain Beefheart, and <a href="https://cowtownbr.weebly.com/who-played-there.html" target="_blank">many others performed</a>.</p><p style="text-align: left;">And then the mirrored ball was taken down and put into storage.</p><p style="text-align: left;">In subsequent years (after 1974) the El Torreon served as a flea-market venue, a church, etc.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The mirrored ball has been resurrected, 45+ years later. You can see it in the Kansas City Museum.<br /><br />These days, the El Torreon hosts weddings, business meetings, and special events.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Here is a <a href="https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2021-10-01/after-decades-tucked-away-el-torreon-mirror-ball-shines-again-at-kansas-city-museum" target="_blank">link to an article about the resurrection of the mirrored ball.</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">Here is a <a href="https://www.eltorreonkc.com/" target="_blank">link to its present incarnation</a>.</p><p style="text-align: left;">And here is a preview to a movie about the Cowtown Ballroom of the 1970s - when the mirrored ball still spun above the stage.</p>
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<div><br /></div><div> St. James Infirmary.</div></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-29038781473218650742021-09-23T20:34:00.002-07:002021-09-25T18:33:24.355-07:00Borges, tattoos, conspiracy notions, and SJI<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDo-GhhLqkWsClMkBu36-sKI1h77zHYGfhD1kaEluh-ri3kx8wDG0jNK-p2mPUj1amDupbLl6RyG-GMRu8JOKz1wzXbphdjC9aOD8iaA0M_VOeC0g_lXRmOVlnkaF26WnCj6FUKu2RaQSq/s1280/SJI+18x9x72.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="1280" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDo-GhhLqkWsClMkBu36-sKI1h77zHYGfhD1kaEluh-ri3kx8wDG0jNK-p2mPUj1amDupbLl6RyG-GMRu8JOKz1wzXbphdjC9aOD8iaA0M_VOeC0g_lXRmOVlnkaF26WnCj6FUKu2RaQSq/w640-h310/SJI+18x9x72.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>A quick post, here. Three items that I've had on the burner.</p><p><b>1.</b> Jorge Luis Borges, singer of St. James Infirmary</p><p>Are you familiar with Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)? Argentinian, he is often considered one of the premier fiction writers of the age. While he received many international awards, many think it atrocious that he was not given the Nobel prize for literature.</p><p>Borges' short story collection, <i>Labyrinths,</i> had a big impact on me.</p><p>And, abstract writer par excellence, <a href=" https://montrealserai.com/article/jorge-luis-borge-recollections/" target="_blank">he was a big fan of <i>St. James Infirmary</i></a>. He enjoyed singing it.</p><p><br /><b>2.</b> A tattoo artist imprinted stop-motion impressions of the cartoon featuring Cab Calloway circa 1932. <a href="https://washingtonnewsday.com/world/with-76-inkings-a-tattoo-artist-creates-a-insane-stop-motion-animation-on-real-skin/" target="_blank">76 inkings on 76 bodies.</a><br /><br /></p><p><b>3. </b> Conspiracy theorists put forward the notion that the the <a href="https://dunyanews.tv/en/FakeNews/612413-Claims-cartoon-from-1930s-predicted-COVID-19-pandemic-fake" target="_blank">SJI cartoon predicted Covid-19</a>.</p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-44061687994859084592021-08-19T15:45:00.017-07:002021-08-24T15:25:18.133-07:00A 1951 cartoon, an 1887 poem, and St. James Infirmary<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmkQSf5X7Z5ER0NaSOpKOVSSuCV5jfsDvX2wT-HhagscFCciH2TlnPrGtj__0y0YoFcOSRhQcNUowcd6vORLkJdVjs2lT8lmrTjGYUFVoZM06yVGu1apqeGOeYH9NwlCOCUFa8ue2DaG_p/s792/Harold+purple+crayon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="675" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmkQSf5X7Z5ER0NaSOpKOVSSuCV5jfsDvX2wT-HhagscFCciH2TlnPrGtj__0y0YoFcOSRhQcNUowcd6vORLkJdVjs2lT8lmrTjGYUFVoZM06yVGu1apqeGOeYH9NwlCOCUFa8ue2DaG_p/w273-h320/Harold+purple+crayon.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>When my son Alex was a wee lad I would read him bedtime stories. One of our early books was <i>Harold and the Purple Crayon </i>(1955). Harold, dressed in sleepers, was about the same age as Alex.<div><br /></div><div>Harold had a purple crayon, and when he went for a nighttime walk he drew a moon so he could see in the dark, and a path so he could walk. And so the story of Harold and his purple crayon progressed until he drew a bed and went to sleep.<p></p><p>I had forgotten about this book until I received an email from <a href="https://philnel.com/about-phil-nel/" target="_blank">Philip Nel</a>. Philip is working on early cartoons by Crockett Johnson, the author of <i>Harold and the Purple Crayon.