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".
St. James Infirmary
Ramblin' Jack Elliott Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the corner by the square,
The usual crowd was assembled
And big Joe McKinney was there.
He was standing at my shoulder.
His eyes were bloodshot red;
He turned to the crowd around him,
"I went down to the St. James Infirmary
I saw my baby there,
She's laid out on a cold white table,
So so cold, so white, so fair."
"Let her go, let her go, God bless her;
Wherever she may be
She may search this wide world over
She'll never find a sweet man like me."
Oh, when I die, bury me
In my high top Stetson hat;
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
God'll know I died standin' pat.
I want six crap shooters for pall bearers.
Chorus girl to sing me a song.
Put a jazz band on my hearse wagon.
Raise Hell as I roll along.
Roll out your rubber tired carriage,
Roll out your old time hat.
Twelve men going to the graveyard
And eleven coming back.
Now that I've told my story,
I'll take another shot of booze.
And if anyone should happen to ask you,
I've got those gamblers' blues.
The song St. James Infirmary by Ramblin' Jack Elliott tells the melancholic tale of a man who goes to the St. James Infirmary to see his baby, only to find her laying on a cold white table, dead. He asks for her to be let go and blesses her, saying that she will never find a sweet man like him if she searches the wide world over. The man then proceeds to ask for a burial in his high top Stetson hat and requests for six crap shooters to be his pallbearers, a chorus girl to sing him a song, and a jazz band to be on his hearse wagon. He then invites people to raise hell as he is taken to the graveyard, ending with the statement that he has those gamblers' blues.
The song invokes a sense of sorrow, loss, and a longing for better times. The singer's sorrow is palpable as he observes his baby's cold white table, and his craving for a good time and an extravagant send-off in death is almost poignant. The lyrics reveal a lot about the singer's personality—even though he has lost a loved one, he still retains a sense of pride and a desire for fun and debauchery.
Line by Line Meaning
It was down in Old Joe's barroom,
The setting of this story is Old Joe's barroom.
On the corner by the square,
The barroom is located on a corner by a square.
The usual crowd was assembled
The people who typically hang out at this bar were all present.
And big Joe McKinney was there.
A man name Joe McKinney was also present.
He was standing at my shoulder.
Joe was standing close to the person telling the story.
His eyes were bloodshot red;
Joe appeared to be tired or possibly under the influence of something.
He turned to the crowd around him,
Joe addressed the crowd of people who were present in the bar.
These are the very words he said:
Joe proceeded to speak to the crowd in a serious tone.
I went down to the St. James Infirmary
Joe went to a hospital called the St. James Infirmary.
I saw my baby there,
Joe saw his significant other at the hospital.
She's laid out on a cold white table,
Joe's significant other was laying on a table covered in a white sheet.
So so cold, so white, so fair.
Joe's significant other appeared to be cold and looked peaceful while lying there.
Let her go, let her go, God bless her;
Joe doesn't want his significant other to suffer anymore and wishes her well.
Wherever she may be
Joe accepts that his significant other is no longer with him and doesn't know where she might be.
She may search this wide world over
Joe acknowledges that his significant other might try to find someone else.
She'll never find a sweet man like me.
Joe believes that his significant other will never find someone as good as he was to her.
Oh, when I die, bury me
Joe has a death wish and wants to be buried in a specific way.
In my high top Stetson hat;
Joe wants to be buried wearing his high top Stetson hat.
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
Joe wants a gold piece added to his watch as a symbol of his wealth in life.
God'll know I died standin' pat.
Joe is hoping that God will know that he never betrays his friends.
I want six crap shooters for pall bearers.
Joe has a specific request for the people who carry his coffin.
Chorus girl to sing me a song.
Joe wants a particular type of singer to perform at his funeral.
Put a jazz band on my hearse wagon.
Joe wants his hearse wagon to be accompanied by a jazz band.
Raise Hell as I roll along.
Joe wants people to shout and make noise as they accompany his body on the hearse wagon.
Roll out your rubber tired carriage,
Joe is being taken to his final resting place in a rubber tire carriage.
Roll out your old time hat.
Joe wants his hat to be rolled out as part of the ceremony.
Twelve men going to the graveyard
Twelve men are accompanying Joe to the graveyard where he will be buried.
And eleven coming back.
Only eleven men will return from the graveyard after Joe is buried.
Now that I've told my story,
Joe has finished telling his story.
I'll take another shot of booze.
Joe wants to have another drink.
And if anyone should happen to ask you,
Joe is sharing his story and expects others to be curious about it.
I've got those gamblers' blues.
Joe is experiencing sadness and regret from his past decisions as a gambler.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Irving Mills
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind