Music » Rock » Wyndsok » Song
St. James Infirmary Blues
by   Wyndsok   and   jmill
0:00
6:31
Download
Share
Song information
Back in May of 2007---when I was still very new to recording---I approached my friend
Vic Holman about covering this old standard. We invited Jack Miller to join
us and---lo and behold---The Goodwillys were born!

This was the first of five songs we did together between May and October of 2007,
before finally hanging it up. Each of the other four tunes sported guest musicians.
Those were fun times!

The original file stems to this song were lost in the Great Mac Crash of 2011,
so I only had the poorly recorded completed track to work from for this post.
As it had never before been mastered I thought I'd give it a whirl and see if
I could get it to sound a little better.

Anyway, here it is... an oldie but a goodie...

:-)

Micheal Wark:
Vocals, acoustic guitars (opening only), bass, organ, and drums.

Vic Holman:
Vocals, acoustic and electric guitars.

Jack Miller:
Vocals, and saxophone.
Released: 15-Jul-2025
Category: Rock
Application: Logic Pro
File type: mp3
File size: 15.6 Mb
Plays: 21
Downloads: 1
Weekly plays: 5
Weekly downloads: 1
License: No derivative works allowed
Lyrics
ST. JAMES INFIRMARY BLUES

(Mike)
I went down to the St. James infirmary.
Well I saw... saw my baby there!
She was lying on a long, wide table.
Yes she was...
So sweet... so cold... and so fair.

II
(Vic)
I went down to St. James infirmary.
I saw my baby there;
lying on a long, wide table.
So sweet... So cold... So fair...

III
(Jack)
I went up to see the doctor.
"She's very low," he said.
I went back to see my baby,
and great God,
she was lying there dead!

IV
(Mike)
I went down to old Joe's bar room;
down on the corner by the square.
They were serving drinks as usual;
and the usual crowd was there.

V
(Jack)
On my left stood Joe McKennedy.
(Mike)
You know his eyes were blood-shot red!
(Vic)
He turned to the crowd around him;
and these are the words that he said...

VI
(Jack)
Let her go... Let her go...
God bless her;
wherever she may be.
She may search this wide world over;
but she'll never find another man like me!

VII
(Vic)
When I die please bury me,
in a high top Stetson hat.
Put a gold piece on my watch-chain;
so the boys will know
I died "standing pat."

VIII
(Mike)
Get six gamblers to carry my coffin;
---six chorus girls to sing my songs!
Put a Jazz band on my tail-gate, mama,
to raise hell as we roll along...

