St. James Infirmary Blues

"St. James Infirmary Blues", sometimes known as "Gambler's Blues," is an American folksong of anonymous origin, though sometimes credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose (a pseudonym for Irving Mills). Louis Armstrong made it famous in his influential 1928 recording.

"St. James Infirmary" is often said to be based on an 18th-century traditional English folk song called "The Unfortunate Rake" (also known as "The Unfortunate Lad" or "The Young Man Cut Down in His Prime"), about a soldier who uses his money on prostitutes, and then dies of a venereal disease. But the familiar recorded versions (such as Armstrong's) bear little relation to the older traditional song.

The title is said to derive from St. James Hospital in London, a religious foundation for treatment of leprosy. There is some difficulty in this, since it closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St. James Palace. Another possibility is the Infirmary section of the St James Workhouse, which the St James Parish opened in 1725 on Poland Street, Piccadilly, and which continued well into the nineteenth century. This St James Infirmary was contemporaneous with the advent of the song.

Variations typically feature a narrator telling the story of a young man "cut down in his prime" (occasionally, a young woman "cut down in her prime") as a result of morally questionable behavior. For example, when the song moved to America, gambling and alcohol became common causes of the youth's death. There are numerous versions of the song throughout the English-speaking world. It evolved into other American standards such as "The Streets of Laredo."

The song "Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues" has sometimes been described as a descendant of "The Unfortunate Rake", and thus a 'direct relative' of "St James Infirmary Blues". Blind Willie McTell recorded a version of the former for Alan Lomax in 1940, and claimed to have begun writing the song around 1929.

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