Ramblin’ Jack Elliott pointed out last night at Hugh’s Room that there’s no G in his name. It’s a apostrophe.  He also pointed out that he doesn’t like being photographed while he’s playing, and especially not if there’s a flash involved. He said it causes him to forget the words to songs he’s known for 50 years. That didn’t stop the guy in front of me from shooting as much video of the show as he could manage.  For him, enjoying the show just wasn’t going to be enough.

Usually, when we go out to see a musician perform, we expect that we’re going to see a set show. The musician works up a bunch of songs and travels around playing more or less the same set list every night. Not so with Jack Elliott. He did come on stage with a set list, written on a piece of cardboard, and a couple times during the show, he put on his sun glasses and tried to read what was on the list, but mostly a Ramblin’ Jack Elliott show is a stream of story and song that more or less seems to guide itself.

When he played Death Don’t Have no Mercy in this Land, it brought back memories of my youth, when I found a record by Reverend Gary Davis featuring that tune and played it over and over until every note resonated with me.  Death never takes a vacation in this land. He comes to your house and he won’t stay long. Look in the bed you’ll find your mother gone. Death never takes a vacation in this land.

Elliott is in his late 70s now, and the years show, but he’s still got a lot of story and song to share. Some of those stories, I’ve heard before in one form or another. They change of course. I recall my father telling me about story telling. Son, never let facts get in the way of a good story. We heard about Cesar, the husky/Australian Shepard mix dog who was Mr. Elliott’s road manager, and we heard how Ramblin’ Jack would let Cesar drive when he needed to go in the back of the camper for a nap.  Cesar must have been one special road manager.

Last night, we heard Arthritis Blues, Diamond Joe, Old Shep, and more, and for an encore Ramblin Jack played one of his few musical compositions, 912 Greens, a long story-song about a road trip from New York to New Orleans back in 1953, with Frank Hamiliton and Guy Carawan. Fantastic.

Jack Elliott knows a lot of songs, a lot of people and a lot of stories. He’s a link to so much American roots music and musical history. How many people can talk first hand about hanging out with Woody Guthrie? He has a way of making a song his own, and extracting as much emotional life from a song as possible. It’s a tremendously inspiring thing to watch. There aren’t many people like Ramblin’ Jack around these days.  What a terrific experience to attend one of his shows!