Cover Song: St James Infirmary Blues

"St. James Infirmary Blues" is an American Folk Song of which the origin is unknown.  It was made famous in 1928 by Louis Armstrong, and since lived on in many cover songs.  More recently in 1999 (Well, not that recent) The White Stripes did a cover of the song for their first album The White Stripes.

Louis Armstrong Version (1928)

The White Stripes Version (1999)

Because the lyrics are more or less the same, I am going to focus more on Melody and Musical Quality in my evaluation of the two songs.
The Melody of "St. James Infirmary Blues" is very distinct, and would go as far as to say that it is more recognizable than the lyrics.  As a matter of fact, when I saw a brass band in New Orleans they included the melody within one of their songs.  Both Louis Armstrong and The White Stripes take a different approach to the melody that sets the two versions apart.  Louis Armstrong introduces the melody with his signature trumpet, whereas Jack White of the White Stripes uses his signature vocals.  Armstrong's use of the trumpet with the melody is what brought this folk song to fame, and as a blues musician he really extracts the emotion from the melody.  It is that feeling of emptiness and despair evoked by the whiney trumpet that perfectly accompanies the lyrics about finding one's love dead in St James Infirmary.  Even when Louis' crooning voice picks up the melody the trumpet can be heard trudging along in the background.  In the White Stripes Version however, it is only the vocals that carry the melody.  This really allows for the White Stripes influence the song with their own style, keeping the background simple with only drums and piano.  I also think that it allows them to change the meaning of the song around.  Whereas Louis Armstrong's focus is more on conveying the emotions of the song the way it has always been, I think that the White Stripes are trying to tell a different story and do so by carrying the melody with vocals.  It makes Jack White seem as if he is the narrator telling his own story, not recounting another.
It is the Musical Quality that makes the White Stripe's story different from Armstrong's.  Other than one verse the lyrics are the same and the main verse is this:

Folks, I'm goin' down to St. James Infirmary,
See my baby there;
She's stretched out on a long, white table,
She's so sweet, so cold, so fair.

Let her go, let her go, God bless her,
Wherever she may be,
She will search this wide world over,
But she'll never find another sweet man like me.

Armstrong's Rhythm is slow, lazy, and bluesy sounding, and is very simple under the melody of the trumpet.  As a result the tempo is rather slow as well, probably adante.  The low pitch accompanies the slow rhythm well to create the blue emotion.  The intensity actually varies throughout the song, which I think resembles the voice of the man telling this story in that he is trying to be strong but every now and then his strength wavers. As far as organization goes, it is definitely not chaotic however I do not think it is completely organized either. There are only three elements contributing to the timbre of the song, and those are trumpet, drums, and vocals.  All of these elements contribute to making Armstrong's song very bluesy and filled with loss.  The White Stripes version varies from this version as a result of the Musical Quality.  The rhythm is very steady and strong, yet incredibly simple like any other White Stripes song, and creates a moderato tempo.  So it is faster and more intense than the previous version.  That intensity carries throughout the whole song establishing an overall loud intensity. The pitch is generally high because Jack White's voice is the melody, but the instrumentation is much lower.  It is definitely a higher pitch than Armstrong's version.  The organization of this version is very similar to Armstrong's in that it is definitely not chaotic, but there are parts of the song that lack order.  The timbre is similar in that only three elements are used , and in this case they are vocals, drums, and piano.  Though there are similarities  between the two versions, all of these aspects of the White Stripes version culminate into something different.  There is that blues quality that the White Stripes always include, but there is a fierce overtone. The tempo is faster, it is more intense, and the pitch of his voice is much higher.  Together this makes the song have a more malicious tone. As I mentioned before, it seems as if Jack White is narrating the story differently, and it is this malicious tone that changes the story.  He almost makes it seem as if he is the one responsible for his "baby" being dead.  I don't know if this was what was intended, but I think it can definitely be interpreted that way.  

To choose a favorite between the two is very difficult because they are both so good, and bring different things to the table.  I love Louis Armstrong's version because of the trumpet.  I feel as if that is what the melody was made for, and if not Armstrong made it sound that way.  At the same time I love what the White Stripes did with it and how they adapted it to their own style while possibly changing the connotation in the process.  But since I have to choose I think I will go with Louis Armstring's version because I love the trumpet so much.