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Roving Gambler
Composer: Traditional

Roving Gambler was performed by Jerry Garcia with John Kahn in 1986 and with the Hart Valley Drifters in late 1962.

The song may also occur with other titles and with variations in the lyrics.



Jerry Garcia

info Folk Time, Hart Valley Drifters, 2016
info Before The Dead, Jerry Garcia, 2018

Other recordings

This list is not intended to be comprehensive.

no info Single (New River Train / Rovin' Gambler), Kelly Harrell, 1925
no info Single (Rovin' Gambler / Sinking Of The Titanic), George Reneau, 1925
no info Single (The Rovin' Gambler / Stone Mountain Memorial), Tobe Little (Vernon Dalhart), 1925
no info Single (The Roving Gambler / New River Train), Vernon Dalhart, 1925
no info Single (Rovin' Gambler / The Convict And The Rose), Vernon Dalhart, 1925
no info Single (The New River Train / The Roving Gambler), Guy Massey, July 1925
no info Single (Rovin' Gambler / In The Baggage Coach Ahead), Vernon Dalhart, 1926
no info Single (The Roving Gambler / Death Of John Henry), Herbert Jennings / Welby Toomey, 1926
no info Single (In The Shadow Of The Pine / The Roving Gambler), Billy Jorday / Herb Jennings, 1926
no info Single (Roving Gambler / In The Shadow Of The Pine), Clarence Adams / Carl Harris, 1926
no info Single (The Rovin' Gambler / The Wreck Of The 1256 (On The Main Line Of The C. And O.)), Al Craver, 1926
no info Single (In The Shadow Of The Pine / The Rovin' Gambler), Doc Roberts Trio / Welby Toomey, 1927
no info Single (Roving Gambler / Wreck Of The Old '97), Vernon Dalhart, 1927
no info Single (Rovin' Gambler / The Little Log Cabin In The Lane), Jeff Calhoun / Kenneth Calvert, 1928
no info Single (It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo' / The Rovin' Gambler), Gid Tanner And His Skillet Lickers, 1929
no info Single (Good Old Turnip Greens / The Roving Gambler), Pie Plant Pete, 1930
no info Single (O Jailer, Bring Back That Key / The Roving Gambler), Pie Plant Pete, 1930
no info Single (MISSOURI JOE / ROVING GAMBLER), ADAMS & CLARK / TOM COOK, 1930
no info Single (I Knowed I'd Settle Down / Rovin' Gambler), Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, 1931
no info Single (Shoo Fly / Rovin' Gambler), Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, 1931
no info Single (Skip To My Lou / Rovin' Gambler), Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers / Johnny Crocket, 1931
no info Single (Rovin' Gambler / I Like Mountain Music), Kelly Harrell / Master Hawaiians, 1934
no info Single (She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain Medley / Oh Dem Golden Slippers - Rovin' Gambler), Frank Luther, 1938
no info Decca Presents An Album Of American Folk Songs, Frank Luther, Zora Layman and Leonard Stokes, 1938?
no info Single (Roving Gambler / Skip To My Lou), Pete Daley's Arkansas Fiddlers, 1944
no info Single (Frankie And Johnny / The Roving Gambler), Burl Ives / Jack Mccauley - Alma Kaye, 1948
no info Single (The Roving Gambler / Mother The Queen Of My Heart), Doye O'Dell, 1948
no info Sin Songs, Ed McCurdy, 1955
no info The Wayfaring Stranger, Burl Ives, 1955
info This Lusty Land, Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1955
info Gambling Songs, Logan English, 1957
info The New Lost City Ramblers, The New Lost City Ramblers, 1958
info Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, Everly Brothers, 1958
info Songs for Rounders, Hank Thompson, 1959
no info The Wandering Cowboy, Elton Britt With Zeke Manners Band, 1959
info The Gateway Singers At The hungry i, The Wayfarers, 195?
info Country Songs Old & New, The Country Gentlemen, 1960
