A great slideshow of Jennifer Shaw’s Hurricane story. I mentioned the book version here earlier.
Archive for the ‘Friends’ Category
“Hurricane Story” — the video
Posted in Friends, New Orleans on May 9, 2010| 1 Comment »
Q&A Series (5): “I Went Down To St. James Infirmary,” by Robert W. Harwood
Posted in "St. James Infirmary", Friends, Intellectual property, Irving Mills/Joe Primrose, Q&As on January 12, 2009| Leave a Comment »
[And now, Part 5 of this ongoing interview with Robert W. Harwood about his book I Went Down To St. James Infirmary. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here, and Part 4 is here. This may or may not be the last installment in this series — it’s all I have planned, but I reserve the right to extend if new questions come up. As a reminder: It’s a fascinating book, and I recommend it highly.]
Q: I’d always wondered how Primrose/Mills managed to claim credit for a song that, among other things, had been included in Sandburg’s American Songbag as a “traditional” number, without some kind of legal challenge. Turns out there was a legal squabble, as you detail in the book, but it wasn’t someone challenging Mills — it was Mills challenging someone else!
I don’t want to give away what’s in the book, but I guess I’m safe in revealing that Mills prevailed and that’s how he held onto the copyright. This is some of my very favorite material in the book, and I have no idea how you managed to track it down, but the details of the court battle are fascinating, particularly getting a look at the legal logic.
Ah, yes, that court case produced some interesting information. I have about 640 pages of examination, cross-examination, testimony, legal pleas and summations, most of which come from two court cases. There was a trial in 1931 and appeals that were heard in 1931 and 1932. Mills fired off the initial complaint on March 13th, 1930. So this is the thing to keep in mind: Mills was the plaintiff, not the defendant. It’s a very odd situation, I think, and I have often wondered why the defendant — music publishers Denton and Haskins — did not initiate a copyright challenge.
Mills launched his complaint in New York State court. It had nothing to do with copyright, though. I mean, even if this court agreed that “St. James Infirmary” was been incorrectly copyrighted, it would have been legally meaningless. Copyright was a Federal concern and had to be addressed in Federal court. As it turned out, Mills did have to admit that he was not the original composer of “SJI.” But it didn’t matter, for nobody took that issue further. Legal challenges are expensive, and I suppose that’s the main reason Mills was able to hang onto the copyright for so long.
What he was concerned about in this trial was the name “St. James Infirmary.” In early 1930 there appeared on the streets of New York copies of inexpensive sheet music carrying the title “St. James Infirmary or The Gambler’s Blues also known as St. Joe’s Infirmary.” Irving Mills saw those sheets and said something like, “Whoa! Hold on there, we can’t allow that. Why, once these characters find they can sell ‘St. James Infirmary’ there’ll be no stopping the rest of the world.” And he issued a legal complaint. Cease and desist. Immediately.
It seems that Denton and Haskins did not immediately cease and desist. They continued to sell the material (undercutting Mills’ price, yet) and ended up in court. Mills’ argument was that, sure, this song is known under a variety of names, but it is only popular as “St. James Infirmary.” If Mills could talk to us today he might say, “I created that title, I paid lots of money to advertise the song, to make it popular, and these characters are taking advantage of me, they are making money off my hard work.”
What Mills was arguing was that he had a proprietary interest in the title. He wanted Denton and Haskins to remove the words “St. James Infirmary” from the covers of the sheet music. It’s as if he was saying, “Let them sell it under the title ‘Gambler’s Blues’ and see how many copies it sells. Very few, I’ll bet.”
Cover of 1931 Legal Brief, courtesy Robert W. Harwood
Here are some interesting numbers from the first few pages of the documents I have:
On March 11th 1931 the Mills group stated that, to date, they had sold 37,000 copies of the sheet music with a retail price of between 25 and 30 cents a copy — the price to the dealer being 21 cents, and to the jobber 18 cents. (I believe a “jobber” was one who sold the music in the streets, or bought a large number of copies for distribution to newsstands and the like.) In addition to this piano/vocal score they had sold, since March 1929, 10,000 complete orchestral scores for which they received 30 cents a copy from dealers, 25 cents from jobbers. To that date Mills had licensed 16 companies in the United States, as well as 4 in Canada, to manufacture phonograph records and piano rolls. About 200,000 records had been sold so far.
