I, Dynamo

Exhuming Bob VI

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott And Bob Dylan

by

R.E. Prindle

     I had the privilege the other night of viewing The Ballad Of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott which was filmed by Jack’s daughter.  A little on the lengthy, repetitive side, could have used a judicious edit or two, but a very

Ramblin

creditable and enjoyable effort.  She is to be commended.

     The movie helped to put into perspective Bob in his relation to both the New York folk scene and Elliott himself.  Both Jewish their careers have had great similarities from childhood to the present.  Currently they are running parallel with the money going into Bob’s pocket.

     Both have aspired to be cowboy or Western singers and both have succeeded.  Elliott in his Ramblin’ Jack role and Bob in his Texas Bob Dylan persona.  Both have tried to efface their Jewish heritage actually modeling their faces along cowboy lines.  In the movie the transition from the Jewish face of Jack’s youth to his current cowboy face is readily apparent.

     Elliot was born Adnopoz and Dylan was born Zimmerman.

     There appears to be some real hard feelings towards Bob by Ramblin’ Jack.  The cause is not far to seek.

     Elliott was himself a disciple of Woody Guthrie as is Dylan.  The difference is that Elliott had a ten year start on Dylan.  Thus while Dylan was still in high school Ramblin’ Jack was over there in London town recording those records on Topic that would show up in Minneapolis in 1960.  At that time the succession of Guthrie-Elliott-Dylan began, at least in Bob’s mind.  If anybody else didn’t know what difference did that make?  Already making a model of Guthrie Bob added Elliott and stole copies of the Topic records from a fellow named John Pankake and Bob was off to the races or at least New York City.  By one of those strange coincidences, genuine in this case, Bob arrived in the Big Apple from the West at the same time that Elliott’s ship from London town docked New York City from the East.  East met West so to speak.  Now Bob not only had Elliott’s records to practice from but the living model himself.  Ramblin’ Jack was living the exact life that Bob wanted to lead so Bob moved right in on him to learn everything he could.

     When Jack left America’s sunny shores he was a nobody.  He arrived in England just as the great Lonnie Donegan was introducing the Skiffle craze.  Jack snapped right in there like the interchangeable part of an automobile.  They liked him.  They liked everything about him.  Made him so comfortable he invited his friend Darrel Adams to come over and sing with him.  Darrel did.   They made one of those Topic records together that Bob stole from Pankake.

Caricature Of Bob

     Well, to make a long story shorter those recordings found their way from London town to New York City making Jack a celebrity in the burgeoning New York folk scene.  Jack was a hero.  Bob got close to him.  In one scene Bob is on stage telling Darrel Adams in the audience that he has a record of Darrel and Jack’s.  Thus no further proof is needed that Bob stole Pankake’s records and wouldn’t give them back.

     Over the course of a few months Bob studied Jack’s act and by the end of those months he was a Ramblin’ Jack Elliott in a Bob Dillon disguise.  I never realized how completely Bob became Jack until I saw the movie.

     At the time Jack didn’t think much of Bob’s stealing his act but over time he seems to have developed hard feelings towards Bob.  He was real resentful in the movie.  Did an interesting but bitter version of Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright.  Were you listening Bob?

     The fact of the matter is both Bob and Jack knew where they were going and they were going to different places by the same route.  Bob wanted to be a star and Jack wanted to ramble.  So while this single persona in two forms was a star ramblin’ round the world the other side was an irresponsible troubador ramblin; his serendipitous way round the highways and byways of Americky.

     They both got what they wanted so there’s no reason for Jack to be bitter about the boy he called his ‘son.’  The only one with the right to be bitter is John Pankake who lost those great Topic records.  But nowadays who’s ever heard of John Pankake?