{"id":2058,"date":"2016-09-24T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-24T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/?p=2058"},"modified":"2024-11-09T13:49:43","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T18:49:43","slug":"fancy-pants-gambling-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Fancy-Pants Gambling Man"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fancy Pants Gambling Man\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4Lq_aBgW81Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This is one of the rarest songs I know; to the best of my knowledge, it has never been publicly available until now. Which is truly weird.<\/p>\n<p>I heard it on a reel-to-reel tape in the position of Amy Cohen, the friend who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/what-did-you-learn-in-school-today\/\">introduced me to Dave Van Ronk<\/a>, sometime in the mid-1970s. The tape was by Erik Frandsen, a terrific guitarist, songwriter, and performer, whom I later saw numerous times at Folk City and the Speakeasy, usually with Dave nodding approvingly at my elbow. I recall Dave explaining that Erik got so good by practicing in front of <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2068 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Frandsen-Van-Ronk-Massengill-2-300x216.jpg?resize=300%2C216\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Frandsen-Van-Ronk-Massengill-2.jpg?resize=300%2C216&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Frandsen-Van-Ronk-Massengill-2.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>the television during all the Mets games, so I tried that for a while (albeit with the Red Sox), but never came close to his precision and virtuosity&#8230; and that&#8217;s not to mention the songwriting.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know how Amy came to have the tape, which\u00a0 seems to have been recorded in Chris Smither&#8217;s apartment circa 1970 or thereabouts, but I was\u00a0 mightily enamored of it. The songs included a sixties counterculture rewrite of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/hes-jailhouse-now\/\">He&#8217;s in the Jailhouse Now<\/a>&#8220;; a brief a cappella interlude celebrating the virtues of Bromo-Seltzer; Erik&#8217;s signature song of the time, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/drowning-in-beer\/\">Drowning in Beer<\/a>&#8220;; and this masterpiece of tongue-in-cheek Americana.<\/p>\n<p>For a while I didn&#8217;t bother to learn this, because I thought of it as Erik&#8217;s song and didn&#8217;t see the point. But here we are, more than forty years later, and as far as I know it has never been recorded except for that stray tape. Erik never made an album &#8212; I have no idea why, and would encourage any producers out there to contact him and try to change that &#8212; though he did a few songs on the Speakeasy&#8217;s <em>Fast Folk <\/em>LPs and now has a bunch of videos online. But by the time I met him in the early 1980s, he&#8217;d dropped this from his repertoire.<\/p>\n<p>So I started doing it, citing Erik as its originator, and only recently checked with him and learned that it was written by Tom Hobson &#8212; a name I had never heard, despite a lifetime burrowing around the folk and blues scenes. <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2062\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/rememberingtom-300x300.jpg?resize=210%2C210\" alt=\"rememberingtom\" width=\"210\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/rememberingtom.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/rememberingtom.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/rememberingtom.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/>Hobson is no longer among us, but some friends have mounted <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tomhobson.com\/\">a nice website<\/a> in his memory, with several albums of his music and encomiums from associates and students including Jorma Kaukonen, Dan Hicks, and Steve Mann &#8212; and that&#8217;s another story worth investigating.<\/p>\n<p>Hobson was a legendary Bay Area character who played brilliantly, was known and admired by all the musicians, but never really made a go of it as a performer (a description shared by my friend Perry Lederman, who I&#8217;ve written about in my post for &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/perrys-march\/\">Perry&#8217;s March<\/a>&#8220;). And to make the story even crazier, none of Hobson&#8217;s albums includes &#8220;Fancy-Pants Gambling Man,&#8221; nor do any of the remembrances even hint at its existence.<\/p>\n<p>How the hell could a song like this be in the ether, performed by musicians of the quality of Hobson and Frandsen (and who knows, maybe a bunch of other people), and never get recorded? As best I can tell, I&#8217;m currently the only person on earth who knows it, and that just doesn&#8217;t seem right. So here it is.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2066\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/erik-frandsen-headshot.jpg?resize=152%2C229\" alt=\"erik-frandsen-headshot\" width=\"152\" height=\"229\" \/>(Incidentally, one of the reasons Erik is not better known as a musician is that he has dedicated most of his professional attention to acting &#8212; you&#8217;ve likely seen him in movies and on the <em>Daily Show<\/em> &#8212; and wrote an off-Broadway show, and all in all has kept pretty busy doing other stuff. Which said, I&#8217;m still waiting for that album.