</i></p><p>In the 1940s, Johnson created a brilliant comic strip featuring another young boy called Barnaby. <i>Barnaby</i> ran from April 1942 to February 1952. Nel has been <a href="https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/barnaby" target="_blank">co-editing the <i>Barnaby</i> cartoons</a>. He is now working on the fifth and final volume.</p><p>What does this have to do with <i>St. James Infirmary</i>? </p><p>Well, in the July 30, 1951 cartoon Barnaby's rather inept and blustery fairy Godfather recited a variation of the opening lines of the song SJI:<br /><br />"'Twas a balmy summer evening and a goodly crowd was there!<br />It well-nigh filled Joe's barroom, on the corner of the square."</p><p>Nel had recognized this as similar to the opening lines of many (or most) <i>Gambling Blues</i>/<i>St. James Infirmary</i> iterations. He wrote me, asking if I had encountered this lyric before. "No. It's new to me."</p><p></p><p>It presented a puzzle.</p><p><br /><img data-original-height="920" data-original-width="2772" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7bvbXB_oXR4HKbp4ujmANjyuuaOlGNnNVzqI7ED9NncElTezCE0XqBMt736l84x5l82AuamYjVXVEeRJe86NK_imNMIgRtoy3BPhJFRip7DQ6YoKZllX6aaf4VHeC6A2Lj_KSYxtf6Dn/w640-h212/image.png" width="640" /></p><p>I searched more deeply and found that these are the opening lines of an 1887 poem by the poet, playwright, actor, and movie executive Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (1843-1925). <i>The Face on the Barroom Floor</i> (or <i>The Face on the Floor</i>, etc.) is a poem which became immensely popular in the early 20th century. People read poetry back then, and even attended poetic recitations for which they had to pay.</p><p>D'Arcy himself recited it in front of paying crowds. Charlie Chaplin made a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bThOgIYo_2Q" target="_blank">short comedic silent film</a> of the same name in 1917. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ2e71CejuI&t=9s" target="_blank">Hank Snow recorded it</a> as late as 1968. Joe Cocker's stage manager Sherman "Smitty" Jones <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFsZj_us-Fc" target="_blank">recited it from memory</a> during a break from the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour in 1971. Charles Manson, who was once an ambitious singer/songwriter, recorded a recitation. Composer Henry Mollicone wrote a 1978 opera of the same name, based on the poem. The list goes on.</p><p>Despite its immense popularity I hadn't come across the poem until Nel brought it to my attention. </p><p>Famous as it was, <i><a href="https://allpoetry.com/The-Face-On-The-Barroom-Floor" target="_blank">The Face on the Barroom Floor</a></i> would not have been considered "serious" poetry. It is a kind of pop-poem. It tells an emotional tale that would resonate and excite, in the days before the easy-to-access entertainments of our era. It's the story of a homeless man, impoverished, poorly dressed, who wandered into a bar, and of whom a bar patron said (reflecting one of the discriminations of the time): "I wouldn't touch him with a fork, he's filthy as a Turk." </p><p>For the price of a few drinks the man told his story of woe. He was once a successful portrait painter who fell in love with a woman "with a form like the Milo Venus, too beautiful to live; / With eyes that would beat the Koh-i-noor, and a wealth of chestnut hair." She, however, became distracted by a fair-haired dreamy-eyed youth he was painting, and she ran away with him. The artist fell into disarray and now, in this bar of attentive listeners and ever reinforced by drink, he offered to draw the face of his beloved on the floor with chalk the bar used to record baseball scores. In the final lines of the poem:<br /><br />Another drink, and with chalk in hand, the vagabond began,<br />To sketch a face that might well buy the soul of any man.<br />Then, as he placed another lock upon that shapely head<br />With a fearful shriek, he leaped and fell across the picture <span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">— dead!</span></p><p>This is an exciting find. This poem from 1887 supports the notion that <i>St. James Infirmary</i> was created from myriad sources: a couple of lines taken from <i>The Face on the Barroom Floor</i>, bits from a number of old songs like <i>Let Her Go, God Bless Her</i>, or <i>Let Her Go, I'll Meet Her</i>, or <i>She's Gone, Let Her Go</i>, and so on, interwoven with imaginative lyrics from which emerged a new story.