Porter Wagoner born 12 August 1927

Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. Known as Mr. Grand Ole Opry, Wagoner charted 81 singles from 1954–1983. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

Wagoner was born in West Plains, Missouri, the son of Bertha May (née Bridges) and Charles E. Wagoner, a farmer. His first band, the Blue Ridge Boys, performed on radio station KWPM-AM from a butcher shop in his native West Plains, Missouri, where Wagoner cut meat. In 1951, he was hired by Si Siman as a performer on KWTO in Springfield, Missouri. This led to a contract with RCA Victor. He released Hank Williams' "Settin' The Woods On Fire" and had his first top 10 hit in 1954, with "Company's Comin".

                               

With lagging sales, Wagoner and his trio played schoolhouses for the gate proceeds; but in 1953, his song "Trademark" became a hit for Carl Smith, followed by a few hits of his own for RCA Victor. Starting in 1955, he was a featured performer on ABC-TV's Ozark 

Wagoner,Red Gale & Dan Warden

Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri. He often appeared on the show as part of the Porter Wagoner Trio with Don Warden and Speedy Haworth. Warden, on steel guitar, became Wagoner's long-time business manager. In 1957, Wagoner and Warden moved to Nashville, Tennessee, joining the Grand Ole Opry.

Like many of his contemporaries in country music, Wagoner toured and performed outdoors for fans at American Legion houses in rural towns. Fans sat on wooden benches facing what was often a makeshift stage. Wagoner would mingle with the audience during performance breaks and usually remembered the names of the towns he visited.

Through the 1960s, his hits, many he wrote or co-wrote,were "Carroll County Accident," "A Satisfied Mind," "Company's Comin'," "Skid Row Joe," "Misery Loves Company" and "Green Green Grass of Home. He had many hits with Dolly Parton and also won three Grammy Awards for gospel recordings.

His syndicated television program, The Porter Wagoner Show, aired from 1960 to 1981. There were 686 30-minute episodes taped; the first 104 (1960–66) in black-and-white and the remainder (1966–81) in colour. At its peak, his show was featured in over 100 markets, with an average viewership of over three million. Reruns of the program air on the rural cable network RFD-TV and its sister channel in the UK Rural TV.

The shows usually featured opening performances by Wagoner with performances by Norma Jean, or later Parton, and comedic interludes by Speck Rhodes. The shows had a friendly, informal feel, with Wagoner trading jokes with band members (frequently during songs) and exchanging banter with Parton and Howser. In 1974, Dolly Parton's song "I Will Always Love You", written about her professional break from Wagoner, went to number one on the country music charts.

Wagoner brought James Brown to the Grand Ole Opry, produced a rhythm & blues album for Joe Simon, and appeared in the Clint Eastwood film Honkytonk Man. During the mid-1980s, Wagoner formed an all-girl group, The Right Combination, named after one of his hit records with Parton. He also hosted Opry Backstage during the 1990s on The Nashville Network. Though Parton's departure caused some animosity on both sides, the two reconciled in the late 1980s and appeared together a number of times in the following years; Parton inducted Wagoner into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

Wagoner was honoured on May 19, 2007 at the Grand Ole Opry for both his 50 years of membership and his 80th birthday. It was telecast on GAC's Grand Ole Opry Live that day with artists including Parton, Stuart and Patty Loveless. Grand Ole Opry Live host Nan Kelley was part of the birthday celebration as well.

On June 5, 2007, Wagoner released his final album called Wagonmaster. The album was produced by Marty Stuart for the Anti- label. The album received the best reviews of Wagoner's career and briefly charted on the country charts; a music video was also produced of one of the tracks, a cover of Johnny Cash's "Committed to Parkview". He toured during the summer of 2007 to promote the album, including a late-July appearance on Late Show with David Letterman.

