DANCING AROUND THE BANANA TREE
(This is late nite, June 28th, 1994... actually early morning,
June the 29th. This is for Jack.)
We smoked some marijuana
And then we took off all our clothes
Then we danced around the banana tree
Yes, danced around and around the banana tree
Jack Elliot, my third wife, his ballerina girlfriend
and me
dancing around that banana tree
Down there, down there in New Orleans
A city I've still never seen
But there we are dancing around the banana tree
Just like the memory Jack Elliot gave to me
From the song he sang to me
Off the vinyl from my record library
Dancin' around in the rain down in New Orleans
Still a town I've never seen
But there we were dancin' around that banana tree
Jack, my third wife, his ballerina girlfriend and me
Hey!
Thanks, Jack
For the memory
The first time I met Jack it must of been 1963. I was just a little
kid comin' down from college on a long weekend. There I was
down on McDougal Street, man. I wasn't in North Beach. I was
in The Village. Lookin' for Bob Dylan who was to be playin'
down there at Gerde's Folk City. Man, I was with my girl-
friend, my first wife, walkin' down the street a little bit lost.
Even though we were livin' the East Coast, we were a little bit
lost. A guy comes toward us with his guitar in his hand. The
guitar in the case, at the end of his hand. I stop. Ask. 'Can you
direct us to Gerdy's Folk City?' He pulled down his reading
glasses, his disguise, and said, 'Yeah, one block over. Two
doors down. But if you get bored, come around the corner. I'll
be playin' tonight. My name's... Ramblin' Jack Elliot.'
Well I, well I
Had all his records in my stack
But I'm tellin' you, man, that
This was my first meeting with my friend
This was the first time I got close with
Jack Elliot
Ahahaha!
Jack Elliot and me were friends man
Deep, deep close friends, man
That was the first time I met Jack
And that's about as close as it gets
'cause..
Then we smoked some marijuana
Then we took off all our clothes
Then we danced around the banana tree
That bein' the way that he
sang it to me
I incorporated it, man
It's my own memory
Now today
my third wife and me
Every time we strip down
and dance around
that
banana tree
I always remember Jack Elliot and me
Dancin' around that banana tree
Down in New Orleans, a town, yeah, I've never seen
But I'm tellin' ya'
It was rainin'
The river's goin' by
And there it is
Me and my third wife
dancin' with Jack and his
ballerina girlfriend
Dancing, dancing around the banana tree
Dancing around in that
incorporated memory
A lotta people ask me about how I met him the second time. It
was in Comptche! He came into town while he was comin' up
the North Coast. Hung out there with Philbrick, man, and when
he was there, I remember... Jack always loved these truck
driving songs and so he was sorta hangin' on Jerry so Jerry
would let him ride on some of his trucks, actually let him drive
some of those trucks. Well, you see he had his horse and Jerry
had his horses and these horses were gettin' along real good.
They hung out at the tavern so I came down one night. I got
drunk so far, I'd took a little speed,nothin' big, nothin' in my
arm, just a little trucker's speed. Well, I got my banjo, came on
down and sang my Mike Seeger song and Jack Elliot's there,
man, and I was tryin' to sing 'Harlan County Blues', a union,
worker guy's song. Funniest song I know. Only lost two verses
in the snow of that night. Well, Jack came up and he said he
really liked my song and I knew I hadn't fucked up too much
more than he had fucked up that night when we did leave
Gerde's Folk City and go up around the corner to see his act and
he forgot the last half verses on that old trucker's song he'd
picked up in England. Ho! Anyway, I was really proud because
he didn't know me for anything, I'm tellin' you.
but then...
We smoked some marijuana
Then we took off all our clothes
Then we danced around the banana tree
Danced and danced and danced
around the banana tree
Jack Elliot and me
My third wife
and his ballerina girlfriend
In the incorporated memory
Jack Elliot gave to me
When he played that song for me
Off the record from my vinyl library
Yeah
Jack Elliot and me
Down in New Orleans
A city I have yet to see
The place where Jack Elliot
set me free
Not unlike the day, couple years later after being in Comptche,
when I was down at my sister's place on the way, on the way to
San Geronimo Valley. We're all in paper hats 'cause it's a 5th
birthday party for my son. The big 0-5. Who shows up at the
door just as the cake is waiting for the big blow down? Jack
Elliot askin' about his horse that just got loose just up the street.
