Friend of Johnny Cash, mentee of Woody Guthrie, "father" of Bob Dylan, suffice to say, Elliot was in the middle of the burgeoning country scene. Here he does a tour of the sounds of the time, soaring vocals, talking blues, rambling ballads, delivered in solid-but-unspectacular manner. The highlight is the big rich, raw, fingerpicked sound - every note rings with rattling attack and ringing release, and the highlight of that sound is certainly the romping, galloping, exhilarating Rock Island Line.
As a whole, though, the album doesn't really come together, though there might be a good reason for that, see note below. It's motley in pace, featuring some live tracks, some studio, with wildly varying sounds, both. A sampling that inspires a bit of curiosity, but that isn't overly listenable in its own right 3/5
* This is the peril of listening via Spotify, whose library is thorough, but carelessly curated. This is listed as "Jack Elliot Takes the Floor", not to be confused with the classic "Jack Takes the Floor", which appears to be what some versions of the 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die list as "Ramblin Jack Elliot Takes the Floor". The album I listened to on Spotify and reviewed here seems to have no connection to any official release of any kind that I can find, so I have no idea who put it out or if it's a real thing or what. Possibly it's some minor label bootleg / public domain collection that Spotify somehow got hold of. If you can sort it out, I owe you a coke. The closest thing I can find is that this shares many songs with County Style. For reference:
1. Mean Moma Blues
2. Low and Lonely
3. Old Shep
4. Detour
5. Rock Island Line
6. Talking Sailor
7. Salty Dog
8. Hobo's Lullabye
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