Jack of Diamonds (song)

For other uses, see Jack of Diamonds (disambiguation).

Jack of Diamonds (a.k.a. Jack o' Diamonds and Jack of Diamonds (Is a Hard Card to Play)) is a traditional folk song. It is a Texas gambling song that was popularized by Blind Lemon Jefferson.[1] It was sung from the point of view of a railroad man who had lost money playing conquian.[2] At least twelve artists recorded the tune before World War II. It has been recorded under various titles such as "A Corn Licker Still in Georgia" (Riley Puckett) and "Rye Whiskey" (Tex Ritter).[3]

The song is related to "Drunkard's Hiccoughs",[4] "Johnnie Armstrong", "Todlen Hame", "Bacach", "Robi Donadh Gorrach", "The Wagoner's Lad", "Clinch Mountain", "The Cuckoo", "Rye Whiskey", "Saints Bound for Heaven", "Separation", and "John Adkins' Farewell."[5] This family of tunes originally comes from the British Isles, though it is most well known in North America.[6] The lyrics may originate in the American Civil War song "The Rebel Soldier" and the melody from the Scottish song "Robie Donadh Gorrach", known by Nathaniel Gow as "An Old Highland Song".[7]

  1. ^ Lomax, Alan (1941). John Avery Lomax; Alan Lomax; Ruth Crawford Seeger (eds.). Our singing country: folk songs and ballads. Courier Dover Publications. p. 303. ISBN 0-486-41089-7.
  2. ^ Urgo, Joseph R.; Abadie, Ann J. (2007). Faulkner's inheritance. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-57806-953-8.
  3. ^ Laird, Tracey E. (1 December 2003). "Country Music Sources: A Biblio-Discography of Commercially Recorded Traditional Music". Library and Information Science.
  4. ^ Beisswenger, Drew; McCann, Gordon (2006). Ozarks Fiddle Music. Mel Bay Publications. p. 94. ISBN 0-7866-7730-9.
  5. ^ Samuel Bayard, Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife (University Park & London: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1982), p.567
  6. ^ Matteson Jr., Richard (2006). Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book. Mel Bay Publications. p. 196. ISBN 0-7866-7160-2.
  7. ^ "Jack O' Diamonds". Bluegrass Messengers. Retrieved 1 June 2011.