The Never Ending Pool

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Back in 1971, a Earl Scruggs Revue film known as Banjoman was produced. A half-dozen years later, a soundtrack lp was released on a relatively obscure import. Elliott had laryngitis at the time and he talks about this on the following recording. To my knowledge, the album has not appeared as a CD, which seems a bit odd given that Baez, The Byrds, and Doc and Merle Watson are also on the album.

"Me and Bobby McGee," by Ramblin' Jack, in Kansas

http://www.sendspace.com/file/3j39rl

Warren wrote:

QUOTE:

"Me and Bobby McGee," by Ramblin' Jack, in Kansas

http://www.sendspace.com/file/3j39rl

Nice one, Warren.

Many thanks.

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Elliott has two dates in June. First up is the the earlier cited Chicago Blues Festival, this coming Sunday (13th), with a 1:30 workshop and a 3:30 show.

On Saturday, the 19th, he has a show in Minneapolis at The Cedar Cultural Centre, according to his agent's site.


Here is a rare performance on the occasion of a celebration for Derroll Adams' 65th birthday, in 1990. As far as I know, the album has not made it to CD and was a limited edition lp produced in Belgium.

"Willie Moore," by Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Derroll Adams, from 1990

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6v42le

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Elliott tells a tall tale at this past weekend's Chicago Blues Festival:

"Tyin' Knots In The Devil's Tail"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeCTknumIak&feature=player_embedded

When referring to Peter LaFarge and the rooms at the Earle Hotel, he also refers to "Bob." That would be "our" Bob. The three of them all had rooms on the same floor, once upon a time.


Note: Some other worthy vids are in this link:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Chicago-Blues-Fest-Now-Th-by-Kevin-Gosztola-100614-64.html?show=votes

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Ramblin' Man

En route to a Twin Cities gig, folk legend Ramblin' Jack
Elliott talks about Bob Dylan and his other Minnesota connections.

By JON BREAM, Star Tribune

Last update: June 16, 2010 - 3:48 PM

Folk-blues legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott is on a roll. Two of his past five albums have earned him Grammys, including one this year for "A Stranger Here," a wonderful collection of pre-World War II blues. Not bad for a 78-year-old troubadour best known for tutoring Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie and Mick Jagger.

Elliott, who will make his first Twin Cities appearance in 13 years Saturday at the Cedar Cultural Center, is renowned as a storyteller. In fact, his moniker has more to do with his long-winded yarns than his penchant for traveling with his guitar. Calling last week from San Francisco, Elliott, who does 50 to 60 gigs a year, rambled on several topics.

On where he put his two Grammys

"One is home [in suburban San Francisco] because the cats love to rub on it. It comes with an owner's manual that says 'Do not rub with rag.' Because you'll take the gold right off. The new Grammy I just saw an hour ago for the first time. It's here at [his manager's] house. I don't need to keep two Grammys in my little house. One's enough. Maybe I'll just leave it here."

On 1995 Grammy winner "South Coast," recorded in Minnesota

"It was quite pleasant in that studio [Pachyderm, in Cannon Falls]. I liked Bob Feldman, the owner of [St. Paul's] Red House Records who produced that album. We didn't have a list of songs to do; we just informally recorded songs off the top of my head.

"[St. Paul singer-songwriter] Gene LaFond, my friend who was there, asked Bob a few days later about the recording, and Bob said he didn't really hear anything exciting about it and he was going to let it sit and not make it into an album. Gene encouraged him to listen to it again and said, 'You ought to make a record out of it.' So I must have Gene LaFond to thank for that Grammy for the album and, of course, Bob."

On the last time he talked to Dylan

"I saw him about three years ago at a concert in Oakland. He waved to me as he ran in from the bus, because his bus driver told him that I'd be waiting. I don't think he saw me wave back because he was moving so fast.

"The time before that was a year or two previous to that. Bob saw me and he said [imitating Dylan], 'What's in your life, Ramblin?' I repeated the question. Then I said, 'I got a new Ford truck and I drove it here from Colorado just to see you. Took me four days. Fed the cats and got a little sleep and here I am.' And he must have thought I was reciting haiku because he had a very appreciative giggle and he said, 'Fed the cats. Got to feed them cats, got to feed them cats.' That's all he said. And I'm still waiting for a Dylanographer to explain what he meant."

On visiting Dylan's home in Hibbing at Dylan Days in 2008

"The owner left the house open for me. We enjoyed looking around a bit. I played Bob's mother's upright piano. I'm not a pianist myself, but I've always liked to fool around with pianos. The house was not very spacious or exciting. Not much to look at. I feel like when I close my eyes and remember how the house looked, that I can associate it with the Bob that I know, which is not the same Bob that everyone else knows.

"Of course, the whole world knows Bob. Or they think they do. To me, he's mainly and mostly mysterious. The three M's. Isn't 3M a Minnesota company? Well, it makes sense. For the first time in my life, it makes sense."

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/96487349.html?page=2&c=y

During the credits of a movie called "Where's Poppa?", I noticed that it read : "Music by Jack Elliot". It also stated that Clydie King sang the title song, which seems to point more strongly toward the chance that it's Ramblin' Jack. If so, did he do any other movie scores?

