The two became close while living next door at Hotel Earl in Greenwich Village and bonded over their shared love of Guthrie and other music from the burgeoning folk revival. Fans have since accused Dylan of mimicking early Elliott’s style, particularly delivery through the nose, but that doesn’t bother the elder. he said. Today, the pair don’t touch regularly, but when their paths cross, it’s very warm. I remembered.
Unlike Dylan and many of his peers, Elliott has not enjoyed much commercial success. One of his reasons for that is because he deals with a niche genre, but also because, according to Aiyana, “he wasn’t very good at managing his career.” Since he hasn’t written many songs, he receives far fewer royalties for selling and streaming his albums. Most of his income comes from touring, which is risky. Above all else, Eliot has sought freedom and human connection. “He lives a very modest life. A lot of people don’t realize how modest he is,” he said. “But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a man with so many friends.”
After decades of touring, 90-somethings are resilient. He recovered from triple his bypass surgery and his two “minor strokes” that left him unable to play guitar for about a week. His hearing is aided by small hearing aids, but his mobility and stamina befits a much younger man. He strides in carefully selected outfits.
After a breakfast of oatmeal with berries and chopped pecans and lots of talk about schooners, James Dean, big rigs, Leon Russell and other topics, Elliott loads up his Volvo station wagon. , through a cypress-lined road and into the cove of Tomales Bay. He passed through his friend Nancy’s lavender fields and by the dunes of Dillon Beach hiking with his friend Venta. In moments of hurt, he remembered his wife Jean, the youngest of his five siblings, who died of alcoholism in 2001.
In 1995, while working at Ridgetop Music, owned by Youngbloods Jesse Colin Young, the two lived in a campervan in Point Reyes. One day they decided to head north for sightseeing. “I was driving down the bay on the left and watching. She was in her passenger seat and I could see the sign to her right,” he said. “We pulled the house up and rented it on the spot.” He’s lived in it ever since.