I couldn't believe it. There was my close, close friend again.
'Hey, Jack! You remember me? Down in Greenwich Village and
over in Comptche?' Not known for a great memory, he didn't
say much, but he kinda nodded his head and while we couldn't
help him out with his horse I introduced him to my young son
Ben, and Jack, he shaked his hand and I said-
This is the guy that
Danced around the banana tree
Stark ass naked
High on...
booze and marijuana
Watchin' the barges flowin' down the Mississippi
In a town called
New Orleans
A town I still have to see
Dancin' around with my third wife
his ballerina girlfriend and me
That's the how of Jack and Ben and me
How we got dancin' around the banana tree
Years go by and I'm back up on the coast building a big log
shed. We travel down to the hotel in town for a beer and get
confronted by the poster on the door. Guess whose to be playin'
that very night? Right! Late again, Jack Elliot got there in his
van, but she don't seem to be the same old girlfriend, and she's
a little ticked off 'cause Jack's been drinking again. Well, he
came in and he sang, man. He came and sang the best of his
songs. He sang that great English truck driver's song. That lorry
driver's song. Right through every verse and I almost... I
wanted to drive up the road and get my banjo and try to sing my
song to him again. Get it right once. But we were lucky to get
through that night. We were all real lucky just to get through that
night 'cause-
We all smoked some marijuana
Then we took off all our clothes
And then we danced around
And around and around and around
The banana tree
Jack Elliot
His naked ballerina girlfriend
My third wife and me
Thank god he
Gave me the memory
Thank god he
Played it once for me
More years later it's nighttime and there in my bed lamp I'm
reading an Esquire magazine. Man, it was so sweet. There was
Jack lookin' so good in the photograph next to his excellent
profile. I was sad to read his dad had passed away. He was a
doctor in Connecticut where I had passed my early youth away.
Yeah, it seems we weren't so different anyway. Plus he got his
inheritance and I think he was happier than shit. He sure looked
good turned out in tweed. Dancin' around that banana tree.
I keep lookin' through the catalogues. I keep lookin' through
those record catalogues. I found some of him doing Woody
while I was over there in New Zealand and then I got so broke I
sold them songs for half half price only a year after I managed to
get them. God damn, god damn. But....
Then we all smoked some marijuana
And then we took off all our clothes
Then we danced and danced
around the banana tree
Then we danced, danced, danced
around the banana tree
Down below those barges were so busy
Comin' back up the Mississippi
Dancin' around, yeah, the rain was comin' down
Dancin' around and around and around and around
the banana tree
Jack Elliot, my third wife
The naked ballerina girlfriend and me
All
all for the memory
Of the song he once
sang for me
Now I've incorporated it
into me
So c'mon everybody now
we can dance
around and around the banana tree
Let's smoke a little marijuana
Let's take off all our clothes
Let's go and dance around the banana tree
Let's go dance around the banana tree
C'mon, join us
Jack
his naked ballerina girlfriend
my third wife
me
C'mon let's dance, dance, dance
around the banana tree
Let's go dance around the banana tree
Let's go dance around the banana tree
Let's go dance around the banana tree
Peter Black has been causin' problems while creating poetry for
a pretty long time and is finally just beginning to get some of it
printed up.
Jack Elliot has been singing great songs alot longer than that and
has written more than a few great ones too like '912 Greens'
which inspired this memory and is on an old record of his called
'Young Brigham' at least that being the best we can remember.
This effort was composed and printed on the little MacMoose at
The Agenda Studio, 845D Sequoia Circle, Fort Bragg, CA 95437,
where you may write for additional copies and information
on other available titles.
(c) 1993, 1996 Peter Black/New World Archives
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