no info EP, Rusty York and the Kentucky Mountain Boys, 1961
info A Treasure Chest of American Folk Song, Ed McCurdy, 1961
no info Brothers Four Greatest Hits, Brothers Four, 1962
info Folk Songs of the Everly Brothers, Everly Brothers, 1962
info Folk Music of Washington Square, Various Artists (Alice L. McKillen), 1962
no info Greatest Hits, The Brothers Four, 1962
no info In Action, The Willis Brothers, 1962
no info Great Country Guitar Instrumentals, The Shady Oak Boys, 1963
no info Way Back In the Hills of Kentucky, Stringbean, 1964
info Jack Elliott, Jack Elliott, 1964
info American Folk Singers And Balladeers, Various Artists (Jack Elliott), 1964
info Let's Sing Out, Various Artists (New Christy Minstrels), 1964
no info Sings Folk Songs, Casey Anderson, 1965
info Folk Jamboree, Various Artists (The Banjo Barons), 1965
info Hootenanny Special, Various Artists (New Christy Minstrels), 1965
no info The Soul Of, DickCurless, 1966
no info Old Times and Hard Times, Hedy West, 1967
no info Ballads and Songs of the Blue Ridge Mountains - Persistence and Change, Various Artists (Hobart Delp, Larry Delp, Joe Kyles), 1968
info Legendary Stanley Brothers Recorded Live, Stanley Brothers, 1970
no info Essential, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, 1970
no info Together For The Last Time, Stanley Brothers, 1971
no info End of an Era, Everly Brothers, 1971
no info Walkin' Home to Pittsburg, Leon Morris & the Bluegrass Associates, 1973
info Sparklin' Bluegrass, Larry Sparks and The Lonesome Ramblers, 1975
no info The Complete Kelly Harrell, Vol. 1/3, Kelly Harrell, 1975?
no info Immortal Carson Robison, Carson Robison and his Pioneers, 1978
no info Mountain Fiddler, Robert Byrd, 1978
no info Old Time Music from Fancy Gap, Abe Horton, 1978
no info Cornbred, Molasses and Sassafras Tea, Harold and Abe, 1978
no info All I Want To Do In Life, Jack Clement, 1978
no info Visions In Bluegrass, The Izard County Bluegrass Boys, 1978
no info Live at the Golden Palace, River City Bluegrass Band, 1979
no info Cowbell Hollow String Band, Cowbell Hollow String Band, 1981
no info The Unclaimed Pint, Sally Rogers, 1982
info The Walls of Time, Peter Rowan, 1982
no info Dark Hollow, Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers, 1982
no info Grinning In Your Face, Martin Simpson, 1983
no info Vacation In The Smokies, The Smoky Mountain Travelers, 1983
no info Marty Robbins Files, Vol. 5 - 1958, 1959, 1962, Marty Robbins, 1984
no info Old Time Banjo Tunes, Wade Mainer, 1984
no info The Kirkland Recordings, Various Artists (J.B. Easter), 1984
no info Close To Home, Dave Evans & River Bend, 1985
no info Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Been, Spider John Koerner, 1986
no info Been Riding with Old Mosby, Frank Bode, 1986
info Stanley Series, Vol. 2 #3, Stanley Brothers, 1986
no info Bristol Sessions. Vol 1, Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers, 1987
no info Songs For Rounders, Hank Thompson, 1987
no info Country Best, Dave Dudley, 1988
no info Classic Bluegrass, Larry Sparks, 1989
no info Kenny Hall and the Long Haul String Band, Kenny Hall and the Long Haul String Band, 198?
no info Mountain Dulcimer - Galax Style, Phyllis Gaskin, 1991
no info Music from the Mountain, Iron Mountain String Band, 1992
no info One Step Ahead, Hazel River Band, 1992
info Classic Everly Brothers, Everly Brothers, 1992
no info Carolina Blue, Lou Reid, Terry Baucom and Carolina, 1993
no info Hei-wa Hoedown, Wat Koken, 1995
no info Family Songs and Stories From The North Carolina Mountains, Doug and Jack Wallin, 1995
no info Unfaithful And Blue, Larry Fuller Band, 1995
info Appalachian Stomp: Bluegrass Classics, Various Artists (Country Gentlemen), 1995