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1OJj7LHY-y1HO1pKAU1gonyucrs8yo4PxI5Oyl7v5FG3W4ItPvaj7bL210LeZ0gHgoKgdBJBPLCBkEczgJi_lQVgOc4Sg7dJRbgsw3KUw8iWpjJsiYA43wm7_x8cAdUDEAKQIQ9MjUOE/s979/Held+Jr+1925+Face+Upon+The+Floor+14x11x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="979" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1OJj7LHY-y1HO1pKAU1gonyucrs8yo4PxI5Oyl7v5FG3W4ItPvaj7bL210LeZ0gHgoKgdBJBPLCBkEczgJi_lQVgOc4Sg7dJRbgsw3KUw8iWpjJsiYA43wm7_x8cAdUDEAKQIQ9MjUOE/s320/Held+Jr+1925+Face+Upon+The+Floor+14x11x72.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Face Upon the Floor"<br />Engraving by John Held Jr. 1925<br />(John Held Jr. also illustrated the coffin<br />scene from the song </i>St. James Infirmary<i>.)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div><br /></div><div>Another poet, John Henry Titus (1853-1947), <a href="https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/titus/181/" target="_blank">claimed authorship</a> of the poem. He said he wrote it in 1872, fifteen years earlier. Titus was adamant that d'Arcy had re-written it and then claimed it as his own (making, I am sure, quite a bit of money). This poem continues for three single-spaced pages, is a more difficult read, and concludes:</div><p></p>Another as wil-o'clock dram..and<br />knelt with char askan at sketch<br />of one might bestir the soul of<br />any man: then a truant memory lock<br />..in accent low, "Madgelene" thou<br />mistook one! struggles to rise and<br />with cry as phantom of dread..<br />leaps as in her arms forgiven; and<br />fell on the picture dead.<p></p><p>Titus recited it for a record series "Voices From The Past," on his 90th birthday.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxACPKWXabm0px4SlBJZSHm5m4YeHWiGsCATAxoz01ONBuIDcckDKjT15DjsLRV97WUgf0MhC0VAVfnwHm4XSgH5fkPpqm4HBhxhNOD2DwH6AAw9A0T2e4BmYNBFp-g7NaCZzx1nNdS5_/s1652/Cartoons+23x8x72.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="1652" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxACPKWXabm0px4SlBJZSHm5m4YeHWiGsCATAxoz01ONBuIDcckDKjT15DjsLRV97WUgf0MhC0VAVfnwHm4XSgH5fkPpqm4HBhxhNOD2DwH6AAw9A0T2e4BmYNBFp-g7NaCZzx1nNdS5_/w483-h158/Cartoons+23x8x72.jpg" width="483" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p>These expressions of <i>The Face on the Barroom Floor</i> illustrate a common, dynamic aspect of creativity. Nothing arises from a vacuum. Everything depends upon what came before. <i>The Face on the Barroom Floor</i> lent a couple of lines to <i>St. James Infirmary</i>. In the same way, Bugs Bunny would not have existed without Mickey Mouse. Before Mickey there was Felix the Cat (of whom animator Otto Messmer credited the influence of Charlie Chaplin). Before Felix there was Krazy Kat. And before Krazy Kat all sorts of newspaper cartoons - all the way back to drawings on cave walls.</p><div><p>Love and theft. Imitation and flattery. St. James Infirmary.<br /></p></div></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-10576328183185833262021-06-29T16:20:00.002-07:002021-06-29T16:25:49.680-07:00Pass It Along<p> <a href="https://bossin.com/" target="_blank">Bob Bossin</a>, from British Columbia's Gabriola Island, recently bought a copy of <i><a href="http://www.stjamesinfirmary.ca/purchase.html" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a></i>. We exchanged a few emails and then he sent me this video he put together of the <a href="https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2021/04/bob-bossin-scott-cook-pass-it-along-earth-day/" target="_blank">Scott Cook</a> song, <i>Pass it Along</i>.<span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"> </span></span>It's a remarkable cooperative piece featuring an international array of musicians (and - in the case of Elizabeth May, past leader of the Canadian Green party - a politician) including Peggy Seeger and Canada's Connie Kaldor. The song is a rewarding listen. Starting as an homage to a guitar, it spreads its wings to include ... well, everything. </p><p>Thanks for this, Bob Bossin. I shall say no more. The song speaks.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nNj7LyHqwFE" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-67359075337274096272021-06-17T12:47:00.003-07:002021-06-17T16:00:19.696-07:00RIP Leo Crandall<p>Celebrated innovative cellist, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Leo Crandall died on May 29. <a href="https://syncopatedtimes.com/cellist-leo-crandall-has-died-at-67/" target="_blank">Obituary</a>.</p><p>In memory, here is a performance with The Gonstermachers of <i>St. James Infirmary</i>.