The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack

Until I saw this film, I'd never seen Jack Elliott "in concert." I've seen Dylan, many times; see Arlo Guthrie once a year when he plays Harrisburg, Pa., with his daughter Sara; saw Dave Van Ronk when he played here a couple of years ago with Rosemary Sorrels; never saw Jack Elliott. Until now.

And what a concert. No back-up singers; no jazz; no fancy lighting; no special effects. Just Jack Elliott, playing and singing and talking about his life and his times and his adventures, picking away on his guitar for punctuation, singing deep and throaty about where's he's been, who he is and making fun at a lot of ideas about what other people think he means. No apologies; no excuses; a living tribute to what Henry Ford II once said: never complain, never explain.

It's hard to believe that this film was made by his daughter. It's a true, genuine, open statement about a man who has lived his life with absolutely no plan in mind about what he would do or say or where his choices would take him or what effect it would have on other people or things, but never hesitated to follow his heart, follow his curiosity, outrun his shadow with every step. Pick up and leave; pick up and go; never look back and never let go. Never stop working, never stop playing, take every breath and every encounter and every day and tell other people about it on a guitar. Invite them in for dinner and some stories while sitting on a barstool. That's Jack Elliott in concert. It almost sounds as if his life has been selfish and self-serving, but this film clearly makes the distinction between living a life of greed, which is what drives selfish people, and having a sense of self, which is what Jack Elliott has worked on and what he devoted himself to and has shared with us through his music. He meant no harm; he has always just been looking.

The film evolves into a masterpiece of objectivity despite the potential for the obvious pitfall of a daughter trying to understand her father and asking the whole world to watch with her while she searches. What courage. She's made of the same stuff her father is and this "road trip" they took together is made singularly more sweet because they invited all of us along with them.

Folk music is all about the stories, recording people and events musically, in common terms and without the frills, just straight up stories. And this film tells a great story and in the telling, has itself become a story.

My sons and I are going to a Bob Dylan concert on August 16th. I'm bringing a tape of this film to them to watch before the concert. Music helps us understand who we are, where we've been and where we're headed. Having seen this film, I'm going to listen to Dylan with a whole new set of ears. And I've been listening to him for forty years.

This film is an important guidepost in the history of American folk music because it gives us the life's work and "ramblings", up front and on a personal level, of a true American folk legend.

This was very informative and enjoyable, but one problem. I would have to agree about the teller getting in the way of the story. But more importantly, Jack's daughter complains about the lifestyle her father lead. One that left a gap in their relationship. The typical he was never there story etc. My problem is the fact that she's making a documentary about this gap. The whole premise is not very genuine. I mean if he was an asshole, and your going to exploit that to further your career, then do that. Rather she complains about him, makes a documentary, to me, that proves otherwise. I guess that if I was upset with my father and the career that he led, I wouldn't showcase the very "root of the evil." Seems like she was trying to make a buck off of her father, and in the process tried to force some, "my daddy was never there" story to put herself in it. Which is generally a no, no for directors/writers.

"Ballad Of Ramblin' Jack Elliott" (2000) documentary: Wonderful portrait of a '60's era rebel and artist of high gifts who never quit the 60's...and he's 81 years old in 2012.

The cult movie titled "My Dinner With Andre" (1981) poses the question "What if the 1960's were the high point of civilization, and it's all downhill after that, from now on?" Well, maybe it is.

People who want to see a portrait of a true 1960's person with the wonderful mentality of those long departed times should see this documentary movie.

Ramblin Jack Elliott was (and is...still living at age 81 in 2012 as this is written) a true 1960's person, and was before the 1960's even started. He started his 1960's life in the 1940's when he ran away from home to become a cowboy, and later became the protégé and house mate of Woody Guthrie in Queens (NYC), New York before Woody lost his health.

See the Wikipedia biog article about Ramblin Jack Elliott to learn about what is shown in this wonderful documentary, made by his daughter, Aiyanna Elliott.

She's a predictably bitchy radical feminist, and so was her mother....no wonder Ramblin Jack spent little time with either of them over the years, and no wonder he apologizes very little for his avoidance, non-presence in their lives. Dreadful women, and the documentary shows that, though that is not supposed to be the point of what is revealed.

Jack Elliott is a wonderful person and a gifted artist. This movie shows that.

He was part of the 1960's and never left it, never gave up.....is still out there "doin" it.

I've never seen such a terrific portrait of a 1960's person as in this documentary. Another worth seeing, which shows the same thing (a 60's guy who never left the 1960's, even in his old age) is the documentary titled "George Harrison: Living In The Material World" (2011).

Neither Elliott nor Harrison were political....both were musicians, primarily, and the music in both docs is wonderful to hear and remember, especially for those who were there for the 1960's and remember it well, and miss it.

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Written by Tex Allen, SAG actor.

Email Tex at TexAllen@Rocketmail.Com.

Information about Tex Allen movie credits, biog facts, and interests at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen.

Ramblin' Jack's story is in many ways the story of American music in the 20th Century, and this documentary tells that story with vitality from the unique perspective of a daughter trying to come to terms with her father's family-excluding career. As such, it may be a tad too ambitious, but the result is certainly entertaining and as personal and powerful a picture of an artist as I can remember seeing. Largely without pretension and careful to get a variety of perspectives, the film provides a faceted view of an evasive subject. The historic documents - a shot of young Zimmerman in the crowd at a Ramblin' Jack show, rare film of roots artists, home movies - are just amazing, and the interviews with the Guthrie clan and other survivors of the 50s folkie era are illuminating. The film's secondary story - the daughter's quest for understanding of her dad - may not be everyone's cup of coffee, but it worked for me, putting a human frame around an epic life.

Mostly, the film awakened for me that sense of endless possibility in mid-20th Century America, before the mass packaging of culture crushed so much of the country's promise. Folk was a musical movement born in backwaters and the public squares of melting pot cities, of the fusion of cultures - black and rural, diverse and rich as the world - into the raw stuff of entertainment. Jack's life echoes Kerouac and the Beats in his quest for experience, and his role as Woody Guthrie's heir-designate puts him square in the heart of American radical politics, though those politics largely seem to have evaded Jack's attention. Jack's identification and fascination with cowboy music establishes a link to American myth and the dreams of a decade that yearned for the freedom of boundless frontiers while established powers did their best to suppress cultural deviance. Jack's life, his persistence today, and the small but vital subculture of his heirs - guys like Tom Russell and Steve Earle - attest to the ornery survival of essential difference in a world that punishes nonconformity

The BORJ is a revealing and well told of story of the great Jack Elliott. Jack, a folk/country legend, is a hard one to figure out. The documentary takes you on a tour throughout his life, from his childhood up until the very present. His daughter (who directed this feature) has Jack, family and friends tell his story.

The film allows you to judge for yourself what kind of man he really was. A musician, a cowboy, hard traveller and a father. The documentary will help you understand and appreciate his place in music. As a companion to Woody Guthrie to his influence on Bob Dylan.

What's nice is nothing is pushed in your face. The viewer is left to reason out for themselves why he distances himself from his family and friends. Although, it's never clear what makes him click as a person or a father you can't help but want to know why.

It's a well done film that will have you asking questions and leave you wondering about Jack. I came out of the theater a bit sad but appreciative that there are people in the world like Ramblin' Jack Elliott.