The King of 21 was written and performed by the Road Apples:
Bob Lawder
Blake Travis
Bob Breidenbach
John Jump
The exact story of the King may not be true, but every single part of the story was true as we all wrote it together piecing the story line into the song from memories from each of us about scenes from our lives. We wrote songs easily together and I never had so much fun in a band as when we played and rehearsed at Bob Lawder's house. This demo recording is from one of those rehearsal nights. We wrote this song and Bob Lawder recorded it in something like 3 hours. We never got around to arranging it for a real recording, a final arrangement and recording with embellishments and the like. But here it is fresh out of our heads and hands.
We hope you enjoy the story!
Lyrics
The King of 21 ...written by the Road Apples
Blake Travis
Bob Lawder
Bob Breidenbach
John Jump
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Some people called him 21
But we all called him King
He could shuffle them cards
Like the church folks sing
...Like the church folks sing
Had a razor is his shoe
For double dealers like you
A demi-jon of whiskey
Just to keep him cool
Just to keep him cool
Some said he came from Natchez
Some said Memphis, Tennessee
He always road them shiny rails
Wavin’ back at me
Wavin’ back at me
He come down here on the Crescent
Just to play a game or two
Had two or three gold teeth
And a can of Red Man chew
And a can of Red Man chew
Look out you ragin’ Cajun
Lay it low you Creole Queens
Some say he’ll take your money
Like you ain’t never seen
He ain’t no pickpocket
Ain’t no carny trash
He’s the king of double down
And he’s after your cash.
Brought some players in from Algiers,
Baton Rouge, and Slidel
For the game at Pearl River
Where the loser faces hell
The loser faces hell
Three held high over 20
Caribbean to the draw
Kings that carry axes
That’s what everybody saw
One by one they folded against the King’s dealt hand
But, I’ll be your huckleberry
I’m here to make a stand
Gonna send the King to the promised land
You’ll be graveyard dead
Before you hit the sand.
Some people called him 21
But we all called him King
He could shuffle them cards
Like the church folks sing
...Like the church folks sing