Jack Takes the Floor

I had to go to YouTube for this album.

I hadn't heard of Ramblin' Jack Elliott before, but he's got quite the story. Raised by a well-known, respected doctor in Brooklyn, Jack wanted to be a cowboy after seeing the rodeos at Madison Square Garden. However, his parents wanted him to follow his father's footsteps and become a surgeon. So, at age 15, Jack ran away from home to join a traveling rodeo. His parents found him a couple of months later, but by that point, Jack had already seen his first singing cowboy. Once back home, Jack taught himself guitar and performed on the streets for a living. Eventually, Jack got together with Woody Guthrie, of all people, and Guthrie took him under his wing. This connection eventually led to Jack touring the UK and recording folk records for the UK label Topic Records, including this one, Jack Takes the Floor.

Yes, that last statement feeds into the UK bias that Robert Dimery and his editorial team tend to lean on for inclusions in the 1001 Albums book, but I do see the merit in including Jack Elliott. The lengths to which he went to pursue his dreams, disavowing his wealthy upbringing, are admirable and lend credibility to Elliott developing as a singer-songwriter in his own right. Make no mistake, Jack could yelp and holler with such fervor through his songs of roughing it out and trying to make ends meet, alongside some humorous storytelling. Sure, this album's a bit cheesy, the lyrics are admittedly underdeveloped for his original compositions, half of the songs are covers, and the production is grainy. But I do recognize the grit and good performance from a man with his guitar, and I'm willing to be a little lenient, given that this is a folk record released in 1958.

In short, I respect Ramblin' Jack Elliott for what he accomplished by going against the grain, culminating in an album like this that made for a nice listen, albeit abbreviated and dated. I'm not surprised that the likes of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and even Woody Guthrie's son Arlo were happy to have Elliott in their company.

Rambling on the good ol' gueeetar.
Felt like listening to a semi-drunk dude dicking around on his guitar by the campfire. Not sure it deserved to be on this list. It gets a point because it's the kind of country I can tolerate a little more -- the kind that screams Americana and feels more "cultural" than the modern junk. 2*

I'm nowhere near american enough to get this.

Clearly influential but the production quality is poor. 3/5.

This is pretty standard 50s folk, which definitely sounds more like country to a modern ear. More Johnny Cash than Bob Dylan. And a lesser Johnny Cash should I add. It's not bad music by any metric, but it is kinda dull.

Made it to Bed Bug Blues before deciding that I don’t want to spend my time listening to this.

A Jewish Doctor's son from New York who ran away with the rodeo to be a cowboy, Ramblin' Jack seems to have known everyone, from Woody Guthrie and Reverend Gary Davis to Dylan and Arlo Guthrie. A number of the songs he sings were also sung by Lead Belly (who was also fond of a spoken, explanatory introduction, particularly on the Smithsonian recordings)

His influence on the early Dylan is obvious.

His simple, traditional songs are presented with that spoken intro and some tasty acoustic guitar.

It's sort of simple, old fashioned goodness set squarely in an Americana, roots tradition.

Syns jeg hører mye tidlig Dylan i det her, og derfor skjønner jeg ikke helt hva det er som gjør av Freewheelin' Bob Dylan feks kommer så mye bedre ut av det. Kanskje samme grunn som at Freewheelin' kommer bedre ut av det enn det litt bortglemte debutalbumet til Dylan. Det er for det meste coverlåter? Man blir en tolker, men legger seg så tett opp mot tradisjonen at reelt bidrag er bedre opptaksutstyr og eventuelle preferanser på vokal og gitar. Freewheelin kopierer mye av trad-låtene, men det føles mer som adaptering enn cosplaying av Woody Guthrie.

Men jeg liker uttrykket til Elliot, for all del.

Never heard of him … will probably have forgotten him again by tomorrow 🤷‍♀️

Top tracks: The Boll Weevil and Mule Skinner Blues.

I appreciate early folk, but this isn’t an album I’d listen to again.

Nice, short album of rock and roll with good guitar playing, rather. Just about passes x

Really odd all old country album with some funny old tubes and standards. I actually enjoyed it if the periodic yodelling was upsetting to the dog.

I'm sure this was fire in 1958 but it's been a few years since and it's not much now

Meh. Creo que es lo más antiguo que he escuchado nunca. No me ha llamado mucho, por lo que sea, pero es curioso.

I think that I am kind of uncomfortable with who is singing these songs...

This is pretty stripped back and basic in its delivery, but the guitar work is nice, and there's some decent melodies in there, with some soul. This wasn't too bad!

Total cowboy cosplay, but also genuinely great blues folk music. Also, listening to this is how I discovered Ramblin' Jack is still alive!

More like Jack Takes the Piss. Absolutely bloody awful.

Old country where of course the N-word can't miss...

This album has its charms, but feels like it's on the list to represent this era of folk/because of its influence on Dylan rather than totally on its own merits.