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Originally Posted by Redrob
Sorry ADG, I didn't see the earlier thread or I would have bumped it.
Thanks for the bump.
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No prob...I just want to see get the word out to others in the Bay Area.
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Originally Posted by DWB
Are all the songs named after this St. James Infirmary, or is the clinic named after the songs?
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The clinic is named after one of the founders, COYOTE activist Margo St James, although I'm sure it's a play on the famous St James Infirmary blues song.
Wiki about the the song's origin:
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"St. James Infirmary Blues" is based on an 18th century traditional English folk song called "The Unfortunate Rake" (also known as "The Unfortunate Lad" or "The Young Man Cut Down in His Prime"), about a soldier who uses his money on prostitutes, and then dies of a venereal disease.
Variations typically feature a narrator telling the story of a young man "cut down in his prime" (occasionally, a young woman "cut down in her prime") as a result of morally questionable behavior.
For example, when the song moved to America, gambling and alcohol became common causes of the youth's death. There are numerous versions of the song throughout the English-speaking world. It evolved into other American standards such as "The Streets of Laredo."
The title is derived from St. James Hospital in London, a religious foundation for the treatment of leprosy. It was closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St. James Palace.
The song was first collected in England in its version as "The Unfortunate Rake" by Henry Hammond by a Mr. William Cutis at Lyme Regis, Dorset in March 1906.
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My favorite version:
When I was in the Navy attached to a P-3 squadron flying out of Moffett Field here in the Bay Area, there was a cool bar not far outside the main gate of the base that was one of my favorite watering holes, and it was named, "St James Infirmary".
What was cool about the place was that you were given baskets of roasted peanuts with your drinks and people would throw the shells on the floor, so there was this type of perpetual sawdust on the floor. Lots of pool tables and pinball machines too, and pretty good live bands on the weekend.
The owner purchased lots of interesting, often huge props which he attached to the ceiling. It was fun to trip out and look around.
OMFG, I found pix of it (the original bar burned downed year's ago):
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St. James Infirmary
390 Moffett Blvd., Mountain View (415/969-0806)
Beer and barbecue, nectar and manna. More than 100 flavors of one and not enough words in Roget's to praise the other. Quirky place, this, with big-screen TVs, pool tables and extraordinary junk hanging from the ceiling.
A 25-foot Wonder Woman and a giant fish head gaze down on masticating Silicon Valleyites at their checkered troughs during lunch-time. Fridays and Saturdays at 9pm, the tables move aside so that the more energetic can dance to '70s, '80s and '90s music until 2am. Happy hour Monday - Friday, 5 - 9pm.
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ADG