Until his final illness, Wagoner appeared regularly on the Grand Ole Opry and toured actively. He died from lung cancer in Nashville on October 28, 2007, with his family and Dolly Parton at his side. Wagoner's funeral was held November 1, 2007, at the Grand Ole Opry House. He is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville. (Edited from Wikipedia)

Annie Laurie born 11 August 1924

Annie Laurie (tentatively identified as Annie L. Page, August 11, 1924 – November 13, 2006) was an African American jump blues and rhythm and blues singer. She is most associated with the bandleader and songwriter, Paul Gayten, although she also registered hit singles in her own name. Laurie first recorded in the mid-1940s and her professional career lasted until the early 1960s. 

Appraisal of her qualities appears to vary between Dinah Washington stating that Laurie was her favourite singer, to Irma Thomas, who opined - "Annie Laurie? She was okay."

Laurie was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Her personal details are obscure, but she has been tentatively identified by blues researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc as Annie L. Page, born there in 1924.

Her singing career started by vocalising for two territory bands led by Dallas Bartley and Snookum Russell, on the chitlin' circuit. In 1945, she recorded a version of "Saint Louis Blues" with the Bartley led band for Cosmo Records. She relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, and was engaged by Paul Gayten. 

In 1947, she was performing in concert in New Orleans with Gayten, when the latter asked the young Fats Domino to come and play "Swanee River Boogie" on stage.

Recording for both the Regal and De Luxe labels between 1947 and 1950, Laurie sang on several sides backed by Gayten's orchestra. Her first success was with her version of "Since I Fell for You" (1947), of which recording studio owner Cosimo Matassa said: "Annie Laurie did 

the first really good record that I liked... [She] was just fantastic; I mean nobody will ever make another version like that. She followed its success up with "Cuttin' Out" (1949), "You Ought To Know" (1950), "I Need Your Love" (1950), "Now That You're Gone" (1950) and "I'll Never Be Free" (1950). Laurie also toured with Gayten's orchestra in 1951.

Laurie's association with Regal Records ended in 1951, and she started recording for Okeh. By 1956 her releases were issued on Savoy Records, for whom she recorded in New York City with Hal Singer's orchestra, featuring guitarist Mickey Baker.

                              

Her biggest hit came in 1957 when De Luxe Records released "It Hurts to Be in Love," which was co-written by Julius Dixson and Rudy Toombs. Other releases with De Luxe included the Andy Gibson co-written track, "Hand in Hand" and "Love Is A Funny 

Thing (both 1957). In July 1960, Laurie appeared in concert, sharing the bill with Screamin' Jay Hawkins, the Five Satins, Joe Turner, Faye Adams, Ben E. King, and Nappy Brown, at Chicago's Regal Theatre. The same month she had her final chart hit with "If You're Lonely."

By 1962, her affiliation had switched to Ritz Records, and she recorded several sides for them. However she left the music industry at this time, devoting herself to the Jehovah's Witnesses

According to Eagle and LeBlanc, she died in Titusville, Florida, in 2006, aged 82.

(Info edited from Wikipedia)

Mel Tillis born 8 August 1932

Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits.

He was born Lonnie Melvin Tillis in Tampa, Florida. At a young age, a bout of malaria left Mel with a speech impediment, stuttering. His mother encouraged him to minimize his stutter with humour. He became a natural storyteller, learned the guitar and patterned his love of music after the greats of the day; Red Foley, Bob Wills, The Carter family, and others.

As a child, he learned guitar, and in high school studied both the violin and the drums. At the age of 16, he first performed publicly at a local talent show. Mel graduated from Pahokee High School with the goal of playing football for his beloved Florida Gators. 
He instead found himself serving as a baker in the Air Force, serving in Okinawa and fine tuning his talents with his first band, The Westerners, which played local clubs.

After exiting the Air Force in 1955, Tillis went to college and held odd jobs and worked as a fireman on the Atlantic Coast Line railroad before moving to Nashville to pursue music full-time.  He found little success as a writer or performer there and soon returned to Florida. The in 1956, he co-penned the song "I'm Tired" which became a hit for Webb Pierce and secured Tillis' place as a songwriter. This led to a job with the Cedarwood Publishing Company.

