When we think about juke joints and blues bars from the Delta-days, one of the first things imagined is the atmosphere. It’s not a blues gig without humming amps, spilling drinks, and moving feet.

Another common sight to add is the card game.

Music, friends, and card games mix well. While we’re all listening to music and having fun (or getting laid), the card deck can be as essential as the use of flour is to voodoo.

How many blues songs about cards could you name right now?

There are hundreds, though revealing them here feels just a little like cheating. Name yours first, and dig through your blues albums until you’ve found more of them.

It won’t take long for you to see the connections between playing cards and the blues running through strong.

But just how strong can blues and bridge be tied together?

Did blues ever cross the bridge?

I was listening to Robert Johnson when I imagined the links between blues and bridge to be stronger than I thought at first.

While I’ve always loved blues as a guitar player (and had a strong enthusiasm for playing poker), the two always seemed like separate disciplines. I’ve used several posts on Prime as regular readers should know to mention that they are instead very close.

So far, can you guess the song yet?

From extended reading, I know that bridge and bid whist are connected by their history, rules, and players. More popular in specific locales, I can imagine that many great blues players might have been taught either whist or bridge.

When games travel in families and with people, games make their way around.

It wasn’t just poker games that made the juke joints worthwhile. While I might have to do some more digging into the topic, what if there were far more games of whist?

The connections travelling further

Blues has a whole collection of myths and legends to explore.

For the purposes of this post, I’d like to bring up the Crossroads tale. If you know blues, metal, rock, or classical music at all, the story is likely to sound familiar…

Armed with an instrument, the player makes their way to a crossroads for a Faustian deal. At the Crossroads, the player exchanges talent for whatever the deal-maker asks.

Many players are rumoured to have made such deals. Paganini from the classical realm, and both Robert and Tommy Johnson from the world of blues (and no, the Johnsons were not related).

While some variations attribute the deal to all sorts of devils, the reason it has to be a crossroads is found in ancient beliefs.

The ruler of the crossroads is said to be Legba, who appears as an old man with a hat and cane. According to legends, he can be contacted as a rite of passage to communicate with any other Loa.

Where do cards fit in?

Legba rules music, but stories say that music isn’t all. The Loa is also the ruler of other disciplines, including playing cards – and some of the objects associated with his belief includes the hat, the staff, and the playing card deck.

Would you take your card deck to a crossroads at midnight for a shot at learning how to bid better for an exchange?