Season 265 "Golden Age of Ukulele"

Flashback to my 7 year old self on stage with my class at our St. Patrick's day assembly. Yes. This is the very first song I ever sang on stage. I seem to remember twirling a parasol while we sang. Written in 1921.
 
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Yep lots of snow up here in western NY. No work tomorrow. Hope my voice cooperates and the power stays on. :)
 
I follow lot of gardening channels on youtube and many gardeners are complaining of Storm Stella.
They were expecting the season to start and getting ready for planting out or sowing seed and then
they get hit by snow and ice. In Finland it might be another month before the ground can be worked
Until then you have to wait for a Break in the ice.
 
You make a recording and find someone else has just beaten you to it... However;

St. James Infirmary has its origins in an 18th Century Broadside called "The Buck's Elegy". It appeared many times in Broadsides during the 18th and 19th centuries always with the same story of someone struck down with an ailment which, reading between the lines, was most likely syphilis - regular reference to pills or salts of mercury is the clue. It crossed the pond as The Streets of Laredo where the ailment was a gunshot wound and also wound up in New Orleans as St. James Infirmary but by this time the story had become vague. A constant feature apart from death was the request to be buried with what amounts to full military honours or something very like it and that is a remarkable constant of all the versions of a series of songs collectively known as the Unfortunate Rake or the Rake's Lament.

Paul has suggested that St James Infirmary was in Westminster. The Buck's Elegy refers to Covent Garden which locates the song in London, so St. James Infirmary could well be the Westminster version. About the same time as the Buck's Elegy, the song was known in Dublin as the Unfortunate Lad, though Irish versions at that time were more fragmented. Another version I have refers to The Lock Hospital which someone suggested might have been in Liverpool. Perfectly plausible given Liverpool's status as a port and the song could have crossed the Irish sea from there as the evidence, such as it is, is that the Buck's Elegy is the earliest version. Somehow the reference to St. James Infirmary got lost in some versions but not in others. The peregrinations of these songs is not always easy to tease out even with the evidence of publication as Broadsides were rarely dated.


There have been many recordings of this song over the years but for me, Louis Armstrong's 1929 version with his Hot Five is a classic.


Oops, sorry Geoff! As it happens, if I'd got back from the pub a half-hour later, you'd have beaten me. I'd actually intended to post about 4 hours earlier (which is when I posted my version to the YT playlist); but when I did get home, I discovered my Seasons' post still sitting there in preview waiting for me to 'Submit Reply'!

From what I understand, a 'lock' hospital was an institution for treating venereal diseases (I use 'treat' advisedly); so-called because they evolved out of the old lazar (leper) hospitals as leprosy rates declined http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/londonlockharrow.html. So the lock hospital of your song could have been anywhere (in the British Empire of the time: 1864 saw a directive establishing lock hospitals in garrison towns throughout the British Empire). If you google 'lock hospital', Google autocomplete suggestions include London, Aldershot (natch!), Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, Dublin - and of course, Liverpool.

Covent Garden actually is in Westminster, btw - as was the London Lock Hospital.

Just to add to the mystery, there was the old leper hospital in London attached to the monastery of St James the Less, long closed by the time of the Unfortunate Rake or The Buck's Elegy (Henry VIII used the land it had occupied for the site of his new St James' Palace); though whether there was a folk-memory that then gave rise to the association of St James with lock hospitals is a matter of speculation.

As to Louis Armstrong, his 1928 recording (with his Savoy Ballroom Five) was only the first or second known version that uses a minor key for the melody. Where this melody originated forms yet another part of the mystery.
 
Oops, sorry Geoff! As it happens, if I'd got back from the pub a half-hour later, you'd have beaten me. I'd actually intended to post about 4 hours earlier (which is when I posted my version to the YT playlist); but when I did get home, I discovered my Seasons' post still sitting there in preview waiting for me to 'Submit Reply'!

From what I understand, a 'lock' hospital was an institution for treating venereal diseases (I use 'treat' advisedly); so-called because they evolved out of the old lazar (leper) hospitals as leprosy rates declined http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/londonlockharrow.html. So the lock hospital of your song could have been anywhere (in the British Empire of the time: 1864 saw a directive establishing lock hospitals in garrison towns throughout the British Empire). If you google 'lock hospital', Google autocomplete suggestions include London, Aldershot (natch!), Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, Dublin - and of course, Liverpool.

Covent Garden actually is in Westminster, btw - as was the London Lock Hospital.

Just to add to the mystery, there was the old leper hospital in London attached to the monastery of St James the Less, long closed by the time of the Unfortunate Rake or The Buck's Elegy (Henry VIII used the land it had occupied for the site of his new St James' Palace); though whether there was a folk-memory that then gave rise to the association of St James with lock hospitals is a matter of speculation.