                              

In 1958, he scored a Top 30 hit on the US Country Charts with his recorded version of "The Violet and the Rose" and followed this with "Wine" (1964), Who's Julie?" (1969) and "These Lonely  Hands of Mine" (1969). Additionally, he co-penned the Bobby Bare hit "Detroit City" (1963) and wrote the Kenny Rogers' song "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" (1967). At the end of the '60s, Tillis and his esteemed new backing band the Statesiders came into their own as performers; with two 1969 Top Ten hits, "These Lonely Hands of Mine" and "She'll Be Hanging Around Somewhere."

During the 1970s, he expanded his success with further hits which include "Heaven Everyday" (1970), "Commercial Affection" (1970), "Arms of a Fool" (1970) and "Take My Hand" (1971, a duet with Sherry Bryce). 

During the next several decades, his songs could be found in many movie soundtracks of which include "W.W. and the Dixie Danckings"(1975), "Every Which Way But Loose" (1978), "The Villain" (1979), "Smokey and the Bandit II" (1980) and "Cannonball Run" (1981)

Mr Tillis recorded more than 60 albums over his six-decade career, including six No. 1 hit singles. He is perhaps best known for 1970s hits such as “I Ain't Never", "Good Woman Blues", and "Coca-Cola Cowboy". In 1974, he hosted his own TV series. In 1976, he won the the Country Music Association’s most coveted prize: Entertainer of the Year.

Following his heyday in the 1970s, Tillis remained a songwriter in the 1980s, writing hits for Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis. He also wrote his autobiography called Stutterin' Boy. (The title comes from Tillis' speech impediment.) Tillis appeared as the television commercial spokesman for the fast-food restaurant chain Whataburger during the 1980s. Tillis continued to record and have occasional hits through the decade, with his last top-10 hit coming in 1984 and his last top-40 country hit in 1988; like most country artists of the classic era, his recording career was dented by changes in the country music industry in the early 1990s. He also built a theatre in Branson, Missouri, where he performed on a regular basis until 2002.

The singer-songwriter also penned hundreds of songs that were covered by fellow stars like Kenny Rogers, George Strait, and Ricky Skaggs. The Grand Ole Opry inducted Mel Tillis on June 9, 2007. He was inducted into the Opry by his daughter Pam. Along with being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, it was announced on August 7 that year that Tillis, along with Ralph Emery and Vince Gill, were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Tillis remained active as a recording artist, as well as a performer and songwriter into the 2000s.. His daughter Pam Tillis became a successful Country music performer.

Mel had been ill since early 2016 when he underwent surgery for diverticulitis, in intestinal condition. He battled sepsis and never truly recovered, his publicist said. On November 19, 2017, Tillis died of respiratory failure in Ocala, Florida, at the age of 85.

(Compiled from numerous sources including Wikipedia, AllMusic and various obits.)

Tiny Davis born 5 August 1907

Ernestine Carroll, better known as Tiny Davis (5 August 1907* – January 30, 1994) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist.

Ernestine “Tiny” Davis was a renowned jazz trumpeter and vocalist. Davis grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, to George and Leanna Carroll and was one of six children. 

She got her first trumpet at the age of 13, taking her only lessons at Booker T. Washington High School and practicing 3 to 4 hours a day-often to Louis Armstrong records. After moving to Kansas City in her 20's, she took jobs playing in local clubs for $2 a night, listening to and learning from the excellent musicians around her.

When the family moved to Kansas City in 1935, Tiny joined a band called the Harlem-Play Girls but she was forced to leave the group a year later with the birth of her first child from her marriage to Clarence Davis.In 1941 she was drafted into The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. The group included Anna Mae Winburn, who prior to joining the group had been singing with and directing an all-male orchestra, singer and trumpeter Ernestine “Tiny” Davis, and alto saxophonist Roz Cron. Davis was nicknamed “Tiny” because of her large size.

She became the main attraction of the group along with her singing and playing the trumpet with the group until 1948 (including on USO tours during World War II and in the film How About That Jive). The group was unique because it was a racially integrated group, as members were Black, Indian, Latina, white, and Puerto Rican. The all-women group came together and created music that more than held its own during the Swing Era. Louis Armstrong became fascinated and impressed with Davis and tried to lure her away from the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. He even offered her ten times her salary, but she declined the offer.

