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".
Brown Eyes
Ramblin' Jack Elliott Lyrics
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Not one minute would she wait. She kissed my cheek and left my gate.
[Chorus]
Those brown eyes I loved so well. Those brown eyes I long to see.
How I long for those brown eyes. Strangers they have grown to be.
One night I met her on the street. I tipped my hat but I could not speak.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott's song "Those Brown Eyes" is a poignant tale of lost love and the regret that comes with it. The lyrics illustrate the departure of a lover who is compelled to leave, as she whispers that she must go. The singer is left alone, longing for her presence, but unable to convince her to stay. The lyrics convey a sense of urgency and finality, as the woman makes it clear she will not wait a minute longer. The chorus expresses the singer's deep yearning for his beloved's brown eyes, which once held so much meaning and joy for him. However, he laments that those same eyes which he longs to see have become strangers to him, lost in the intervening years and changes.
The second verse of the song reveals that the singer has encountered his lost love again, but this time in the company of another man. The simple greeting of tipping his hat is all he can manage, unable to express his true feelings. The realization that she may soon marry leaves him feeling sorrowful and regretful, knowing that he let her go and must now live with the consequences. The song conveys a sense of heartbreak and nostalgia, as the singer reflects on what he has lost and what he wishes he could regain.
Line by Line Meaning
One evening when the sun was low my brown eyes whispered, "I must go."
At dusk, my beloved informed me that she had to leave.
Not one minute would she wait. She kissed my cheek and left my gate.
Without delay, she bade me farewell with a kiss on the cheek and ventured off.
Those brown eyes I loved so well. Those brown eyes I long to see.
My heart yearned for her striking brown eyes, which I held in such high esteem.
How I long for those brown eyes. Strangers they have grown to be.
Despite my longing, I now see those very same eyes on a face belonging to a stranger.
One night I met her on the street. I tipped my hat but I could not speak.
On one occasion, I crossed paths with her while out, and while I showed my respect with a polite gesture, I couldn't utter a word.
Another man was by her side. Soon I thought she'd be his bride.
She was accompanied by another man, causing me to contemplate that she would be his future wife.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: ALAN ARKIN, BOB CAREY, WOODY GUTHRIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind