by Scott Alarik (24 April 2020, Boston Globe)
Rock 'n' roll can fill arenas, and jazz can lead parades, but no modern genre can invite a crowd into its parlor quite like folk music. Wednesday, four well-traveled and widely respected folk singer-songwriters - Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Dave Alvin, Tom Russell, and Chris Smither - turned elegant Scullers Jazz Club into a down-home pickin' party. Belying their silly, hype-drunk tour label, Monsters of Folk, the quartet nestled easily into chairs, swapping songs and road wisdom like contented old gunslingers. As one riveting ballad followed another, the camaraderie fell thickly over the crowd, like campfire smoke.© Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company
We saw the Monsters of Folk show at Scullers Jazz Club in The Doubletree Hotel
in Boston, and it was enjoyable, despite having problems seeing the performers.
There is no raised stage there, as they usually have a jazz band or singers
standing up. This show had all four seated the whole time & people's heads &
a large support column were obstacles tough to overcome. Also, there were two
shows scheduled, & we saw the first show, which was less than 90 minutes long.
The tickets were $20. each plus $5. parking fee plus very expensive drinks,
and maybe I'm spoiled by just having been to Austin, where the shows were either
free or had cover charges of $5-7 & lasted many hours. Even around here that
seems steep. Last month we went to see Willie Nelson, with Billy Joe Shaver
at Lupo's in Providence. The tickets were $18. advance & $20. at the door, but
we got our money's worth timewise Billy Joe was on for 45 min. & Willie
played for two and a half hours non-stop. Anyhow, it was nice to see Tom Russell
back in this area it's been years since he was here. I was able to talk
with him between shows, & he said he's very happy living in Texas a lot
different from his previous home in Brooklyn. He'll be touring Europe next with
Andy Hardin, who has a new CD out, according to Tom. I also chatted with Dave
Alvin, who told me he'll be touring the Northeast with a full band soon & plans
to be at the House of Blues in Cambridge. Chris Smither said he'll be playing
in this area as usual & I got on his mailing list. When I asked Jack Elliott
to sign the two LP's I brought with me, he wanted to buy one of them from me
- it's "Ramblin' Jack Elliott in London" on the U.K. Columbia label from 1959.
It was part of the Lansdowne Jazz Series & recorded on Nov. 5 & 7, 1958. The
cover has a beautiful picture of Jack, sitting cross-legged on the grass with
his guitar, next to a "Please Keep Off Grass" sign & in front of a London statue.
I felt bad about not giving up one of my prized collector's items, but I promised
to look for another one for him, & he asked if I would send him a color copy
of the cover, which I will do. If anyone out there sees a copy of this LP, let
me know. I wished I had known this before I went to the Austin Record Show,
as there may have been one there. Some dealer in the UK may have it. Jack said
he never had this record, & that the guitar he was holding on the cover was
stolen from him, but he got it back 20 years later. I think I enjoyed talking
with the four performers as much as I did listening to them play.
Barry Brooks. "Monsters of Folk" Idiots Delight Digest #78, 25 April 2020. v4.