‘Tiny’ Davis and saxophonist Willie Mae ‘Rabbit’ Wong traveling with the International Sweethearts on a European USO tour.

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm continued to tour. The Jubilee Sessions, originally recorded for radio broadcasts aimed toward America’s black soldiers serving during 1943 to 1946, provided a rare opportunity to hear these women play. 

The Sweethearts did not get as much exposure to mainstream audiences in the South as the all-white, male big bands of their day because of their racial make-up and the violent racism in the region. When the band toured in the Deep South, the white band members painted their faces dark so that the police would not remove them from the bandstand and arrest them.

Tiny was highly talented, but being a woman, she was rarely taken seriously. Strangely, World War II helped a lot of female musicians, especially the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, into the spotlight simply because male musicians were away at war. Of course, this meant that when the war finished, the Sweethearts had fewer gigs, and is one of the main reasons they disbanded by 1949.

                             

Tiny had left her husband by the late forties and formed her own band from erstwhile members of a group called the Prairie Co-Eds, which she called the Hell Divers, although the three 78 rpm records she released on Decca, in 1949, were all billed as Tiny Davis & Her Orchestra. Whatever the name, she got many national bookings. he group played the Apollo and other New York clubs and toured in Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Trinidad, finally ending up in Chicago.

They opened a club, Tiny and Ruby's Gay Spot, in Chicago in 1954, guaranteeing them permanent gigs. But by October 1955 the club was sold for $15000 and the two women went back to playing other people's clubs. They played at Big Mike's in Old Town, the Brass Rail in the Loop, and other clubs in and around Chicago. Tiny developed arthritis which prevented her from standing for long periods on stage. Even so, it was 1982 when they last performed professionally.

In the decades after the women retired, they became adopted as cultural icons for the Gay Rights movement. The two were subjects of a 1988 documentary entitled: "Tiny and Ruby: Hell Divin' Women" which showcased their amazing stories and engaging personalities.

Tiny Davis died in Chicago, January 30, 1994 aged 87. Her last surviving sibling passed away in Memphis in 2002 at the age of 103.

*Regarding her birth date; her application for social security (filed in 1941) gives a birth year of 1910, but other sources, including a film interview, give 1909. The African American Registry's Web site lists Davis' birthdate as Aug. 5, 1907)

(Compiled and edited from the History Post blog, aaregistry.org, Wikipedia, AllMusic, jamiebobanie blog to name a few)

Carson Robison born 4 August 1890

Carson Jay Robison (August 4, 1890 - March 24, 1957) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although his 

impact is generally forgotten today, he played a major role in promoting country music in its early years through numerous recordings and radio appearances. He was also known as Charles Robison and sometimes composed under the pseudonym Carlos 

B.McAfee. With over 300 copyrighted songs, European tours, recording, and script-writing and performance for network radio to his credit, Carson Robison deserves much more than the mere mention the histories of country music give him.

Carson Jay Robison was born in Oswego, Kansas.  His family soon moved to nearby Chetopa. His father was a cowboy and a stock buyer. His mother played the melodeon, and his father and uncles played fiddle at square dances and social gatherings. By the time Robison was 15, he was earning money playing music.

After working as a cowboy, oilfield worker, soldier and railroad dispatcher, he began concentrating on music when he was 30 years old. He was discovered by recording star Wendell Hall and brought to New York in 1924. For the next several years, Robison was in demand as a session musician, playing and whistling on the records of Gene Austin, Hoagy Carmichael and others.  
He also worked as a singer and whistler at radio station WDAF (Kansas City, Missouri) where he was known as "The Kansas Jaybird."

In 1924, he moved to New York City and was signed to his first recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company. Also that year, Robison started a professional collaboration with Vernon Dalhart, one of the era's most notable singers. Through this relationship, Robison realized huge success, mainly as a songwriter but also as a musician, accompanying Dalhart on guitar, harmonica, whistling, and harmony vocals. In one of their first collaborations, Robison accompanied Dalhart on the landmark recording of "Wreck of the Old '97" b/w "The Prisoner's Song" (1924), widely regarded as country music's first million-seller.