no info 20 Old-Time Country Favorites, Mac Wiseman, 1997
no info The Complete Record Works, Vol. 1 (1925-26), Kelly Harrell, 1998
info Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1: 1925-1926, Kelly Harrell, 1998
info Race You to the Sun, Zelig, 1998
no info Classic Bluegrass, Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers, 199?
no info The Complete Kelly Harrell, Vol. 1, Kelly Harrell, 19??
no info The First Singing Cowboy On Records, Vernon Dalhart, 19??
no info Single, Benny & Vallie Cain and the Country Clan, 19??
info Doc Watson at Gerdes Folk City, Doc Watson, 2001
info The Complete Cadence Recordings: 1957-1960, The Everly Brothers, 2001
info Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3: 1928-1929, The Skillet Lickers, 2001
no info Irish in America, Dan Milner & Bob Conroy, 2001
no info Rattlesnake Tidal Wave, Foghorn Stringband, 2002
info Lonesome Valley, Various Artists (Country Gentlemen), 2002
info Buffalo Skinners, Rob McNurlin, 2004
no info Live at the Dominion, Foggy Hogtown Boys, 2004
no info Tearin' Up The Line, The Atkinson Family, 2004
no info Lindberg, The Eagle Of The USA, Vernon Dalhart, 2005
info Worried Blues, Frank Hutchison and Kelly Harrell, 2005
info Side By Side, Al Traynor & Randy Morrison, 2005
info Classic Bluegrass From Smithsonian Folkways, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Country Gentlemen), 2005
info The Best of Mac Wiseman: Essential Original Masters, Mac Wiseman, 2006
no info On Susan's Floor, Mac Wiseman, 2006
no info Lefty's Old Guitar, J. D. Crowe & the New South, 2006
no info Carolina Calling Me, Hickory Ridge, 2006
no info Aunt Jenny Wilson, Aunt Jenny Wilson, 2007
info Classic Bluegrass Collection, Vols. 1-4, Various Artists (Peter Rowan), 2007
info Is It True?, The Dwyers, 2008
info Twice Upon a Time, The Kingston Trio, 2008
no info Home on the Grange, Peter Feldmann & the Very Lonesome Boys, 2008
no info Bring Me Home, Peggy Seeger, 2008
no info Danny Beach, Danny Beach, 2008
info Drive-Time Bluegrass, Various Artists (Larry Sparks), 2009
no info Echoes Of The Mountains, Dry Branch Fire Squad, 2009
no info House Full of Sorrow, Blue Canyon Boys, 2009
no info The Acoustic Conspiracy, Faces Made For Radio, 2009
no info Driving Through A Ghost Town, Anna Mae Mitchell & Rising Tide, 2009
no info Up On The Ridge, Dierks Bentley, 2010
no info Unencumbered, Mark Cosgrove, 2010
info Muddy Roads, David Grisman Bluegrass Experience, 2013

Notes

The lyrics of the version played by the Hart Valley Drifters are as follows;

I am a roving gambler,
I've gambled all around,
Wherever I meet with a deck of cards,
I lay my money down.

Lay my money down, lay my money down.

Had not been in (?),
Many more weeks but three,
When I fell in love with a pretty girl,
And she fell in love with me.

Fell in love with me, fell in love with me.

She took me to her parlor,
Cooled me with a fan,
Whispered low in her mother's ear,
I love that gambling man.

Love that gambling man, love that gambling man.

Oh, daughter, oh, dear daughter,
How can you treat me so,
To leave your dear old mother,
And with a gambling man go.

With a gambling man go, with a gambling man go.

Oh, mother, oh, mother,
I'll tell you if I can,
If you ever see me coming back,
It'll be with a gambling man.

With a gambling man, with a gambling man.

I hear a train a-coming,
Coming round the curve,
Whistling and a-blowing,
And straining every nerve.

Straining every nerve, straining every nerve.

I am a roving gambler,
I've gambled all around,
Wherever I meet with a deck of cards,
I lay my money down.

Lay my money down, lay my money down.

 
 
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