Ramblin' Jack

Traditional singer/songwriter

Ramblin' Jack's tall tales and classic American folk songs are comparable to the work of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan. Also, if you like Arlo Guthrie and Utah Phillips, you'll probably enjoy Ramblin' Jack.

Ramblin' Jack's first moniker in the rodeo was given to him by the cowboys on the show, who called him Pancho.

"I've heard a lot of wonderful stories about myself, enviable — I wish I could've done it."

The Essential Ramblin' Jack Elliot (Vanguard, 1976). Kerouac's Last Dream (Appleseed, 1981). Friends of Mine (Hightone, 1998).

Elliot Charles Adnopoz (Ramblin' Jack) was born in August, 1931, in Flatbush, NY. From a very young age, his dream was to be a cowboy and, when he was just 14, he ran away from home to join a rodeo. He took a job as a groomer for two dollars a day and started learning how to play guitar.

When his parents finally tracked him down, they convinced him to come back to New York and finish high school. It was during this time that Jack began playing out in clubs around Greenwich Village.

After hearing Woody Guthrie on the radio, Jack decided to track him down to see what he could learn from the troubadour. Elliot was going by the name Buck at the time, and quickly became a young protege of Guthrie. Over the next half-decade, Guthrie and Elliot traveled together, with Jack learning everything he could want to know from his aging hero.

During those traveling years, he managed to befriend Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and other great writers. One night while Jack was singing up the road, Woody snuck away and left his protege in California. Jack headed down to Los Angeles with another travel mate, and didn't stop traveling for quite some time.

By 1960, he'd recorded six albums for the British folk label Topic. Since then, he's made nearly 50 records, including the forthcoming I Stand Alone, due out June 20, 2006. In 2000, the award-winning film The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack was made about Elliot's life.
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