To Thread - Forum Home

The Mudcat Café TM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=162911
18 messages

Songs about Poker

07 Oct 17 - 04:13 PM (#3880844)
Subject: Songs about Poker
From: Jack Campin

The Greek/Turkish/Arabic/Balkan band I play with is probably going to a different flat for rehearsals shortly. Which means we overlap with the singer/ney-player's boyfriend's poker night.

What songs about poker (or card games in general) are there? Bonus points if there's one from the eastern Mediterranean but anything singable will do.


07 Oct 17 - 04:35 PM (#3880852)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Bonzo3legs

There is Lazy Poker Blues by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac!


07 Oct 17 - 04:47 PM (#3880855)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Jack Campin

That would work great on an oud!


07 Oct 17 - 04:55 PM (#3880858)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: GUEST,Gerry

Weaverville
recorded by Kate Wolf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWc3H28t3uQ


07 Oct 17 - 04:59 PM (#3880859)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: GUEST,Gerry

Me and My Uncle
recorded by many, e.g., Judy Collins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2MrTLYJs_8


07 Oct 17 - 05:03 PM (#3880860)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: GUEST,Gerry

Tom Paxton, The Name of the Game is Stud


07 Oct 17 - 05:20 PM (#3880862)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: GMGough

Mr Mudd and Mr Gold - Townes van Zandt

The Crofters in Bristol, circa 1964, had a song:
"The Queen will take the Jack,
and the Jack will take the Ten" etc


07 Oct 17 - 05:24 PM (#3880864)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Joe_F

The floating verse

Jack of diamonds, jack of diamonds
I know you of old.
You rob my poor pockets
Of silver and gold.

must have contaminated numberless songs with poker.

And what *is* it about the jack of diamonds, anyway?


07 Oct 17 - 06:07 PM (#3880875)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Richard Mellish

And of course The Game of All Fours, Roud 232, which is about that very card game or about something else, according to how you choose to interpret it.


07 Oct 17 - 10:09 PM (#3880898)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: GUEST,Gerry

Joe F, nothing special about the Jack of Diamonds in poker, but it's very special in pinochle. Indeed, the combination of the Quuen of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds is called a pinochle in that game.


07 Oct 17 - 10:54 PM (#3880901)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: GUEST

"Loser" --Grateful Dead


08 Oct 17 - 04:55 AM (#3880926)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Jack Campin

The Queen of Spades features in Tchaikovsky's opera based on a Pushkin short story, which I hadn't thought about for years. So I googled "queen of spades" - and got some pretty surprising results.

The only card game I've ever played much is contract bridge (a long time ago). Dunno if there are songs about it, but there is a bar in Budapest which combines bridge and jazz - they run both bridge events and jazz gigs, with most of the decor being bridge-themed (photos of heroes of Hungarian bridge and the like).


08 Oct 17 - 12:40 PM (#3880953)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Mark Ross

ACES, STRAIGHTS, & FLUSHES Utah Phillips & Kate Wolfe


08 Oct 17 - 01:06 PM (#3880961)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Howard Kaplan

There's a card game of some sort mentioned in the Bob Ruzicka song "The dealer", which was recorded by Judy Collins. It was the subject of a previous Mudcat thread.

There is a reference to playing cribbage in "Farmer in Florida", mentioned in this other previous Mudcat thread and a reference to a cribbage board in "Father's whiskers", mentioned in this one.


08 Oct 17 - 01:36 PM (#3880968)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: MudGuard

Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
Chris de Burgh - Spanish Train


08 Oct 17 - 01:48 PM (#3880972)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Richie

Hi,

I sing Wagon Wheel (Dylan/Old Crow composite) which has a short line about playing poker.

Richie


08 Oct 17 - 04:52 PM (#3880996)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Long Firm Freddie

There's Lady Gaga's Poker Face of course:

I wanna hold 'em like they do in Texas plays
Fold 'em, let 'em, hit me, raise it baby stay with me (I love it)
Love Game intuition play the cards with spades to start
And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart

LFF


08 Oct 17 - 06:18 PM (#3881011)
Subject: RE: Songs about Poker
From: Joe_F

Guest Gerry: Thank you very much! So all those songs are actually contaminated with pinochle! Who would have guessed?