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6V6k9h0UQmE" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-63903419396975588152021-04-30T17:02:00.004-07:002021-05-01T09:26:07.855-07:00The Carter Family, Ralph Peer, copyright ... and, oh, Lesley Riddle<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6NiPZaun4jf2WgOgjAyJa1epwlKTatVSq4BXqstfVmcY7evwQKZcUqMl3DfabZW1XEmYwArRLaOxqvU4Ugp9NFWZGLLwBvTxa0ZtYTvaDMMuY5N2ZwpdiPGPXrZ3rKHjABkACCnbR2_s/s1600/Carter+Family+20x14x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6NiPZaun4jf2WgOgjAyJa1epwlKTatVSq4BXqstfVmcY7evwQKZcUqMl3DfabZW1XEmYwArRLaOxqvU4Ugp9NFWZGLLwBvTxa0ZtYTvaDMMuY5N2ZwpdiPGPXrZ3rKHjABkACCnbR2_s/s320/Carter+Family+20x14x72.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A.P., Sara, and Maybelle Carter<br />The original Carter Family</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The Carter Family, immensely popular musicians a century ago, helped usher in "Country Music." At the time it was labelled "Hillbilly Music." They have <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Will-You-Miss-When-Gone-ebook/dp/B00AK78QMC" target="_blank">a fascinating history</a>, including a long stay in Mexico where they performed live on a radio station owned by an entrepreneur who made most of his fortune by enticing men to travel to his "hospital" near the radio station, and have goat gonads implanted in their scrotums. A cure for impotence. Following a few deaths (and a few miraculous cures) Dr. Brinley lost his fortune and his radio station. The Carter's were popular draws to the station; adverts recommended the treatments.<br /><br />The Carter Family might be best remembered these days from their relationship with Johnny Cash. Johnny married June Carter; but she insisted he kick his drug addictions first. At one point the Carters, with rifles at the ready, kept dealers away while Johnny went cold turkey.<div><br /><div><div> The Carter Family was managed by music publisher Ralph Peer, from the time he "discovered" them in 1927. Not long before, Peer had signed a contract with the Victor Recording Company through which he received an annual salary of one dollar but, "my publishing firm would own the copyrights, and thus I would be compensated by the royalties resulting from the compositions that I would select for recording purposes."<br /><br />In order to make money Peer needed clients who wrote their own songs (and who would sign over to him ownership of their material). This worked well for his client, Jimmie Rodgers, who wrote his own material. But the Carters - Alvin Pleasant (A.P.), Maybelle, and Sara - were not songwriters. They were expert at interpreting Appalachian songs they had been brought up with. Peer instructed them to find and modify already existing songs. These would be copyrighted as <i>new</i> songs, with A.P listed as the composer of both words and melody. The royalties did not come directly to the Carters, though. The money was funneled through Ralph Peer. He gave the Carters a portion of the funds, enough to keep them loyal.<br />
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Because of this arrangement with Ralph Peer, A.P. Carter went on many journeys through Appalachia in search of songs they could add to the Carter's copyrights. A.P. found the material in people's backyards and kitchens and front porches, where they played the songs of their ancestors. He found them in hymnals and songbooks. The old songs that survived in the Carters' home state of Virginia and surrounding territory were raw material.<br />
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The original Carter Family made over 240 records between 1927 and their break-up in 1943. Almost all of these were based upon songs they did not write themselves (you can count exceptions on the fingers of one hand).<br />
<br /><div>As an example, "Bury Me Beneath the Willow" was based upon a traditional folk song called "Under the Willow Tree."</div><div>
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Here is the opening verse and the chorus from the original:<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white;">My heart is broken, I am in sorrow</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">For the only one I love</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I ne'er shall see his face again</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Unless we meet in heaven above</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Chorus: Then bury me beneath the willow</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Beneath the weeping willow tree</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">And when he knows that I am sleeping</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Then perhaps he'll come and weep for me</span></i><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