As to Louis Armstrong, his 1928 recording (with his Savoy Ballroom Five) was only the first or second known version that uses a minor key for the melody. Where this melody originated forms yet another part of the mystery.

To weigh in on the discussion here, there is little doubt that "Saint James Infirmary" is related to the Rake's Lament" but on this side of the Pond revolves around whether the hospital in question was in Saint Louis, Memphis or New Orleans. It is my recollection the discussion started at a Dave Van Ronk concert where Dave suggested St Louis was the "hometown" for this song. The discussion switched around to Memphis and the clinics there dealing not with venereal disease but Yellow Fever. Memphis has long been known as the Yellow Fever Capital of the US.
I myself favor New orleans as the venue of this song. There being both a St James infirmary there and the Jazz Funeral.

Musically the song is more interesting regarding the use of major or minor key. Early Bluesmen would typically play popular songs in an old time fashion, Mostly in major keys but as the song dragged on for twenty minutes or so and additional words and phrases would appear that didn't quite fit into the tune. The singers would slur into minor thirds and dominant sevenths to accommodate these adds. As the song dragged on I think major sevenths started to appear in the penultimate chord to indicate when the musician tended to end the song. Indeed this is a good way to end most songs at a jam session where the audience is happy when the "band" ends on the same note or chord.
 
I received a comment from one John Leon indicating he had a ukulele song for the Season. He is probably not a U.U. member so I posted this for him. Please welcome John into the group in your comments.


 
On Raglan Road

A Peter Kavanagh poem set to an old Irish tune.
More information in the description of YT video

 
POLITE NOTICE

Attention: If anyone else posts "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" early for St. Patrick's day i shall be extremely annoyed (Linda L. please note!) St. Patrick's day happens to also be my birthday, so i have first dibs!!!!
 
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I didn't know we can call dibs! Is this a thing? I'm always really worried someone is going to steal a song while we're working on one.
 
I didn't know we can call dibs! Is this a thing? I'm always really worried someone is going to steal a song while we're working on one.

Er ... no! (It's a new rule - I just made it up!) And while I think of it, no one "Down Under" or "Down Under Down Under" is allowed to do "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" at all! (Now there's a challenge; I don't expect anyone'll do anything BUT that song now!)
 
Er ... no! (It's a new rule - I just made it up!) And while I think of it, no one "Down Under" or "Down Under Down Under" is allowed to do "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" at all! (Now there's a challenge; I don't expect anyone'll do anything BUT that song now!)

Ah...so it's more of a "stay away from this song or feel the wrath of Val" kind of thing?
 
POLITE NOTICE

Attention: If anyone else posts "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" early for St. Patrick's day i shall be extremely annoyed (Linda L. please note!) St. Patrick's day happens to also be my birthday, so i have first dibs!!!!

O dear! What with the winter storm and all I Posted the Irish songs that have come in, UU going on and off line, various contingency plans, yada, yada, yada; this might be difficult Val. Hmmn Here's the deal: At this instant The Saint pat's Playlist is set at private. Valerie when you post your video here at UU i will post it to the St Pat's PL and turn the playlist to public at that time. If everyone else plays by the rules you will be on the top of the list until at least March 17, 12.01 AM Honolulu time. Best I can do!

What is the time in Honolulu?

Rant Warning:
I don't like Rules; but I dislike squabbling even more. Please play Nice!
end of Rant.
 
O dear! What with the winter storm and all I Posted the Irish songs that have come in, UU going on and off line, various contingency plans, yada, yada, yada; this might be difficult Val. Hmmn Here's the deal: At this instant The Saint pat's Playlist is set at private. Valerie when you post your video here at UU i will post it to the St Pat's PL and turn the playlist to public at that time. If everyone else plays by the rules you will be on the top of the list until at least March 17, 12.01 AM Honolulu time. Best I can do!

What is the time in Honolulu?

Rant Warning:
I don't like Rules; but I dislike squabbling even more. Please play Nice!
end of Rant.

Oh, Tommy ... that is most exceedingly kind of you! (Honestly wasn't expecting any special favours .... it was intended as a joke!) I have actually just finished the vid. but I have absolutely no idea how to post it privately to the St. Patrick's Day playlist.
 
To weigh in on the discussion here, there is little doubt that "Saint James Infirmary" is related to the Rake's Lament" but on this side of the Pond revolves around whether the hospital in question was in Saint Louis, Memphis or New Orleans. It is my recollection the discussion started at a Dave Van Ronk concert where Dave suggested St Louis was the "hometown" for this song. The discussion switched around to Memphis and the clinics there dealing not with venereal disease but Yellow Fever. Memphis has long been known as the Yellow Fever Capital of the US.

I myself favor New Orleans as the venue of this song. There being both a St James infirmary there and the Jazz Funeral.