Q: And that’s just from the first few pages. Is the rest of the transcript as interesting? (more…)
Let’s Talk About Taste
Posted in Friends, One song / one album on December 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Friend of NO Notes Carl Wilson appeared this weekend on To The Best of Our Knowledge to talk about his book Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste.
This is Mr. Wilson’s entry in the famous 33 1/3 series of books about single albums. I’ve read this book — which is getting lots of attention lately — and I thought it was tremendous. Chances are good you don’t care for Celine Dion, and let’s just say this book is not so a fan’s notes; it’s nothing less than an attempt to come to grips with what musical taste is all about. It’s extremely smartly done.
If nothing else, check out the radio interview, here.
Photography of CR Franklin
Posted in Friends on September 28, 2008| 1 Comment »
Our friend Charles R. Franklin, New Orleans photographer and one of my favorite people ever, has recently revamped his Web site to include some of his new projects, in addition to those he’s worked on over a period of some years now. It’s great stuff.
I am particularly into this set of wrestling photographs: Stars Fell On Alabama. Check them out.
His Sacred Harp set is also a favorite.
Here are your choices. Go.
Two quick notes:
Posted in Friends, New Orleans on September 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »
1. Long time friend of No Notes, Josh Neufeld, recently published the last online installment of his A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge Web comic, which I’ve mentioned here a number of times in the past. He’s now in the process of turning A.D. into a book (with new material added) that I believe comes out next summer. The online epilogue is here. Congrats Josh!
2. More recent friend of No Notes Melissa Bastian kindly sent me her zine (I mentioned her release party in NY here the other day) and it was a great read — a particularly affecting thing to read, actually, at the same time the Gustav-is-coming reports were at their peak, and it was still unclear how badly that would play out. Read more about it, and even buy it, at her Etsy shop. Congrats Melissa!
Another SJI blog? Yes!
Posted in "St. James Infirmary", Friends, Musical context, Non-musical context on August 16, 2008| Leave a Comment »
For a long time I’ve touted no notes as the world’s only known one-song blog. I can’t do that anymore — but that’s okay. It’s okay because it’s still the oldest such blog, and because the new entry in the category is an excellent one, by a respected friend of no notes — and it’s about “St. James Infirmary”!
That’s right, Robert W. Harwood, who as I mentioned earlier has a book called I Went Down To St. James Infirmary about to come out any second now, has started a blog at:
iwentdowntostjamesinfirmary.blogspot.com/
Posts so far include an old advertisement for the release of Armstrong’s “SJI,” as well as a thumbnail on Irving Mills (who claimed writing credit for “SJI” under the pseudonym Joe Primrose). Definitely worth checking out and keeping an eye on!
“No Easy Solution”
Posted in Friends, New Orleans on March 21, 2008| 1 Comment »
Our estimable pal Jed Horne has this piece about the “new” New Orleans, and the challenges ahead. It’s a very clear-eyed overview, and worth a read if you’re intersted in the future of the 504.
A search for homemade Mardi Gras costumes: Can you help?
Posted in Announcements, Friends on February 20, 2008| Leave a Comment »
E is looking for some help with a new photography project.
She is seeking handmade/homemade Mardi Gras costumes to photograph. You may or may not wear or use costumes yourself — but maybe you know some people who do? Just trying to help get the word out.
E is going to be in New Orleans for a few days beginning March 21. She’ll have a van. She hopes to collect at that time as many costumes as possible to bring back to Savannah.
When done, she will ship each costume back to the owner, along with an archival 8×10 photograph of it.
Also: Any suggestions for sites or organizations who may be able to help would be gratefully received.
E’s most recent work can be seen at www.soldierportraits.com, to get a sense of what it’s like. She’ll be using the same process you see there for this costume project.
Interested parties can then contact her at ellen@ellensusan.com.
Please forward this at will. Thanks.
Hurricane Story: book available now
Posted in Friends, New Orleans on January 14, 2008|
The other day I mentioned our friend Jennifer Shaw’s show at Farrington Smith in New Orleans, and her related book: Hurricane Story. The show has been extended through January 19, if you happen to be in New Orleans.
And if you don’t, well, the book Hurricane Story (paperback; $30) is now available to all via Lulu.com — right here.
