Today’s post was written by Paul.

You’ll notice right away the video I’m sharing today, “The Gambling Barroom Blues,” has a familiar tune. It’s the same tune as the song “Saint James Infirmary,” with some minor differences in the chord pattern.

I uploaded the two songs back-to-back for comparison.

A few years before Pap passed, he told me one day that he heard Mr. Bill Yonce (who appears in an interview on the Celebrating Appalachia channel here) play a very unusual Jimmie Rodgers song on the radio (WKRK) that Pap had never heard before.

A Jimmie Rodgers song that Pap had never heard? That was unusual, but what Pap told me next was even stranger: he said it was in a minor key. “Are you sure?” I asked Pap.

Pretty much everything Jimmie ever sang was in G Major or C Major. Pap said he was positive and that he believed it was in E Minor, though he only heard the song once. At the time, and still to this day, I was playing tennis with Bill’s son, Eric. Pap asked me to ask Eric to ask his dad the name of the song.

I asked Eric the next time I saw him and then I kind of forgot about it. Months later, Bill not only sent the title to me by Eric, he sent me a cassette recording that he made of the song! That was really nice of him.

When I listened to the song, I liked the story immediately. It was dark and humorous at the same time, the way it seems only music from that era can be. Pap was right, it was in E Minor.

My first thought or theory on the song was that Rodgers liked the melody of “Saint James Infirmary” but didn’t really want to record a song quite that depressing, so he “borrowed” the tune and created a more action-packed song about the violent ways of some rabble rousers. That may be the case, but when I was sampling different versions of “Saint James Infirmary,” I came across a really old one done “big band” style, and it contained the line “Gamblin’ Barroom Blues.” Is that just a coincidence? Or are the two songs more connected in some way? I don’t know, but I like both songs.

I know a lot of good story songs, but I don’t know of another one where the plot thickens more intensely or unexpectedly than it does in this song. The source of all the narrator’s problems is alcohol, yet he keeps going back for more. Pretty realistic to human nature, I think.

My favorite part of the song is the subtle implication established by the last four verses. Why do you think the cop just kept hanging around? I infer that he knew about the murder and lingered just to put more pressure on the narrator, to make him “sweat.”

The cop is drinking on the job, so it isn’t that big of a jump to conclude that he’s corrupt. I think that’s why the narrator had to pawn all of his possessions: to bribe the cop and still have time to board the train to get out of town.

Alternatively, the narrator could have lost all of those things in a poker game with the cop, but there’s nothing to indicate that, other than the song title. Anyway, that’s what I think. What do you think?

Why did the narrator and his “pal” get into an awful fight? Was it because he found him talking to his girlfriend earlier?

You can tell this song is really old by phrases or terms like “motor car.” It also features an old Appalachian expression “way up in the night.”

If you like this style of music, you should check out Pokey Lafarge. By the way, I’m sorry that the camera didn’t fully show my guitar. I didn’t realize it till I played the video back. If you’re wondering about the chords for this song, they’re the same ones I used for “Saint James Infirmary” E Minor, C Major, C7, B7, and A Minor.

Lyrics:

I went down to the corner, just to meet my gal. I found her there on the sidewalk, talking to my pal. I strolled on to the barroom, just for a drink of gin, But the first thing I knew, I was reeling, rocking drunk again.

I kept on drinking liqueur till way up in the night. When my pal walked into the barroom, we had an awful fight. I reached down for my razor, and then we knocked around, But when I pulled my pistol, I quickly smoked him down.

I went to find my baby, and I met her on the way. I told her that I had to leave her, told her that I could not stay. I started down to the station, but I stopped in at a bar. There, I met a policeman, riding in a motor car.

We both drank lots of liqueur, that flat-footed cop and I. I thought he’d never leave me. Lord, I thought I’d die. My baby came in to join us, and then it began to rain. I knew I had to hurry, hurry to catch that midnight train.

I hung my head in the barroom door. I’ll never get drunk anymore. I pawned my watch and my golden chain. I pawned my baby’s diamond ring. Police, Police, Police, you’re just as drunk as me. I’ll grab that old eight-wheeler and make for the deep, blue sea.

Hope you enjoyed the song and my thoughts behind it!

Original singles released on Spotify.

Original singles on YouTube.

Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016).

Paul