Here is the opening verse and the chorus from the Carter Family variation:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>My heart is sad and I'm in sorrow</i><br />
<i>For the only one I love</i><br />
<i>When shall I see him, oh, no, never</i><br />
<i>Till I meet him in heaven above<br /></i><br />
<i>Chorus<br />Oh, bury me under the weeping willow</i><br />
<i>Yes, under the weeping willow tree</i><br />
<i>So he may know where I am sleeping</i><br />
<i>And perhaps he will weep for me</i><br />
<br />Many, maybe most, Carter songs were like this. The cash machine kept dinging for Ralph Peer, and the Carters received a bit of the profits. Enough to keep them loyal.<br /><br />For a few years A.P travelled through Appalachia in search of "new" songs he could transcribe and copyright. For much of this time he travelled with his friend Lesley Riddle. Riddle was an innovative guitarist with a prodigious musical memory (A.P. had neither). Riddle taught A.P. to play guitar - but A.P. never progressed beyond rudiments. Riddle taught Maybelle a picking method which became famous as "the Carter scratch," which became the basis for Johnny Cash's musical style. In the Appalachian homes they visited, A.P. scribbled down the lyrics while Riddle memorized the melody and the chord changes, and then taught them to Maybelle and Sara. Riddle (who we shall revisit in an upcoming entry) was black and, due to his association with the Carters, one of the formative personalities in Country music. He is not much remembered today, though. I wonder why?<br />
<br /></div></div></div></div>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5234078430535123877.post-38052696200284068872021-04-19T18:40:00.005-07:002021-04-23T21:03:22.167-07:00Bob Dylan, Jimmie Rodgers, Duke Ellington, etc., and the story of St. James Infirmary<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1X0tElSLqUryFdKblyknwpNF0ZlMZMbdIlX8EPGdEphuiRtnB0q13jOOHngUEUAy66ksfOMJS0EhIGUYqMQOhQUyiol9qClEbN35CcC2CHgEZZiNkcldT3p8YiNRBCA4nITe-riLt7jv/s864/202104+IWDTSJI+9x12x72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="633" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1X0tElSLqUryFdKblyknwpNF0ZlMZMbdIlX8EPGdEphuiRtnB0q13jOOHngUEUAy66ksfOMJS0EhIGUYqMQOhQUyiol9qClEbN35CcC2CHgEZZiNkcldT3p8YiNRBCA4nITe-riLt7jv/s320/202104+IWDTSJI+9x12x72.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the characters who inhabit<br /><i>I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The history of <i>St. James Infirmary</i> is fascinating and complicated. Some years ago I put together an image (based on a painting by Albert Gleizes) showing <i>a few</i> of the people who have been central to the song, its history and its evolution. Some of the faces will be familiar to you. In no particular order the ones portrayed here are Phil Baxter, Louis Armstrong, Blind Willie McTell, Don Redman, Bessie Smith, Bob Dylan, Carl 'The Squeakin' Deacon' Moore, Daniel Decatur Emmett, Mamie Smith, Emmett Miller, Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, Porter Grainger, Jimmie 'Blue Yodeler' Rodgers. The picture also references the road, the city, sex, fate, magic, OKeh records (who introduced the notion of blues/race music to the world), mountains of mystery, trial, possibility...and music.<p></p><p>Here are excerpts from reviews of <i>I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</i>:</p><p>"A sparkling book."</p><p>"A goldmine of information."</p><p>"This is not the first book devoted to one song, but it is the first to cross so many stylistic fences in its attempt to trace the origins of a tune."</p><p>"The definitive statement on the subject - and a very entertaining read."</p><p>"It will retain a favourite place in my library."</p><p>"The book: wow. I'd picked up bits of the story from the blog, but the book was an absolute feast. These are wonderful stories and you tell them so beautifully."</p><p>"This work is unique, so if you don't have it, get it."</p><p>"I am thrilled beyond belief at your great story. You found things out about (my husband) Carl Moore that I didn't even know."</p><p>"The best treatment of Irving Mills life and work is in this book."</p><p><br /></p><p>The book can, of course, be purchased here: <a href="http://www.stjamesinfirmary.ca/purchase.html" target="_blank">I Went Down to St. James Infirmary</a></p>Robert W. Harwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039288617402114039noreply@blogger.com0