Originally from New York, Elliott grew up in a Jewish family and had always wanted to be a cowboy. Pressured by his parents to follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor, Elliott resisted and inspired by the rodeos he attended at Madison Square Garden, he ran away from home at the age of 15 and joined the J.E. Ranch Rodeo. Although he was only with the rodeo for three months (before his parents tracked him down and he was sent home), Elliott was exposed to his first singing cowboy, a rodeo clown who played guitar and banjo and sang songs.
Returning home, Elliott taught himself to play guitar and started busking for a living. Eventually he hooked up with Woody Guthrie and lived with him as a kind of student.
With banjo player Derroll Adams, he later toured Great Britain and Europe and had a lasting effect on the music scene there. By 1960, he had made three folk albums for the British label, Topic. Playing in the small clubs and pubs of London by day, he would then take his act to the smart, west end night clubs. Upon arriving back in the U.S., Elliott discovered he had become well-known within the folk scene.
Elliott's greatest influence was Woody Guthrie. Guthrie's son, Arlo, has said that because of his dad's illness and early death, he never really got to know him. Arlo acknowledged that he learned his dad's songs and musical style through Elliott.
Elliott's musical style influenced Bob Dylan so heavily that Dylan's first gig in New York City was billed as "Son of Jack Elliott." While Dylan rose to prominence through his compositions, Elliott continued as an interpretive troubadour, bringing old songs to new audiences in an idiosyncratic manner.
Elliott appeared on Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue and played Longheno de Castro in Dylan's Renaldo and Clara.
Jack Elliott's style is distinctive in its use of excellent guitar technique matched with laconic, humorous storytelling and an emotional intensity in the singing.
Elliott's nickname is due not to his travel habits, but rather to the countless stories he would relate before answering the simplest of questions. Folk singer Odetta claims that it was her mother who gave him the name by remarking, "Oh Jack Elliott, yeah, he can sure ramble on!"
He was famously parodied in on the BBC in the 1960s by Kenneth Williams as Rambling Syd Rumpo who was a recurring character on Round the Horne. His claims of authenticity as a folk artist (despite being a Jewish doctor's son from New York City) and disparagement of other folk artists were also parodied by the Folksmen (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) in A Mighty Wind both in the name of their "hit" Ramblin' and in their claims that their version was more authentic than the New Main Street Singers's version.
Jack Elliott's first recording in 20 years, "South Coast", earned him his first Grammy in 1995. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1998. Ramblin' Jack's long career and strained relationship with his daughter Aiyana were chronicled in her 2000 documentary, "The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack".
At 75, he has recently changed labels and released "I Stand Alone" on the Anti- label, with an assortment of guest backup players including members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers; again, an idiosyncratic collection of little-known music delivered with humor and intensity. He is on record as saying his intention was to title the album "Not For The Tourists" because it was recorded in response to his daughter's request for songs he loved but never played in concert. When she asked why he did not play them in public, he replied "These songs are not for the tourists".
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Ramblin' Jack Elliott Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the jungle fires were burning,
Down the track came a hobo hiking,
And he said, "Boys, I′m not turning
I'm headed for a land that′s far away
Besides the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
There's a land that′s fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night.
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
And the birds and the bees
And the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs
Where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers′ trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go
Where there ain′t no snow
Where the rain don't fall
The winds don′t blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railway bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew
And of whiskey too
You can paddle all around it
In a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
The jails are made of tin.
And you can walk right out again,
As soon as you are in.
There ain′t no short-handled shovels,
No axes, saws nor picks,
I'm bound to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
I'll see you all this coming fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
Ramblin' Jack Elliott’s song Big Rock Candy Mountain is a utopian fantasy that provides an escape for disillusioned individuals. It envisions a place where happiness, freedom, and abundance are readily available, where the handouts grow on bushes, and where the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees offer endless possibilities. A hobo, who is the singer in the song, invites his friends to join him on a journey to this paradise, far away from the grueling realities of life. The place is characterized by abundance, including lemonade springs, a lake of stew and whiskey, and streams of alcohol that come trickling down the rocks. There are no laws in this land, and even the jails are made of tin. The hens lay soft-boiled eggs, and the farmers’ trees are full of fruit; and the barns are full of hay. The song reflects a yearning for a better life and a world where the constraints and restrictions of the society in which an individual lives do not apply. It is a lyrical testament to the human desire for a utopian world full of peace, abundance, and happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
One evening as the sun went down
It was evening and the sun was setting
And the jungle fires were burning
The fires in the jungle were burning
Down the track came a hobo hiking,
A homeless person came walking down the track
And he said, "Boys, I′m not turning"
He told the boys he was not turning around
I'm headed for a land that′s far away
He is going to a faraway land
Besides the crystal fountains
There are crystal fountains in that land
So come with me, we'll go and see
He asked the boys to come along and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
The name of the land he's going to
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
He arrived at the Big Rock Candy Mountains
There's a land that′s fair and bright,
The land is beautiful
Where the handouts grow on bushes
Food is easily available
And you sleep out every night.
Sleeping outside is common
Where the boxcars all are empty
Empty boxcars are everywhere
And the sun shines every day
It is sunny every day
And the birds and the bees
Birds and bees are present
And the cigarette trees
Trees produce cigarettes
The lemonade springs
Springs produce lemonade
Where the bluebird sings
Bluebirds sing in the area
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
Reiteration of the name of the land
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
Still talking about the same land
All the cops have wooden legs
Police officers all have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
Bulldogs have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
Hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers′ trees are full of fruit
Farmers have many fruit trees
And the barns are full of hay
Barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go
He is determined to go
Where there ain′t no snow
There is no snow in that land
Where the rain don't fall
It doesn't rain in that land
The winds don′t blow
There are no winds in that land
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
Reiteration of the name of the land
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
He is still in that land
You never change your socks
No need to change socks in that land
And the little streams of alcohol
Alcohol streams flow in the area
Come trickling down the rocks
The alcohol streams trickle down rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
Brakemen have to tip their hats to show respect
And the railway bulls are blind
Railway bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew
There is a lake of stew in the area
And of whiskey too
There is also a lake of whiskey
You can paddle all around it
You can boat around the lake
In a big canoe
Using a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
Reiteration of the name of the land
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
He is still in that land
The jails are made of tin.
The jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again,
You can escape easily
As soon as you are in.
As soon as you get in
There ain′t no short-handled shovels,
There are no short shovels
No axes, saws nor picks,
There are no axes, saws or picks
I'm bound to stay
He is determined to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Sleeping all day is common
Where they hung the jerk
They hung someone who made them work
That invented work
The person who invented work was considered a bad person
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
Reiteration of the name of the land
I'll see you all this coming fall
He plans to see everyone next fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
A final reiteration of the name of the land
Writer(s): Public Domain, Buddy Baker
Contributed by Brooklyn H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.