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is one of the rarest songs I know; to the best of my knowledge, it has never been publicly available until now. Which is truly weird. I heard it on a reel-to-reel tape in the position of Amy Cohen, the friend who introduced me to Dave Van Ronk, sometime in the mid-1970s. The tape &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Fancy-Pants Gambling Man<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fancy-Pants Gambling Man - Old Friends: A Songobiography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An epic comic masterpiece by the little-known Tom Hobson, which I learned from a tape by Erik Frandsen, and no one else seems to remember.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fancy-Pants Gambling Man - Old Friends: A Songobiography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An epic comic masterpiece by the little-known Tom Hobson, which I learned from a tape by Erik Frandsen, and no one else seems to remember.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Old Friends: A Songobiography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-24T11:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-09T18:49:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Frandsen-Van-Ronk-Massengill-2-300x216.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elijah Wald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ElijahWald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ElijahWald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elijah Wald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elijah Wald\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20e4f69f2f284ea0ff728a9d1b7720a9\"},\"headline\":\"Fancy-Pants Gambling Man\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-24T11:00:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-09T18:49:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":624,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20e4f69f2f284ea0ff728a9d1b7720a9\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/Frandsen-Van-Ronk-Massengill-2-300x216.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.elijahwald.com\\\/songblog\\\/fancy-pants-gambling-man\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fancy-Pants Gambling Man - 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It was written by the munificently multi-talented Erik Frandsen, and I learned it\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ErikFrandsen_1265142975-300x288.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2736,"url":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/another-time-place\/","url_meta":{"origin":2058,"position":1},"title":"Another Time and Place (Dave Van Ronk)","author":"Elijah Wald","date":"April 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"One of Dave Van Ronk's loveliest compositions, this recalls his longtime lady, Joanne Grace, and also takes me back to my brief connection with the Speak Easy club on MacDougal Street. Joanne was a smart, dark, funny, and encouraging presence throughout my early years with Dave. The mid-to-late 1970s was\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Dave-and-Joanne.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4299,"url":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/blood-red-moon\/","url_meta":{"origin":2058,"position":2},"title":"Blood Red Moon (Dave Van Ronk)","author":"Elijah Wald","date":"April 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This was the title song of Dave's Going Back to Brooklyn LP and inspired the cover image, a blood red moon rising over the Brooklyn Bridge, worked in stained glass by Dave's wife, Andrea. As I explained in an earlier post, his original title for that album was \"Losers,\"\u00a0 but\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Going-Back-to-Brooklyn.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":901,"url":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/keep-it-clean\/","url_meta":{"origin":2058,"position":3},"title":"Keep It Clean (Dave Van Ronk &#038; others)","author":"Elijah Wald","date":"April 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A song that, like much preaching, cloaks base desires in misleading admonishments. From Dave Van Ronk, via Charley Jordan, Lemon Jefferson, and others...","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"No Dirty Names","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/No-Dirty-Names.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1478,"url":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/georgia-on-my-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":2058,"position":4},"title":"Georgia on My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael)","author":"Elijah Wald","date":"June 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The musical education I got from Dave Van Ronk was by no means limited to guitar lessons, or to his own work. By the third or fourth week, he shifted my lesson to the end of the day, and when it finished he would cook dinner, then we\u2019d break out\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"hoagy2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/hoagy2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1224,"url":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/saint-james-infirmary\/","url_meta":{"origin":2058,"position":5},"title":"Saint James Infirmary (Dave Van Ronk)","author":"Elijah Wald","date":"May 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One of Dave Van Ronk's great flagwavers -- he generally called it \"Gambler's Blues\" -- this was my father's favorite out of his repertoire. They were friends from the moment I had Dave over to my folks' place and my father came out of the kitchen to ask if he\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Van-Ronk-Gamblers-blues.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5484,"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions\/5484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}