All entries for Friday 19 May 2006

Ramblin' Jack Elliot

Writing about web page http://www.thetinangel.co.uk

This tuesday night(23rd May) down Taylor John's at the canal basin is probably your only chance to see one of the most influential musicians still alive and well worth stretching your overdraft by another £10. The following lifted straight from the Tin Angel website.

One must catch Jack live to fully appreciate him. No album has ever been able to capture his storytelling ability, his archivist's knowledge of folk songs, his spontaneous. surealistic sense of humor or the aura of good feeling he creates on stage. Though Jack won a Grammy for his South Coast album in 1996, 'polished' is a word that has never been applied to one of has records. Friends of Mine is a collection of duets with Arlo Gutthrie. John Prine, Bob Weir, Tom Waits, Jerry Jeff Walker. Emmylou Harris. Nanci Griffith. Rosalie Sorrels. Peter Rowan and Guy Clark which, with restrained production by California slide guitar wizard Roy Rogers. has the feel of a casual evening on someone's back porch in the country. The songs are covers of folk classics by the likes of Townes Van Zandt. Woody Guthrie. Bob Dylan. Merle Travis and Tim Hardin.. My own favourite is Townes' 'Rex's Blues.' with Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith. sweetened by a Norton Buffalo harmonica break. But each of the tunes here has its own rough charm. As Ramblin' Jack albums go, it's one of the better ones, certainly better than South Coast.
But don't ever, ever pass up a chance to see Ramblin' Jack live, before be rambles off this planet.
Life–long aspiring cowboy, he's rode saddle broncos and bareback horses. He still ropes and hauls around on cow ponies. though after trying to sleep curled under saddle blankets, he's become quite a Land Rover aficionado. Jack fixes, steers, and accolades long–distance trucks. 'I've never seen a truck driver who looked as good as his truck.' He's a sailor, meaning the gaff and square rigged type old boats, not these plastic jobs. On his first trip to Hawaii he piloted a nuclear submarine a good part of the way from Lahaina to Pearl Harbor, even bounced some yodels through that metal hull. His indomitable knowledge of the names and uses of every square inch on a sailing ship or truck can be exhausting even before you learn he pilots airplanes too. 'Cowboy poets… call him up and quote 'cowboy rap' over the phone. firefighters. truck drivers, bikers. bartenders. everybody.'

Lee Davis : 19 May 2006 15:50 |  Tags: Legend Music |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem