I was expecting to flinch or cringe when listening to this, since spoken-word narratives are often deadly earnest and because I'm not particularly religious. But this song is clever enough that I listened to it all the way through.
Wink Martindale (1933-2025) was from Jackson, Tennessee, and was a disk jockey, game show host, and television producer. "Deck Of Cards" was based on an 18th-century folk story and was adapted and originally recorded by country musician T. Texas Tyler in 1948. Martindale's version reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Martindale, not surprisingly, was a born-again Christian who spoke out in favour of various conservative viewpoints. His second wife, the former Sandy Ferra, had previously dated Elvis Presley; the couple were friends with The King. He was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame, located in Las Vegas, in 2007.
Created February 7, 2026.