The Ballad of Ramblin Jack — soundtrack

Vanguard
2000
58:38

1. Introduction by Johnny Cash - :25
2. Muleskinner Blues (Rodgers/ Vaughn) — live 1971. Johnny Cash show - 5:03
3. Cuckoo (traditional) — live 1998 at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering - 2:27
4. Hard Travelin' (Guthrie) — live 1998 on the Gill Gross Show - 1:42
5. Railroad Bill (traditional) w Woody Guthrie & Sonny Terry — Moe Asch. 1953 - 3:31
6. Buskin' (Elliott) - :32
7. Pastures of Plenty (Guthrie) — from the 'South Coast' album - 2:43
8. Rake & Ramblin' Boy (Adams) with Derroll Adams — 'Ramblin' Jack' album - 2:43
9. San Francisco Bay Blues (Fuller) — live 1961. Pete Seeger's 'Rainbow Quest' - 2:03
10. Candy Man/ Talking Sailor (trad./ Guthrie) — Alan Lomax. 1961 - 4:48
11. Acne (Von Schmidt) with Bob Dylan — live 1961 on WRVR radio - 3:24
12. Don't Think Twice (Dylan) — live 1998 at the Bottom Line - 3:36
13. Take Me Home (Cash) with Johnny Cash — live 1969 on Johnny Cash show - 3:06
14. If I Were a Carpenter (Hardin/ Stanton) — live 1998. Cowboy P. G. - 4:46
15. Car Song (Guthrie) — backstage 1998 at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering - 1:03
16. 900 Miles (traditional) by Odetta — D.A. Pennebaker recording 1971 - 3:56
17. Cup of Coffee (Elliott) — live 1980 at the Anderson Fair in Houston, Texas - 4:45
18. Introduction by President Clinton - :30
19. 1913 Massacre (Guthrie) — live 1998 at the Bottom Line - 4:25
20. Cuckoo (traditional) — from the 'Kerouac's Last Dream' album - 3:39
Best Cup of Coffee yet dropped onto a cd. With the feel of a sampler bootleg, the soundtrack documents the much filmed 1998 tour ("My dad has a lifelong hatred of cameras," mused Aiyana.) seasoned with scattershot career snapshots splicing in Jack's musical friends.

The tightrope between career highlights package and fan-oriented obscurities set is pulled taut. Rest assured, children, Jack still sits astraddle his stage stool, occasionally enlivening a seldom recorded ballad from his saddlebag, stretching stories to the breaking point. You'll find hints of that here. Mostly you'll find all the standards.

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The Ballad of Ramblin Jack — film


Directed by Aiyana Elliott.
Shot in 35mm. Distributed by Lot 47 Films.
Released for theatres in 1999.
Released for video in 2001.
112 minutes. Rated PG -13.


This very full-length documentary movie is available for home viewing in vhs and dvd formats. It includes excerpts from most the soundtrack performances plus clips of New York Town, Buffalo Skinners, Diamond Joe, and 912 Greens — not to mention a number of ingeniously executed stories.

A heartfelt approach by a daughter reaching into her father, and coming to terms with their relationship, all the while narrating a colorful past she took no part in. As painful and honest as Jack's own best work. You view the worst and best of a very human interpreter of our very human condition.

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