In November I produced and moderated another seminar for Women
In Film at the AFM. The subject was Chick Flicks.
Director Martha Coolidge was one of the panelists and all of us had
lunch together before the panel started. The event was very well received.
I had long wanted to do a seminar on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
and was able to put one together for the day after their Golden Globe
nominations were announced. Our panelists, from 4 different countries,
explained the how the association functions, how they became members
and how the nominations are arrived at.
Aiyana Elliott
Dahl called me and asked if I remembered a photographer named Edmund
Teske, from Topanga Canyon days.
She said the Getty Museum was doing an exhibit of his work and that
there was a beautiful photo of Jack taken during that period.
I went up to investigate. The photo
of Jack, nude except for his guitar, was hung in a very prominent
place on the front panel of the exhibit. He looked like the boy I
met those many years ago. A passerby took a photo of me looking at
the photo with her cell phone and then emailed it to me. It brought
back a lot of memories.
Recent
Television Interview:
I got interviewed for a local TV station
about my book. It was really fun but only lasted fifteen minutes.
Everyone who knows me knows that I can talk non-stop for an hour!
I
am thrilled to be part of a new book called "Exile".
It's about an incredible summer in the South of France when the
Rolling Stones were recording their new album "Exile on Main
Street". I was their personal assistant at the time so was able
to contribute some stories to the book, along with Bill Wyman, Mick
Taylor, Robert Greenfield and Georgia Bergman among many others.
At the core of the book are the wonderful photos of Dominique Tarlé,
a Parisian photographer who spent several months in the area taking
pictures of the Stones. Do check out the Genesis-Publications
web site for more details on this wonderful project.
Some of you may have heard of or seen the documentary film "The
Ballad of Ramblin' Jack"
which recently played in theatres around the country. Getting
involved with the film has been an exciting experience. Here's how
it all came about:
I first heard about Jack Elliott, later known as Ramblin'
Jack Elliott in 1955, from a friend who had heard him play in Topanga
Canyon at Will Geer's theatre. The friend brought me out there and
I met the man who would change the direction of my life. Up to that
point I had been concentrating on being an actress, earning my living
as an artist's model but was really planning and saving to go to Europe.
Jack came around to see me where I lived on Woody Trail in the Hollywood
Hills and soon moved in. He thought the name Woody Trail (like in
"Woody" Guthrie) was a significant omen. After several months
he decided we should get married but I was still focused on heading
abroad. We compromised; we did get married and went to Europe together.
Derroll Adams, Jack's banjo playing buddy from Topanga was the best
man at our wedding.
We traveled all over Europe and Israel, singing
on the streets (I was the one passing the hat and got real good at
it) and later in small clubs. Some of this was with Derroll, whom
we had brought to Europe. We also made some records
in England and Italy and toured with a skiffle band through Denmark
and Germany. Tours with the Weavers, Peter Seeger and the Platters
followed. I finally decided to leave Jack and move on to the
Far East.
There was a long period when I was pretty mad at him, because he
wouldn't give me a divorce. He really earned his Ramblin' name by
that time as his life was pretty much spent on the move. After a trip
home to the States from Japan, where I was then living dubbing film
into English and doing some acting, I managed to get my divorce. I
had no further contact with Jack for several years. I did read an
erroneous report in a newspaper that he had died, but found out later
it was not true.
When I was back living in France, and married to Sidney, my writer
second husband, I got hired to be the Rolling Stones'
personal assistant in 1970. To my great surprise, they knew
all about Jack, had all of his records, admired him, had been influenced
by him and because of the connection, my relationship with the Stones
was made much easier. After all, as they put it, wasn't I "Ramblin'
Jack's ex-old lady?".
I finally returned to live in the States in the 80's after almost
25 years of living abroad. I got up the courage to go hear Jack play
at McCabes in Santa Monica on a trip to California. At that point
in my life I was living and working for ABC in NYC. Jack was astonished
but pleased to see me and that started a friendship, uneasy at first,
but now rock solid.
Eventually, his daughter, Aiyana Elliott, tracked me down and we
became friends. I was taped for her film "The Ballad of Ramblin'
Jack" and got involved in a small way in the production. The
film was chosen for the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and won the Special
Jury Prize. I've stayed friends with Ramblin' Jack and his
new wife Jan and hope to do so for the rest of our lives.
I don't regret leaving Jack when I did, as something in me needed
to go and see the rest of the world on my own. I do regret those many
years when, selfishly, I did not even bother to wonder where he was
or if he was well, happy or even just OK. I was not completely aware
of all his albums that were out in the market. Now I own them all.
My book "Even When It Was
Bad... It Was Good" goes into my early life with Jack
and my working for the Rolling Stones in much more detail. The
book is done, but I do consider my life a work in progress. What's
next?
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Read about June's other recent adventures:
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