Kids of today need more cartoons like this!
Fleischer’s Snow White was animated by ONE person, produced by a Jewish animation studio, in the Depression, featuring images of gambling and alcohol, starring a jazz singer.
This is the great Cab Calloway singing St James Infirmary Blues in Fleischer’s Snow White:
I’m guessing the ‘Oh Koko’ that opens the White Stripes version is a reference to this?
There definitely seems to be more than a dash of this to the Wiyo’s Dyin’ Crapshooters Blues too.
Edit: from the song’s Wikipedia entry:
Bob Dylan used the melody in his song “Blind Willie McTell” (released on Bootleg Series, Volumes 1–3), named for blues singer Blind Willie McTell (who recorded a version of the song under the title “Dying Crapshooter’s Blues”); the song makes reference to a “St. James Hotel.”
(via Kottke)