It would be interesting to have some references for that discussion. AFIAA, there were no "St James'" infirmaries in New Orleans (http://www.old-new-orleans.com/NO_hospitals.html), St Louis (https://www.builtstlouis.net/stmarysinfirmary.html) nor in Memphis (https://goo.gl/ZXX8fo ). But there is a St James' hospital in line one of "The Unfortunate Rake."

The most highly regarded investigation into the origins of this song (I Went Down to St. James Infirmary: Investigations in the Shadowy World of Early Jazz-Blues... Robert W. Harwood, Harland Press 2008 (2nd edn 2015) ISBN978-0-9809743-3-1) states:
The location of St. James Hospital is still a mystery. It has remained a feature of this song throughout its various manifestations... Perhaps the best guess is a St. James's Hospital in London, England.
[p27 - though Harwood's endnote 5 p35 cites St James' Workhouse infirmary as being "a plausible alternative".]

Many Americans have looked to hospitals or churches bearing the name St James in cities like New Orleans or St. Louis as the inspiration for the song. If we accept that "St James Infirmary is an old song with its origin in the "The Unfortunate Rake," we can be confident that the name of the hospital long predated the song's arrival in North America
[p28]
If there is a (single) original American locale for the song, Galveston TX, is as a good a candidate as any
HOW SAD WAS THE DEATH OF MY SWEETHEART
(Negro folk song; Scarborough, 1925)

I went to John Seley's hospital;
The nurse there she turned me around.
She turned me around, yes, so slowly,
An' said, "The poor girl is sleepin' in the ground."

I was walkin' down Walnut Street so lonely,
My head it was hanging so low.
It made me think of my sweetheart,
Who was gone to a world far unknown.

Refrain:
Let her go, let her go.
May God bless her, wherever she may be.
She is mine.
She may roam this wide world over
But she will never fin' a man like me.

While walkin' I met her dear mother,
With her head hangin' low as was mine.
"Here's the ring of your daughter, dear mother,
And the last words as she closed her eyes:

"Take this ring, take this ring,
Place it on your lovin' right hand.
And when I am dead and forgotten
Keep the grass from growing on my grave."

- Obtained from a 'young Galveston Negro, a student at Straight College, New Orleans'. Worth Tuttle Hedden, the collector, said it was rather widely sung among the Negroes in Galveston. John Seley Hospital is (or was) in Galveston. - p. 94, Dorothy Scarborough, 1925, "On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs," Harvard University Press. Facsimile 1963, Folklore Associates, Inc.

Though the verses don't have much connection with the other variants, it's the last two lines in the refrain that give this particular version of the Buck's Elegy' its unique quality, and so put Galveston in the frame as the original locale of "St James' Infirmary Blues."

Who knows? Half the fun lies in the (strong!) possibility that there'll never be a definitive answer.
 
POLITE NOTICE

Attention: If anyone else posts "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" early for St. Patrick's day i shall be extremely annoyed (Linda L. please note!) St. Patrick's day happens to also be my birthday, so i have first dibs!!!!

I didn't know we can call dibs! Is this a thing? I'm always really worried someone is going to steal a song while we're working on one.

Er ... no! (It's a new rule - I just made it up!) And while I think of it, no one "Down Under" or "Down Under Down Under" is allowed to do "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" at all! (Now there's a challenge; I don't expect anyone'll do anything BUT that song now!)

Ah...so it's more of a "stay away from this song or feel the wrath of Val" kind of thing?

Ah, you know about my "wrath"!!!! (I thought it was a closely guarded secret!)

Oh, Tommy ... that is most exceedingly kind of you! (Honestly wasn't expecting any special favours .... it was intended as a joke!) I have actually just finished the vid. but I have absolutely no idea how to post it privately to the St. Patrick's Day playlist.

A special broadcast and forecast ALERT!

A storm has started to brew in France and is headed to America where two storms may collide and a wrath with ensue. It seems as if nature is aware of this and in the event that all our computers blow up when this happens let it be known that the wrath in France was very well aware that the wrath in America started first. It appears that the wrath in France is planning to arrive on its target first but alas the wrath in America has already landed. What we are hoping is that the wrath in America is able to get out of the path of the wrath of France and there is no destruction.
However, we ask that you be prepared for the worst and prepare now. Get your supplies in order and find shelter ASAP!

As a side note~ This wrath may cause several mini wraths to appear. It is to be expected and allowed!
 
A special broadcast and forecast ALERT!


As a side note~ This wrath may cause several mini wraths to appear. It is to be expected and allowed!


In the voice of South Park's Cartman : " Do Two Wraths make a Fight ?? " :rock::biglaugh::uhoh:
 
My contribution this week, on Baritone Ukulele Banjo, is a song from 1932. The second verse was written by me, as I felt the song was too short for our band when we had this song in our repertory. The original just sings verse one twice. I hope you feel my addition is in tune with the songs of the time and the original verse.

Here for your entertainment and delectation is:

 
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