Back To Index The Ballad Of Ramblin Jack
 Barnes & Noble As fascinating as its eponymous subject, Aiyana Elliotts The Ballad of Ramblin Jack is part biography and part family quarrel. In her attempt to "have a normal conversation" with her 69-year-old dad -- a folksinger who was Woody Guthries sidekick during the 1960s folk revival -- the filmmaker paints a crisp, appealing portrait of her wayward fathers talent and restlessness. Ramblin Jack Elliott remains an interesting figure throughout. Born Elliott Adnopoz, the son of a Jewish doctor from Brooklyn, he first desired to be a cowboy singer and studied that lifestyle via movies and the radio. His cowboys were the yodeling kind (which, as Nick Tosches has emphasized, were rare in real life), and the first wranglers he saw live were under blacklight at a Madison Square Garden rodeo. The movie shows Elliotts act as it evolves, moving from "Pancho," his first alias, to his remarkably genuine "Ramblin Jack Elliott" persona. He busks his way across America, eventually finding himself in England in the late 1950s, hipping skiffle players to his encyclopedic knowledge of folk tunes and his lightning-fast flat-picking guitar style. His legendary return to the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s earned him the "Prince of Folk" title, and a kid named Bob Dylan begged to play harmonica with him at some of his sold-out appearances. While Jacks origins make for an arresting documentary, The Ballad of Ramblin Jack really takes off in its second half, when Aiyana and Jack engage in a mild, On Golden Pond-esque quarrel as they take to the road. The complexities of the relationship are, in their own way, as captivating as the historical material, and the film becomes one of the most enchanting personal documentaries in recent memory. Songs include Guthries "Hard Travelin ", "Take Me Home" (a superb duet with Johnny Cash on the latters TV show), "The Rake and the Ramblin Boy," and "Dont Think Twice, Its Alright." Interested in the song lyrics? - Check out themostlyrics.com! Looking For A DVD? - Check out dvd-a-rama.com! |
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