Personnel: Ramblin' Jack Elliott (vocals, guitar); Derroll Adams (vocals, banjo).
Liner Note Author: Wizz Jones.
Photographer: Brian Shuel.
An often understated figure in the 1960s folk revival, Ramblin' Jack Elliott provided a crucial bridge between Woody Guthrie and his most direct disciples in Greenwich Village: Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. Even Arlo Guthrie credits Elliott with introducing him to his own father's milieu. Born Elliott Charles Adnopoz into a wealthy Jewish family, Ramblin' Jack was the proto-Dylan--eschewing comfort for a folkie version of the Kerouacian dream: he took on an alias, donned a cowboy hat, traveled with Woody, and recorded a string of hard-travellin' albums that made him legendary in folk circles.
RAMBLIN' JACK collects most of Elliott's three earliest LPs for the British folk label Topic. It is a rewarding introduction to Elliott's music, which is basically an insider's distillation of Guthrie's; in fact, at least two-thirds of the tracks are either by Woody or songs Elliott learned from him. Still, RAMBLIN' JACK, an essential purchase for American folk fans, has its own rollicking air, boosted by Elliott's hillbilly charm, which, while obviously learned, reflects the integrity of a man with boundless love for the American experience. The set includes the heart-stopping "1913 Massacre," as good a rendition of a folk song as any ever recorded.
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