RAMBLIN' JACK ELLIOTT

ARTIST / BAND: RAMBLIN' JACK ELLIOTT
SONG (MP3): CARELESS DARLING
ALBUM: I Stand Alone
FILE UNDER: Folk
LABEL: ANTI
INFO: Ramblin' Jack Elliott's I Stand Alone, could not be more appropriately titled. The freewheeling, well-traveled singer is one of the final archetypal representatives of America's underground folk tradition, a self-made wayfarer whose fifty-plus years of experience resonates through every tune captured here. The consummate song collector, Elliott has assembled a full deck of titles characterized by a wild mixture of graphic imagery, old time sentiment and Americana tradition, each put across with an underscoring vein of sardonic observation that reflects this ragged individualist's perpetual outsider perspective. Serving up a typically diverse collection of material, I Stand Alone visits folk pioneers the Carter Family's "Engine 143," 1940's pop genius Hoagy Carmichael's "Hong Kong Blues," and also pays calls on Leadbelly ("Jean Harlow"), Texas titan Ernest Tubb ("Careless Darling,") and comrade Tom Paley ("Call Me a Dog When I'm Gone"). His energetic guitar picking is also complemented here by some additional heat from the likes of country firebrand Lucinda Williams, David Hidalgo, and celebrated rockers Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker, Flea, Nels Cline, and X / Knitters drummer DJ Bonebrake.

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