Love Is a Game of Poker

Love Is a Game of Poker
Studio album by
Nelson Riddle
Released1962
Recorded1962
GenrePop music
Length34:01[1]
LabelCapitol ST-1817
Nelson Riddle chronology
Route 66 Theme and Other Great TV Themes
(1962) 		Love Is a Game of Poker
(1962) 		More Hit TV Themes
(1963)

Love Is a Game of Poker is the fourteenth studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, released in 1962.[1][2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
New Record Mirror[3]

William Ruhlmann reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that it seemed "...to have been influenced by Henry Mancini's similar success, leading to a more prominent rhythm section and a jazzier feel than one usually associates with Riddle's charts", and that Riddle's "feel for melody was not extinguished by any means but, probably due to his recent experience, his arrangements and (on three tracks) compositions had a far more cinematic flair, which gave them an early-'60s contemporaneity and brought him out of the '50s just as he was moving on to new challenges".[1]

DJ Spooky, in his 2008 book Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture described Riddle's arrangement of "Witchcraft" on this album as a "brain-tickling juxtaposition of reverberating strings, bells, and chimes."[4]


Track listing

Side 1

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Playboy's Theme"Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh2:54
2."Alone Too Long"Dorothy Fields, Arthur Schwartz2:37
3."Queen of Hearts"Nelson Riddle3:10
4."Red Silk Stockings and Green Perfume"Bob Hilliard, Sammy Mysels, Dick Sanford3:01
5."Finesse"Riddle3:30
6."A Game of Poker"Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer2:16

Side 2

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House"Jack Elliott, Harold Spina2:23
2."Witchcraft"Coleman, Leigh3:18
3."Two Hearts Wild"Riddle2:12
4."You Fascinate Me So"Coleman, Leigh3:13
5."Penny Ante"Riddle3:00
6."Indiscreet"Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen2:27


Personnel

Re-releases

Pickwick Records

In June 1965, Pickwick Records released seven of the twelve tracks from Love Is a Game of Poker in a ten-track album titled Witchcraft!. Additional tracks came from 1957’s Hey...Let Yourself Go!,* plus a side from a 45 rpm single.**[5]

Side 1

  1. ”Witchcraft”
  2. ”Along Too Long”
  3. ”Red Silk Stockings”
  4. ”It’s So Nice to Have a Man Around The House”
  5. ”You Fascinate Me So”

Side 2

  1. ”Playboy’s Theme”
  2. ”Indiscreet”
  3. ”I Get Along Without You Very Well”*
  4. ”Darn That Dream”*
  5. ”Blue Safari”**

An album identical to the Pickwick record--even the liner notes--was released on the Sears label. [6]

Alshire Records

In 1971 Alshire Records issued a budget re-release of ten of the twelve tracks from Love is a Game of Poker re-titled Spectacular Brass!!! Fantastic Reeds!!! and the Magnificent 101 Strings, and credited to "Nelson Riddle with America's Top Soloists." The disc lacked "A Game of Poker" and "You Fascinate Me So."[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Love is a Game of Poker at AllMusic
  2. ^ "Nelson Riddle - Love is a Game of Poker at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  3. ^ Watson, Jimmy (29 June 1963). "Nelson Riddle: Love Is A Game Of Poker" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 120. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  4. ^ DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid (2008). Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture. MIT Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-262-63363-5.
  5. ^ "Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra – Witchcraft!". Discogs.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra* – The Witchcraft Of Nelson Riddle". Discogs.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  7. ^ "101 Strings With Nelson Riddle – Brass - Reeds & Strings". Discogs.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023. Despite the title, the 101 Strings did not appear on the album.