Growing up in Brooklyn didn't keep our singer who played at Caffe Lena in 1979 from wanting to be a cowboy when he grew up.
This is episode 20 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs for this feature.
Encouraged to follow his father's example and become a surgeon, Elliot rebelled, running away from home at the age of 15 to join Colonel Jim Eskew's Rodeo. He was only with them for three months before his parents tracked him down and had him sent home. He had caught the bug, and upon returning home, he taught himself guitar and started busking for a living. Woody Guthrie had the greatest influence on Elliot. He in turn had a great influence on Arlo, even though they never really got to know each other, and he influenced Phil Ochs.
Elliott's nickname comes not from his traveling habits, but rather the countless stories he relates before answering the simplest of questions. Folk singer Odetta claimed that her mother gave him the name, remarking, "Oh, Jack Elliott, yeah, he can sure ramble on!"
Canadian folk rock music discovery,Corin Raymond's love of words began in long rides through northern Ontario with his father who would tell him Greek myths to pass the time. In Corin’s mind, songs have their own instincts for survival. “I liken songs to dandelion seeds and things that are borne on the wind or that cling to the cuffs of your jeans. Good songs are like burrs. They will attach themselves to you.”
Discovering great artists year after year, Caffe Lena continues to push the envelope for us. Caffe Lena: 60 years of Song, a production of WEXT Radio.