Wednesday, July 28, 2010

17. Ramblin' Jack Elliot - Jack Takes The Floor (1958)

1. San Francisco Bay Blues
2. Ol' Riley
3. Boll Weevil
4. Bed Bug Blues
5. New York Town
6. Old Blue
7. Grey Goose
8. Mule Skinner Blues
9. East Texas Talking Blues
10. Cocaine
11. Dink's Song
12. Black Baby
13. Salty Dog



After all the complaining I did about authenticity in the last review, it's rather funny that the very next album is about as authentic as it gets. It's hard to get more authentic than a guy with his guitar, and some pretty lousy recording quality. Sadly, lo-fi was not the hip swingin' sound of 1958. In fact, almost nobody remembers that this album exists anymore, so it's rather hard to find any information on it that isn't another person doing the 1001 album trek.

Despite all of that, the album is pretty awesome. It's a bunch of old folk songs that sound like they're a hundred years old. He explains the origins of each song in a spoken intro, which adds to the whole experience. He even drags in Woody Guthrie on 'New York Town' just to show off how hardcore his folk cred was. It's a neat collection of songs, ranging from bizarre humorous stories to depressing prison blues. A lot like Tragic Songs of Life, but not quite as many murders. Pity.

Oh, and did I mention that this guy was a big influence on Bob Dylan? Apparently if you have something even slightly approaching a normal voice in folk music, you'll never become famous. 8/10

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