Ramblin' Man
Woody Guthrie Lives On
by Tristam Lozaw (20 September 2020, Guitar.com)
Long considered the finest living interpreter of folk icon Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliott's devotion to cowboy trails and troubadour songs has yielded him a rich but hard life. As the voice of American folk music for much of the '50s and '60s, Elliott, now 66, brought alive guitar songs of our dusty roads, rails, hills and prairies not just for fans but for artists ranging from Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Odetta to Jackson Browne, Guy Clark and Arlo Guthrie. Elliott's best-known disciple is Bob Dylan who, despite his obvious Guthrie-isms, played his first New York gig as "the Son of Jack Elliott" and was criticized early on for sounding too much like Elliott. Today, Elliott's voice, or at least his channeling of Guthrie (who died in 1967), can be heard throughout popular song, from Nanci Griffith to Tom Waits.Travelin' Light As a premier link to Woody Guthrie and America's folk heritage, one who has crisscrossed various continents, Ramblin' Jack Elliot has, out of necessity, traveled light when it comes to guitars and music gear. Whether riding the rails, hitching a lift from truckers, or buzzing around in his 15-year-old motor home, Elliott is the epitome of a "small, mobile unit" -- to borrow a phrase from Robert Fripp. |
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