During this period, Robison also became a successful composer of "event" songs, which recounted current events or tragedies in a predictable fashion, usually concluding in a moral lesson. Some popular examples of his topical compositions include "The Wreck of the Shenandoah", "Remember Pearl Harbour", "The Wreck of the Number Nine", and "The John T. Scopes Trial", about the famous Scopes Monkey Trial.

In 1928, after Dalhart made a personnel change without consulting Robison, their relationship ended. Although the breakup did not prove lucrative for either artist, Robison continued to record for decades to come. 
From 1928 to 1931 he teamed with Frank Luther, recording songs for various labels and appearing on WOR radio in New York City.

During his early recording days he used these aliases: Bill Barrett, Bob Andrews , Bud Birmingham, Cal Carson, Carlos B. McAfee, Charlie Wells, Claude Samuels, Dick Holmes, Eddie Bell, Frank Robeson, Harry "Rocky" Wilson, Joe Billings, Maggie Andrews, Sookie Hobbs, Travelin' Jim Smith and Chester & Rollins.

In 1932, he started his own band, Carl Robison's Pioneers (later renamed The Buckaroos), and continued touring and recording through the 1930s and 1940s. It was during this period that Robison made some of the earliest tours of a country musician in the British Isles, appearing there in 1932, 1936, and 1938. 

                              

According to Billboard, his 1942 recording of the standard "Turkey in the Straw" was that year's top selling country recording.[citation needed] In the late 1940s and early 1950s he appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. His most famous recording was 1948's "Life Gets Tee-Jus Don't It", a worldwide hit for MGM Records.

Although he played country music for most of his career, he is also remembered for writing the lyrics for "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" with music composed by Frank Luther. Also, in 1956, he recorded the novelty rock & roll song "Rockin' and Rollin' With Grandmaw."

Robison was married twice. His first marriage was to Rebecca. They had a son C. "Donald." Don was raised by his Grandmother due to the untimely death of his mother, who died from TB in her 

early 20s. Eventually, both father and son settled in Pleasant Valley, NY. Don followed his father to this area, as he had moved close to New York City for easy access to better his career. Don carried on his father's legacy, strictly as a non-professional music lover. He lived well into his 90s with his loving wife, Jean. This magical couple was married over 75 years.

Robison died in 1957 in Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of 66. (Info mainly Wikipedia)

Werner Muller born 2 August 1920

Werner Müller (2 August 1920, Berlin – 28 December 1998, Cologne) was a German composer, Kapellmeister and conductor of Western classical music. In some of his works he collaborated with Caterina Valente and Horst Fischer, the trumpeter.

In his youth Werner studied music and performance on bassoon, piano and violin and
was a proper musical whizzkid, proficient enough on violin to play Mozart concertos at the age of ten.

In the 40s good and bad luck combined fortuitously when a German military school introduced him to the trombone and whilst later on his American army captors introduced him to swing. In 1946 he joined Kutte Widman as trombonist. In 1948 he was appointed leader of the RIAS-Tanzorchester and made numerous recordings.

RIAS (Radio im amerikanischen Sektor – Radio in the American Sector) was a radio station in the American Sector of Berlin (1946 to 1993). Before the age of thirty Muller was leading the hottest swing with strings dance band in Berlin and working with the likes of clarinetist Rolf Kuhn. Muller became a well known conductor and arranger, noted for his perfectionism. He backed many German pop-singers and recorded music of a wide variety resulting in many hits. He toured Japan in 1958. Below is one of his many single records released between  the early 1950s and 1960s.

                             

Muller recorded several collections of French, Italian, and other national tunes recorded for Decca which were released in Europe under the name of "Ricardo Santos," but in the U.S. under Müller's own name, as part of a series of "Musical Holiday" albums tied-in with the travel magazine, Holiday.

In 1967, Müller moved to Cologne to take over the Tanzorchester of radio station WDR, which had an even larger audience. Müller ensured his tenure with a versatile and perfectionist approach to his material. His best jazz records date from the period 1950 to 1957. 

