Kerouac's Last Dream

Kerouac's Last Dream

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
"Kerouac's Last Dream" is regarded as a definitive Ramblin' Jack Elliott CD, even by Ramblin' Jack, who says, "I think this album is better than any of my previous albums." It has also been also cited as his best-sounding recording prior to his 1995 Grammy-winning "Sun Coast." On this reissue of a rare 1980 German LP, with eight previously unreleased tracks added, Ramblin' Jack performs classic songs by his primary inspiration and early-'50s traveling companion, the late Woody Guthrie ("Pretty Boy Floyd," "Talkin' Fishin'," "1913 Massacre"), by a younger Guthrie acolyte, Bob Dylan ("Don't Think Twice," "I Threw It All Away"), by seminal country music artists Ernest Tubb ("Soldier's Last Letter") and Roy Acuff ("Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"), and some traditional folk standards ("Freight Train," "Roving Gambler," "Cuckoo," "Buffalo Skinners," and "Nightherding Song"). For good measure, there are even a couple of Elliott originals ("Cup of Coffee" and "912 Greens! "), always a rare commodity.

Performing solo on acoustic guitar and vocals, Elliott has assembled a showcase of timeless songs and unaffected delivery. As "the last of the Brooklyn cowboys," as Arlo Guthrie has called him, Elliott could be singing these songs at a lonely campfire after a hard day on the trail. Listeners are lucky to be within earshot.

Kerouac's Last Dream,Ramblin' Jack Elliott,Appleseed Records,A definitive album of modern and traditional folk/country/cowboy music from a friend and admirer of Woody Guthrie.,Folk,Folk & Traditional,Pop,Popular Music,Singer/Songwriter

Average customer rating:

More is Less

Folk Music

Equal parts brilliant, good, and so-so...

a keeper

The RJE spectrum covered and surpassed

Kerouac's Last Dream
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Manufacturer: Appleseed Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music
General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B000005BPH
Release Date: 1997-09-16

Tracks:

Pretty Boy Floyd
Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
Freight Train Blues
Talkin' Fishin
Roving Gambler
Cuckoo
Don't Think Twice
Soldier's Last Letter
1913 Massacre
Buffalo Skinners
Nightherding Song
Mean Mamma Blues
I Threw It All Away
Detour
Riding Down Canyon
Cup Of Coffee
912 Greens

Album Description

"Kerouac's Last Dream" is regarded as a definitive Ramblin' Jack Elliott CD, even by Ramblin' Jack, who says, "I think this album is better than any of my previous albums." It has also been also cited as his best-sounding recording prior to his 1995 Grammy-winning "Sun Coast." On this reissue of a rare 1980 German LP, with eight previously unreleased tracks added, Ramblin' Jack performs classic songs by his primary inspiration and early-'50s traveling companion, the late Woody Guthrie ("Pretty Boy Floyd," "Talkin' Fishin'," "1913 Massacre"), by a younger Guthrie acolyte, Bob Dylan ("Don't Think Twice," "I Threw It All Away"), by seminal country music artists Ernest Tubb ("Soldier's Last Letter") and Roy Acuff ("Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"), and some traditional folk standards ("Freight Train," "Roving Gambler," "Cuckoo," "Buffalo Skinners," and "Nightherding Song"). For good measure, there are even a couple of Elliott originals ("Cup of Coffee" and "912 Greens! "), always a rare commodity.

Customer Reviews:

More is Less.......2007-06-20

After reading the Amazon description above, with Ramblin' Jacks testimony about this recording, I bought it -- and found it a letdown. I first heard this consummate singer / guitarist forty years ago, beginning with Hard Travelin', which is a masterpiece. At his best, Elliott is a master of the dramatic subtleties of singing-guitar picking performance, and his skills on both sides of his musical coin are way up there. Even on this CD, which I wasn't so crazy about, his guitar sounds unbelievable, and his voice hasn't lost its appeal. So what am I complaining about? Jack got too creative with his material during this period, substituting a Richie Havens type of guitar style for the amazing fingerpicking of his early years, and his phrasing as a singer is often emotionally unconvincing and just over the top. Compare the Woody Guthrie songs on this CD with those on Hard Travelin', or the newer version of "912 Greens" (a BIG letdown) with the gem of a performance on Young Brigham. The reference to Jack Kerouac also seemed gratuitous, although Elliot was part of that "beatnik" scene in the late fifties and early sixties. But there are still some good songs here; "Don't Think Twice" by his old friend Bob Dylan is one of the highlights, and "Buffalo Skinners" is really hair-raising!

Folk Music.......2007-01-04

There certainly is a theme included in this collection by Jack. He played a live show here in Sacramento and I missed it, but this Music set lets you feel his soul as well and I'm happy with it. It is listenable through several "encores" before I put it aside.

