Ian & Sylvia - Rambler Gambler (Lyrics) [HD]

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Ian & Sylvia sing 'Rambler Gambler' from their debut 1962 Vanguard album 'Ian & Sylvia'. Ian Tyson does vocal and guitar on this song. The lyrics are in the video and below with comments about the singers.

Note: Ian & Sylvia made seven Vanguard studio albums with 87 songs from 1962 to 1968. This song is the ninth track on their debut album. The next track is 'Down By the Willow Garden'.

[Vinyl/Lyrics/10-Images/WAV]

Rambler Gambler (Singer: Ian Tyson)

I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler
I'm a long ways from my home
If you people don't like me
Well just leave me alone

For it's dark and it's a-raining
And the moon gives no light
And my pony can't hardly travel
On this dark road at night

You know I once had me a true love
Lord her age was just sixteen
She was the flower of Belton
And the rose of Saline

But her parents they didn't like me
And now she is just the same
So if I'm writ on your books, guy
Well just you blot out my name

For there's changes in the ocean
And there's changes in the sea
And there's changes in my true love
There ain't no change in me

Songwriter: Traditional Song
[Lyrics from azlyrics.com]

Album Personnel: Ian Tyson - vocals, guitar, Sylvia Tyson - vocals, autoharp, John Herald - guitar, Bill Lee - string bass, Art Davis - string bass.

Album liner notes by Nat Hentoff: Of Rambler Gambler, Ian says: "I feel this is a lovely introspective song and I try for a 'long, long way from home type of feeling.' It's one of my favorite cowboy tunes and it's one I never heard when I was a cowboy. Most cowboys listen to juke box favorites out of Nashville." The song was learned from a recording by Peggy Seeger.

Wikipedia states:

Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959, married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. Ian Tyson, CM, AOE was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1933. In his teens, he decided upon a career as a rodeo rider. Recovering from injuries sustained from a fall during the mid-1950s, he started learning guitar. In the late 1950s, he relocated to Toronto, aspiring to a career as a commercial artist. He also started playing clubs and coffeehouses in Toronto. By 1959 he was performing music as a full-time occupation. Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker, CM, was born in Chatham, Ontario, in 1940. While still in her teens, she started frequenting the folk clubs of Toronto.

The two started performing together in Toronto in 1959. By 1962, they were living in New York City, where they caught the attention of manager Albert Grossman, who managed Peter, Paul and Mary and would soon become Bob Dylan's manager. Grossman secured them a contract with Vanguard Records and they released their first album late in the year.

Their first album, self-titled Ian & Sylvia, on Vanguard Records consists mainly of traditional songs. There were British and Canadian folk songs, spiritual music, and a few blues songs thrown into the mix. The album was moderately successful and they made the list of performers for the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.