Thereafter his recordings become more light orchestral in character, and he acquired an excellent string section. A great variety and number of such albums followed in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

On his album "Hawaiian Swing", for example, he plays with right-left separation and tosses in an enjoyable assortment of percussion effects to liven up the usual selection of Hawaiian standards. On "Percussion in the Sky", he uses wordless vocals, sound effects, whistling, and other touches to lend an other-worldly feeling to numbers like "The Theme from The High and the Mighty."

"Bodybuilder," from one of Müller's later albums, The Strip Goes On, was sampled as the basis for the song "Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out" by Bentley Rhythm Ace, a big club hit in the U.K. in 1997.

Muller, who recorded some 40 albums in the 1950's, 60's and 70's, died December 28, 1998 (age 78) in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.     (Info various, mainly Space-age Pop)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott born 1 August 1931

Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer and performer. One of the last true links to the great folk traditions of this country, with over 40 albums under his belt, he is considered one of the country's legendary foundations of folk music. 

Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adnopoz. His family was Jewish. He attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn and graduated in 1949. Elliott grew up inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, and wanted to be a cowboy. Encouraged instead to follow his father's example and become a surgeon, Elliott rebelled, running away from home at the age of 15 to join Col. Jim Eskew's Rodeo, the only rodeo east of the Mississippi.

Jack & Woody

They travelled throughout the Mid-Atlantic states and New England. He was only with them for three months before his parents tracked him down and had him sent home, but Elliott was exposed to his first singing cowboy, Brahmer Rogers, a rodeo clown who played guitar and five-string banjo, sang songs, and recited poetry. Back home, Elliott taught himself guitar and started busking for a living. Eventually he got together with Woody Guthrie and stayed with him as an admirer and student.

With banjo player Derroll Adams, he toured the United Kingdom and Europe. By 1960, he had recorded three folk albums for the UK record label Topic Records. In London, he played small clubs and pubs by day and West End cabaret nightclubs at night. When he returned to the States, Elliott found he had become renowned in American folk music circles.

Woody Guthrie had the greatest influence on Elliott. Guthrie's son, Arlo, said that because of Woody's illness and early death, Arlo never really got to know him, but learned his father's songs and performing style from Elliott. Elliott's guitar and his mastery of Guthrie's material had a big impact on Bob Dylan when he lived in Minneapolis. When he reached New York, Dylan was sometimes referred to as the 'son' of Jack Elliott, because Elliott had a way of introducing Dylan's songs with the words: "Here's a song from my son, Bob Dylan."

                                

Dylan rose to prominence as a songwriter; Elliott continued as an interpretative troubadour, bringing old songs to new audiences in his idiosyncratic manner. Elliott also influenced Phil Ochs, and played guitar and sang harmony on Ochs' song "Joe Hill" from the Tape from California album. 

Elliott also discovered singer-songwriter Guthrie Thomas in a bar in Northern California in 1973, bringing Thomas to Hollywood where Thomas' music career began.

Elliott appeared in Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour and played "Longheno de Castro" in Dylan's movie Renaldo and Clara accompanied by guitarist Arlen Roth. In the movie, he sings the song "South Coast" by Lillian Bos Ross and Sam Eskin, from whose lyric the character's name is derived.Elliott also appears briefly in the 1983 film Breathless, starring Richard Gere and directed by Jim McBride.

Elliott plays guitar in a traditional flat-picking style, which he matches with his laconic, humorous storytelling, often accompanying himself on harmonica. His singing has a strained, nasal quality which the young Bob Dylan emulated. His repertoire includes American traditional music from various genres, including country, blues, bluegrass and folk.

Elliott's nickname comes not from his travelling 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!"

Elliott's first recording in many years, South Coast, earned him his first Grammy Award in 1995. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1998.

At the age of 75, he changed labels and released I Stand Alone on the ANTI- label, with an assortment of guest backup players including members of WIlco, X, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was produced by Ian Brennan. Jack said his intention was to title the album Not for the Tourists, because it was recorded partially in response to his daughter's request for songs he loved but never played in concert. When asked why he did not, he told her, "These songs are not for the tourists."

Rambling Jack is still active at 87 years old and can be found on tour. (Info Wikipedia)