P.S.- The "got to feed them cats" anecdote is hilarious.

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up to you - That's not Ramblin' Jack, but this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Elliott_%28composer%29

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Courtesy of a Marc Percansky and expectingrain.com:

Folk legend Ramblin Jack Elliott lives up to his name at the Cedar

Posted by Jon Bream

Last update: June 20, 2010 - 2:05 AM

At a Ramblin Jack Elliott concert, you know you're going to get a lot of between-song stories as well as songs that are stories. The folk-music legend did not disappoint on either front Saturday at the Cedar Cultural Center.

Elliott, 78, who is best known for tutoring Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie and Mick Jagger, told stories about hanging out with Dylan, working in the rodeo, performing in a winter storm in Bethlehem, Pa, watching his dog drive Jack's truck (the singer has a sense of humor) and being at an open mic night in "U Nork Titty" as he called his hometown of NYC ("Peter and Paul were there; Mary was out shopping" ). He also did talking impressions of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Dylan.

Here's one of the Dylan stories: It was at a Newport Folk Festival and Jack and Bob were sitting in Bob's blue Ford station wagon and Bob turned on the radio. They heard the Animals' version of "House of the Rising Sun" and "at the same time, we said, 'That's my version.'" (Word in folk circles was that Dylan copped some of his stuff from Elliott.)

For the Cedar crowd, Elliott sang, among other things, "San Francisco Bay Blues," "Can't Be Satisfied," "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine" and Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" (which, of course, was preceded by another Dylan story). His girlfriend, rockabilly singer Vikki Lee, dueted with him, as well. (Jack met her singing in a band with her cousin, guitar great Albert Lee.)

At one point during his 75-minute set, Elliott, a character who is sweet and funny, rightfully complained about the air conditioning (or lack thereof) and a stagehand brought him an electric fan onstage. He also chastised the crowd for taking photos of him. "I wanted to be a professional truckdriver; so when I see a redlight, I stop," he warned. Hanging on his every word, the crowd obliged and put away their cameras.

The concert was opened by the Rolling Patches Revue, a parade of local musicians - including Gretchen Seichrist, Paul Metsa, Larry Long, Gene LaFond, Kevin Odegard and Slim Dunlap - singing tributes to Elliott.

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/96744814.html

The Dylan Newport story is a bit, well, strange, whether on Elliott's part of Bream's part. Dylan's version of "House of the Rising Sun," came from Dave Van Ronk, not Jack Elliott. Elliott's own version of the song came from Woody Guthrie and is played with major chords, not minor ones and the melody as a result is slightly different, though obviously the same song. Also the one album Elliott recorded the song on, "Jack Elliott" on Vanguard, if it was even out yet, assuming this was the summer of 1964 when the song was a hit may not have been released yet.

up to you wrote:

QUOTE:
During the credits of a movie called "Where's Poppa?", I noticed that it read : "Music by Jack Elliot". It also stated that Clydie King sang the title song, which seems to point more strongly toward the chance that it's Ramblin' Jack. If so, did he do any other movie scores?

Nope, that's another Jack Elliott, a jazz musician: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254477/bio

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Just happened to stumble upon this.

Transcript from the Music Experience Project

Ramblin' Jack Elliott:

I took a room at the Earl[e] Hotel on the corner of Washington Square. The building is still there, it has a different name now and it's been remodeled. It was a fairly crummy hotel at that time. I knew most of the cockroaches by their first name. I took a room on the third floor, I think it was room 310, and Pete La Farge was in room 312. He's an old rodeo buddy of mine. And Bob took a room down the hall, about 304, 305. Just a few doors down the hall from us. So we saw a lot of Bobby that first couple of months...

He had that round face, you know, and that peach fuzz, he couldn't grow a beard. He was nineteen years old. And he told me that he had all of my records; I think I had six records out by that time, in England, and one in the States. And he had all the records that he could get his hands on, from Topic in England, and me and Derroll Adams singing cowboy songs and Woody Guthrie songs

And since I had been a student of Woody's and a protégé of Woody's, of course Bob appreciated what I was doing and he related to me more than he related to most other people. So even though a lot of people seemed to dislike him because he appeared to be strange in many ways, I felt comfortable with him because he was a fan of mine, and he was wide open to me. So I was wide open to him.


There is a video of these comments in the link, plus other related vids.

http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=568

from the June 19 show at Cedar Cultural Center

tribute song:
'Ramblin' Jack Elliot', composed and sung by James Loney




(minor quibble: the song refers to Jack in the past tense, in spite of the fact that he is still on the road, producing fine albums and even picking up Grammys!)

and it's got his last name misspelled (unless that happened in your copying of the title)

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From the Sept. 20, 1969 episode of The Johnny Cash Show:

"If I Were A Carpenter" and "Take Me Home [w Johnny Cash]." The latter song was featured in Aiyana Elliott's The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack




The person who uploaded this said, "pure Americana fabulousness."

Great finger-picking and singing by Elliott on Tim Hardin's, "If I Were A Carpenter."

Is it odd that Bob can't or doesn't spend more than a second or whatever talking to Jack?

I usually can defend or support most of anything I read or see about Bob but this seems different.

Ain't talkin', just ramblin'?