It’s a “narrative series of self portraits in toys” that tells the story of her and her husband’s Katrina adventure: She was nine months pregnant when the hurricane arrived, and they evacuated to a hotel in Alabama on August 28. On August 29, she gave birth to a son, and for the newly expanded family it would be two months and 6,000 miles before they could come home.
As I’ve said before, I think it’s the best Katrina story I’ve come across, and that’s saying something.
More on Lulu.
What’s new and good (to me at least) in N.O.
Posted in Friends, New Orleans on December 13, 2007| Leave a Comment »
E & I recently returned from a trip to New Orleans. We were there, as mentioned previously, for the opening of E’s photography show Soldier Portraits. It was a nice trip, and I thought I’d pass along some highlights of interest. We hadn’t been in N.O. for a while, and I’ll spare you my “take” on “how it’s going” there, and stick to new developments and new things of interest. New to us, I mean, and hopefully to you.
1. Farrington Smith Gallery. 1514 St. Claude. Not exactly a booming part of town, but a great outpost showing very fine work. Here’s their site. On view right now is “Hurricane Story,” by Jennifer Shaw. Ms. Shaw (who is a friend of E’s) tells the story of her and her husband’s Katrina adventure in a “narrative series of self portraits in toys.” Shaw has written:
“I was nine months pregnant and due in less than a week when Hurricane Katrina blew into the Gulf. In the early hours of August 28, 2005 my husband and I loaded up our small truck with two cats, two dogs, several crates containing my favorite negatives, all our important papers and a few changes of clothes. We evacuated to a motel in southern Alabama and tried not to watch the news. Monday, August 29 brought the convergence of two major life changing events; the destruction of New Orleans and the birth of our son. It was two long months and 6000 miles before we were able to return home.”
She has also made a book version. I’ve looked at and read many, many Katrina stories, and I think this may be the best one I’ve seen. I believe that she will be selling the book through her site before too long. The T-Pwrote about her project here.
2. Louviere + Vanessa. A photo/art duo doing some really outstanding work. Here’s their site; I particularly like the “creature” series (example below), and the “overawe” post-Katrina images. They make films as well. Some of their work is currently on view at A Gallery, which is a much nicer space than its Web site might suggest.
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3. New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery. 1111 St. Mary. This is where E’s show is. It’s a very nice space and a fine addition to the gallery options in N.O. Also, NOPA is the driving force behind PhotoNola, which is a great new annual event.
4. Ignatius. 4200 Magazine. New neighborhood restaurant uptown. Nice to see something new on Magazine that isn’t a boutique. Great omelettes, great etouffee. Savannah could use a spot like this. Here’s their Myspace page.
5. Cochon. 930 Tchoupitoulas. Cochon means pig, y’all. They serve all kinds. Nice atmosphere, good wine, fine service, excellent menu. Please don’t miss the fried boudin. Web site here.
6. And one bonus, not-new-at-all entry: Liuzza’s by the Track. This was my neighborhood lunch spot when we lived in N.O., and I was positively thrilled to find the place back in full form, with a shrimp po boy and bowl of gumbo lunch that would have made the entire trip worthwhile all by itself.
“St. James Infirmary”
[Or: The Point of this Site]
A couple of years ago I did some research into the song "St. James Infirmary," wrote up what I found, emailed that essay to friends and posted it on my web site (as part of a series of "Letters From New Orleans," as I was living in that city at the time). Based on the feedback, I wrote a second version of the essay, and asked for more feedback. Based on that, I wrote a third version.And now, this site: A place to collect some of the links, leads, thoughts, and suggestions relating to the song that readers (from Finland, The Netherlands, Australia, Spain, England, Sweden, Canada, and all over the U.S.) have sent me. This may lead to a fourth and significantly expanded version of the essay, some day. Also on this site: Plenty of tangents.
Never heard "St. James Infirmary"? Start here.
The Essay
The most recent version of my "St. James Infirmary" essay is now a few years old. But it's still a fairly decent overview of what I know about the song, and why I'm interested in it. You can read it either in the book Letters from New Orleans (see below), or in the archives of The Gambit, the New Orleans weekly that published the piece as a book excerpt when LfNO came out.
The Book
This site is a partial spinoff of the book Letters from New Orleans, published by the unstoppable Garrett County Press. My interest in "St. James Infirmary" is the subject of one essay in the book. All author proceeds from the book still go to post-Katrina relief efforts, so I think it's okay for me to say: You ought to buy it.
Podcast!
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