Jonah Jones - St James Infirmary (restored 1957 vinyl LP “Muted Jazz”)
"When you come to a roadblock, take a detour." - Barbara Bush
From the vinyl LP “Muted Jazz” released in 1957. "St. James Infirmary Blues" aka "Gambler's Blues" is an American blues song of uncertain origin. The first time I heard this song was from a cartoon animation showing a down and out clown. At an early age, I thought that was the darkest and most depressing cartoon I've ever seen. I can still remember it after all these years. Later on I understood what it was about.
Well folks, I'm goin' down to St. James Infirmary
See my little baby there
She's stretched out on a long, white table
Well she looks so good, so cold, so fair
Let her go, let her go, God bless her
Wherever she may be
You may search this whole wide world over
But she'll never find another sweetheart like me, yeah
Take apart your bones and put 'em back together
Tell your mother that you are somebody new
Feel the breeze blow and tell 'em all, "Look out here it comes!"
Now I can say whatever I feel like to you
Then keep me six crap-shooting pallbearers
Let a girl sing me a song
Put a red-hot jazz band, we raise
Hallelujah as we go along, well
Well folks, now that you have heard my story
Now that you heard my song
Say bartender, give me another shot of that booze
'Cause I've got some of those St. James Infirmary blues
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Mills Irving / Primrose Joe (possibly)
Got to love this vocal rendition.
Bass – John Browne
Drums – Harold Austin
Piano – George Rhodes
Trumpet, Vocals – Jonah Jones
Jonah Jones (born Robert Elliott Jones; December 31, 1909 – April 29, 2000) was a jazz trumpeter who created concise versions of jazz and swing and jazz standards that appealed to a mass audience.
There was a time when jazz fans would consider Jonah Jones as one of the the best trumpeters, hence being called “Louis Armstrong II.” Jones did get musical inspiration from the great Satchmo. Those were the heydays of the mainstream jazz era when jazz people would hang out in small bar to hear a small jazz combo, a format favored by Jonah Jones.
Also an outstanding singer, his rendition of St James Infirmary is exceptional. Unfortunately, his vocal rarely was allowed to stretch out on his recordings.
Shame on the Capitol catalog. Muted Jazz is top-of-its-class album that has never been released in CD or even MP3 format. This channel aims to promote jazz artists that some recording companies have forgotten. One reason why all music posted here are from restored vinyl records.
I do not own the copyright to the music, the recording and the photos. (Image post and video art were appropriated from original album.) This video is posted for educational use under Section 17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.
As much as possible, I attempted to remove most of the pops and crackles from the original vinyl album. Some remastering was applied to make the performance cut through within the confines of the loudness wars.
Hope you enjoy.
INXDS. #bebop #jazztrumpet #vinylrecord #quoteoftheday