My favorite folksinger: Ramblin' Jack Elliott

 Today my favorite musical genres are jazz, classical, folk, in that order. The only time I listened to pop was as a teenager, loving doowop.

But in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, my favorite music was folk.  I performed folk music myself and always had my guitar at hand. At parties, at dinners, I arrived with guitar and sang for my supper.

I first heard Elliott in the Army. I subscribed to the folk magazine Sing Out and responded to an ad for his first American album, Elliott sings Woody Guthrie. Playing the album, I became an immediate fan, an increasingly obsessive one.

Elliott was ahead of the curve, peaking before folk music became popular in America. He went to England and made a reputation there. With the sixties new interest in folk, he returned to America.

By the time I got out of the Army, Elliott was making regular appearances at the Ash Grove, a So Cal folk club. I was always in the audience.

Why do I like Elliott so much? His performances blow me away. Here he covers a Dylan song (when Dylan began in New York, he was billed as "son of Ramblin' Jack Elliott"):

https://youtu.be/OeucVztLMh0?si=jjlcvfvf6Y6aanhC

Jump forward a decade+. I'm managing an apartment in NW Portland. No rent. A bachelor. Performing my Guthrie show, living on its grant.

One night the phone rings. A friend at a party, who says there's a guy there who says he knew Woody Guthrie. Ramblin' Jack somebody.

I beelined to the party. Jack's Winnebago had broken down on his way to a gig in SF, he had to hang around Portland for a couple days, waiting for repairs. 

To make a long story short, I arranged to do an interview for a local weekly I sometimes wrote for. And I put together a quick "pass the hat" gig at a local tavern. Helping Jack set up for the gig, the two of us alone, he said, What do you want to hear? I got a private half-hour concert!

It always irritated me that so few  folks appreciated Elliott or even heard of him. He told me now and again he was accused of imitating Dylan!

Late in life, he finally began to get the honors he deserved. CBS Sunday Morning featured him:

https://youtu.be/Qp71RDOxuiA?si=ATfTXAD1rL8HeJm0

He won a lifetime achievement award:

https://youtu.be/fZjgcCIpcCM?si=R-91ILPJ6hCkWRg0

But the most interesting  addition to his legacy is a documentary film made by his daughter in 2010. I highly recommend this film.

Part one ...

https://youtu.be/f1z18dPWFfo?si=pHYnP2W_2oN0pdTT

Part two ...

https://youtu.be/-hOr8BBkKUQ?si=7uwrr9U8wQOQy-W_

Part three ...

https://youtu.be/PClz7Wzrt8Q?si=c9BlRbgEKad-IDkH

Part four ...

https://youtu.be/ZDaADU00anU?si=FyWOE9i596BDQWQS

Part five ...

https://youtu.be/cDnxLXr7X10?si=IkIv7qmY2GHEnchw

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