IX
(Vic)
This is the end of my story.
(Mike)
So let's have another round of booze!
(Jack)
And if anyone should ask you
just tell them:
I've got the St. James Infirmary blues...
Comments
artist
@Wyndsok - Gosh, Mike  
This is such a great recording that I had completely forgot about! It may now be my favorite Goodwillys' collab. Kudos all around! Goodwillys continue to ride even as the fade into the sunset...
21 days ago
artist
It's a great take on that classic. Love the alternate moods/vocals, and it sounds really good to me. And yes - again - i love this organ vibe... And the sax ! Super cool collab.
21 days ago
artist
@jmill 
Yes Jack, this one started the Goodwillys off. It sure was a fun and exciting time for me. In my mind I was happy to finally play with folks I considered Macjam's "big boys." It saddens me a bit that we only produced an EP's worth of songs!
"To everything a season" as the text says ...
Glad you like my remaster. The hardest part was fixing the drums. In the original the fills are panned willy nilly all over the place. I used AI to strip them from the track. Then I separated the fills, duplicated them, panned them to the far right and far left. Made them mono. It made them sound stationary,
like the rest of the drum track. After that I ran the song through a couple of my preferred mastering chains, and---Bob's your uncle---here we are.
So glad you like the end result.
Surprised to hear this is your fave. My faves are "Buffalo Skinners" and "Last Sail." (Though I love all five of the tracks we did!)
Perhaps you and I can collab again one of these days?
Love ya bro!
👍👌😋
20 days ago
artist
@Dyl 
Thanks Dyl! Very much appreciated!
Glad you enjoyed our take. To my knowledge ours is the only fast version of this old standard.
😋
20 days ago
artist
Nicely done Mike and JMill.
20 days ago
artist
Epic collab. A treat indeed. You guys got it together big time here.
20 days ago
artist
@Telemetry 
Many thanks Ray!
😋
20 days ago
artist
@Bowman 
If memory serves we were inspired by the Traveling Wilburys when we formed the Goodwillys. It was my first opportunity to work with other people and I loved it! Glad you found this enjoyable my friend!
😋👍
20 days ago
artist
Another gem Mike.  I didnt recall the original so I checked a few versions and I like yours best.  Love your laid back singing.  Your friend sounds like Dylan.  You compliment eachother.
Latest song: Mary Brown
20 days ago
artist
Thanks for listening and commenting Matt. Only other versions I know are one from the Animals and another from Van Morrison. Both are slow (although quite good).
We decided to do something completely different, and had a ball doing it!
:-)
20 days ago
artist
Love this! Ohhhh that organ!!!!
Collaboration at its finest!
Latest song: The Shadow Within
19 days ago
artist
sounds good!!
Latest song: The Age of Babes
19 days ago
This is crazy good. Great great collab.
19 days ago
artist
Authentic Rock Sound 
Takes me back to the house of the rising sun feel 
Organ is so cool 
Well enjoyed
Latest song: Thru thick & Thin
19 days ago
artist
There's this version from the 1930s, vocal is Cab Calloway:
https://youtu.be/aDATXtewPrg?feature=shared
19 days ago
artist
Awesome collab love it all Mike!! :)
19 days ago
artist
Fine production,music,vocals and presentation.Other words...yes!!
19 days ago
artist
That to be the most original and coolest version of this blues I've ever heard.  Great stuff!
17 days ago
artist
Top shelf work here Mike and jmill.
Latest song: Roxanne
17 days ago
artist
Locve the vocals and the organ!
Latest song: HC Blues
16 days ago
artist
Love the song! and taking turns to sing stanzas is a novel idea! I love Vic's raspy voice! Well done, guys! What a treat!
Latest song: Crippled Tree
15 days ago
artist
Thanks man!
I get a lot of positive feedback on my organ playing. Weird thing is I don't play keyboards.
I have to painstakingly piece together my keyboard tracks. Takes me hours! 
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Thanks for listening and commenting!
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Thanks Kenneth. Hard to miss when you're working with good material
and good people! Glad you enjoyed it.
Oh... and good to see you back on site again.
:-)
14 days ago
artist
RE "House of the Rising Sun":
My friend Vic Homan---who plays electric guitar and sings on this one---and myself actually did
a cover of that song shortly before we recorded this one.
I'd post it but it needs work. Didn't turn out all that well.
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Thanks Dorothy. Much appreciated!
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Thanks man. 
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Thanks bro! Sometimes when one tries to cover a tune in a style no one else has used before it turns out
a complete disaster. I think we lucked out here...
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Thanks so much Mo! We had a LOT of fun doing this old standard.
Glad you enjoyed our rather unique "take"...
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Thank you for the kudos man.
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Glad you like our version Stan. 
As for Vic's voice: I've always enjoyed his singing. To me he lands 
somewhere between Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. 
:-)
14 days ago
artist
Fantastic collaboration   You wouldn't think this was one of your first recordings.   Like Dyl said, the organ vibe is really cool as well as some of what I think are guitar effects.   My apologies for being away from the site for so dang long.   Life got really super busy for a bit.
11 days ago
artist
Thanks so much Mark. 
Your friendship and support mean a lot to me bro.
:-)
10 days ago
Art Picks!

Beautiful selection of unique designs

High resolution graphics

Custom production runs available

www.artpicks.com

Search iBandstand
Welcome to iBandstand!
You'll need an iBandstand account to take advantage of many of the site's features.
Remember me