features in: Album Chart of 1958 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1950s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die  |
Well intentioned folkster with a decent song selection but very little in the way of anything extra-ordinary to offer on this album. In fact, I find his attempted casual drawl to be a bit of a put-on. It’s almost like he’s trying too hard to be as cool as his hero, Woody Guthrie. The album starts off reasonably well, with a tip of the hat to Jesse Fuller on “San Francisco Bay Blues”. A few uninteresting tracks pass by until track 5 jumps right out of the speakers – for all the wrong reasons. Jack, who has a spoken word intro for all of the songs on the album, pipes up that he has a special guest in the studio and proceeds to have a chat with “Woody Guthrie” – only, Woody isn’t actually there. He’s talking to himself via imitation, and proceeds to rattle on with some load of goofball conversation which is utterly cringeworthy. The “two of them” proceed to “duet” on a version of Woody’s “New York Town” and, quite frankly, the whole sorry episode can’t end quickly enough. Ironically, after a whole album of old-timey fingerpicking, the best song turns out to be a 90 second blues wail with only the most delicate sprinkle of guitar for company – his version of “Black Baby”. By all accounts, Jack’s one of the good guys – a well-liked rambler who did a massive amount of playing and talking in his simple desire to bring old songs to new audiences. In that regard there’s no doubt he’s a winner.
The Jukebox Rebel
10–Oct–2015
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [03:00]  Jack Elliott - San Francisco Bay Blues (Jesse Fuller) Folk |
| A2 | [02:03]  Jack Elliott - Ol’ Riley (Traditional) Folk |
| A3 | [03:07]  Jack Elliott - Boll Weevil (Traditional) Folk |
| A4 | [03:01] Jack Elliott - Bed Bug Blues (Traditional) Blues / Rhythm n Blues |
| A5 | [03:24]  Jack Elliott - New York Town (Traditional) Folk |
| A6 | [01:43] Jack Elliott - Grey Goose (Traditional) Folk |
| B1 | [05:25]  Jack Elliott - Mule Skinner Blues (Jimmie Rodgers, Vaughn Horton) Folk |
| B2 | [02:27]  Jack Elliott - Cocaine (Traditional) Folk |
| B3 | [03:22] Jack Elliott - Dink’s Song (Traditional) Folk |
| B4 | [01:39]  Jack Elliott - Black Baby (Traditional) Blues / Rhythm n Blues |
| B5 | [02:34]  Jack Elliott - Salty Dog (Traditional) Folk |
