Song Help Request St. James Infirmary

[emba]

I know this is a long shot, but years ago I came across a blog of some sort that had old recordings of folk music, oral history style, not professional recordings. There was a version of St. James Infirmary that, in the line about seeing “his baby” laid out on the infirmary on a slab, instead of table as is in most versions. I don’t remember it having the framing device of Joe’s Barroom.

Does anyone have the lyrics to this song like that, or know what blog that could have been? I’ve googled and googled, and I can’t find those particular variation online. The blog didn’t have the lyrics written out, just the recording.

Like I said, I know it’sa long shot, but thanks for any help you can give.

 

[casualmusic]

There are lyrics similar to your question in the fourth paragraph of this webpage:

Read the Introduction to "I Went Down to St. James Infirmary"

Some of the characters who appear in I Went Down to St. James Infirmary. (Painting and collage by the author, with apologies to Alber...

iwentdowntostjamesinfirmary.blogspot.com

Read the Introduction to "I Went Down to St. James Infirmary"

Some of the characters who appear in I Went Down to St. James Infirmary. (Painting and collage by the author, with apologies to Alber...

iwentdowntostjamesinfirmary.blogspot.com

And a book about the song:

Irving Mills' birth name - from fallacy to fact on the Internet

Irving Mills The Wikipedia post on Irving Mills opens: "Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 16, 1894 - April 21, 1985) ..."...

iwentdowntostjamesinfirmary.blogspot.com

 

[don_b]

James Hill has a very easy version in his chord twins course, you should check it out.

 

[Canada Jim]

Try asking at The Mudcat Cafe - mudcat.org

 

[merlin666]

This is an interesting song and I was not aware of its rich history. Though before I added it to my repertoire I also did the google search and cherry picked verses that I thought would combine to a story of the narrator who hears Joe's story about his baby which then makes him reflect on his own impending death.

 

[Yukio]

It is not the version you are looking for, but for my money, the late Danny Barker had the ultimate St. James Infirmary. I did a cover using his text and unique embellishments.