Ramblin' Jack Elliott
- This article is about a U.S. folk performer. For the song writer "Jack Elliott", see John Elliott (song writer).
Ramblin' Jack Elliot (born Elliott Charles Adnopoz, August 1, 1931) is an American folk performer.
Originally from New York, Jack grew up in a Jewish family but had always wanted to be a cowboy. He ran away from home as a teenager and joined a rodeo in an attempt to fufill his childhood dream. He started learning to play the guitar at this point and eventually hooked up with Woody Guthrie and lived with him as a kind of student.
With banjo player Derroll Adams, he later toured Britain and Europe and had a lasting effect on the music scene there. Upon arriving back in the U.S., Jack discovered he had become a mythical hero within the folk/country scene.
Elliott's greatest influence was Woody Guthrie. Guthrie's son, Arlo, has said that because of his dad's illness and early death, he never really got to know him. Arlo acknowledged that he learned his dad's songs and musical style through Elliott.
Elliott's musical style heavily influenced Bob Dylan to the point where he would travel as the "Son of Jack Elliot".