Equal parts brilliant, good, and so-so..........2006-05-20

Which means it is a pretty typical Jack Elliot recording. This one, made in 1980 in Germany but not released in the USA until 1997, lasts 70 minutes, so by my lights, about 46 of those minutes are worth repeated play. What I did not like much is the ten-minute talk/story piece that concludes it, "912 Greens", and his versions of "Night Herding Song" and "Buffalo Skinners" (which I never liked by any artist.) In the "so-so" group are the songs "Cuckoo" and "Soldier's Last Letter" (written by Ernest Tubb, the mid-20th century country star.)

But the good outweighs the not-so-good on this CD: Jack's versions of "Pretty Boy Floyd" and "Freight Train Blues" and "Roving Gambler" and "Don't Think Twice, I'm Alright" and "1913 Massacre" are all near-wonderful, and his rendition of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is perhaps second only to Willie Nelson's, in my experience...and that's a country classic covered by just about everybody since the '50's.

Elliott's 1980's voice is more robust than on his mid-1990's releases on the HighTone label, if a bit more weathered than what you hear on his late '50's and early 60's products. His guitar-picking on this album is a welcome highlight.

Folk fans who don't already know Jack Elliott's work, and his role in the end of Woody Guthrie's career and the start of Bob Dylan's, likely are not reading this review...but if you are new to Jack, this recording is not a bad one to own. If you are already a fan, but haven't heard this disc, you will certainly want it. Jack's voice has never been as good as his friend Cisco Houston's, who remains to me the premier interpreter of Woody's songs (with Arlo coming in third to Jack himself) but lots of people prefer his singing and pickin' to Woody's.

a keeper.......2005-09-10

This album is a unique Ramblin Jack album from many vantage points, one being the era (1980) in which Jack recorded it over in Germany... Jack was in the midst of a 25 year hiatus from studio's, in that (between 1970 and 1995's South Coast), Jack toured relentlessly, worked on sailboats, rambled, toured, toured and toured but did not record an album)... this was recorded in Germany and released in America 17 years later... it captures the Jack in between the young Jack that lived/travelled with Woody Guthrie, was friends with Kerouak, tutored a young Dylan, played all over Europe alone and with Derroll Adams on banjo, introduced Kris to Janis, toured w/ the Rolling Thunder review ---- with the Jack we know today that has re-emmerged with several great albums over the late 90's and tours around the west coast today hanging with the likes of former Beachboys and Deadheads and Cowboys and poets.... think Jack in a dungeon with his guitar and just singin' a lot of the songs we all know him to sing.... plus a great version of Jacks own '912 Greens' ("...here come this.. blue car.. i think it was a plymouth--") and Cup've Coffee, and an excellent version of Cuckoo and a touching Soldiers Last Letter and, really, just outstanding versions of all these tunes.... i could write a review on all Ramblin Jack's albums, but i'll choose this one for several reasons as noted mostly above.. it's a great album, i've been looking for the original, vinyl version in Europe for some years now, and i'll find it some day....

The RJE spectrum covered and surpassed.......2004-07-30

I have never been quite so astounded as when this record began. As someone who has heard several old-time versions of 'Pretty Boy Floyd', I couldn't quite comprehend how Elliott had re-styled and stripped down the song until it was totally him and his. Of course, in hindsight, I should have known what to expect from Elliott.
I was given no time to recover from this masterpiece as the opening chords of Roy Acuff's 'Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain' sounded. Hold up. Two slices of perfection? I wasn't ten minutes into the album and it was already the best I'd ever heard. By anybody.
As the album progressed, I began to realise that every one of the 17 tracks was a gem, superbly crafted, faultlessly delivered, and impossibly polished.
The highlights are extensive. An incredible turn on 'Roving Gambler' is followed by the excellent 'Cuckoo', made to Elliott's specfications by including several maverick stanzas to keep you guessing. In 'Don't Think Twice' and 'I Threw It All Away', Elliott tips his hat to his former student, Bob Dylan, and slyly outdoes him to boot.
Best-ever versions of '1913 Massacre' and 'The Buffalo Skinners' will set the heart and mind racing, and there is a trademark comical turn in 'Mean Mamma Blues'.
But just as you think Elliott may be easing off to wind down the collection with a soulful 'Riding Down Canyon', he brings out two self-penned classics.
'Cup Of Coffee' is a wonderfully vivid and mischievous illustration of Elliott undertaking one of his many pastimes, driving trucks. To many RJE fans, this song is at best a one-trick pony and at worst a self-indulgent gabble. I say its some of the most entertaining talking blues you'll hear.
But, try as it might, nothing on this record can prepare you for its ten-minute finale. Elliott brings out the song Jackson Browne described as "a time travelling, spoken-word masterpiece", in '912 Greens'. Elliott teases the distinctive, haunting backing for the song with such care and power that by the time he eventually, almost alarmingly speaks you are ready to break down and cry.
I have never been one for lengthy albums or indeed lengthy songs, but this record is the best I've heard in any genre, and its length and content is nothing short of perfect.

"...Here come this little blue car..."

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