Jack Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adnopoz, an eminent doctor. 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. They traveled throughout the Mid-Atlantic states and New England. He was with them for only 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 im, 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' cover of the song

"Joe Hill" from the Tape from California album. 
 

Elliott appeared in Dylan's 1975-1976 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.

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Elliott plays guitar in a traditional flatpicking 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 traveling 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!"
 

His authenticity as a folksy, down-to-earth country boy, despite being a Jewish

doctor's son from Brooklyn, and his disdain for other folk singers, were parodied

by the Folksmen (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) in

the satirical documentary A Mighty Wind in the name of their "hit" album 

Ramblin'. 
A Mighty Wind also referred to a former member of the New Main Street

Singers, Ramblin' Sandy Pitnick, a somewhat geeky-looking white man in a

cowboy hat, apparently in parody of Elliott.

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.

His long career and strained relationship with his daughter Aiyana were

chronicled in her 2000 film documentary, The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack.

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."

In 2012 he was featured on the song "Double Lifetime" on the album 

Older Than My Old Man Now by Loudon Wainwright III.

In September 2016, Rolling Stone reported that he will appear alongside 

Bob Weir, on Weir's new solo album Blue Mountain, on the track

"Ki-Yi Bossie".