Derroll Adams
From the cover of Banjoman: a tribute to Derroll Adams
Background information
Birth name	Derroll Lewis Thompson
Born	November 27, 1925, Portland, Oregon, USA
Died	February 6, 2000 (age 74) Antwerp, Belgium
Genres	Folk
Occupations	Singer–songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, Banjo, Vocals
Associated acts	Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Derroll Adams (November 27, 1925 – February 6, 2000) was an American folk musician.

Adams was born Derroll Lewis Thompson in Portland, Oregon. At 16, he served in the Army and later in the Coast Guard. He was a tall, lanky banjo player with a deep voice. He was busking around the West Coast music scene in the 1950s when he met Ramblin' Jack Elliott in the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, California. The two travelled around and recorded albums, among them Cowboys and The Rambling Boys (see D. A. Pennebaker's Dont Look Back, or DLB).

According to legend, Adams and Elliott would go in the studio with whatever they had, which may have included whiskey and marijuana, and they recorded whatever they felt like recording on the spur of the moment. This style of recording was probably more prevalent in the'40s, '50s and '60s — the result is that the recording is loose around the edges but preserves some of the spontaneity and vigor of a live performance. It is a performative, rather than a compositional, style. (see Paul Williams' Bob Dylan: Performing Artist series, particularly vol. 1, for a more in-depth discussion of the tension between the performative and the compositional.)

His recording career was somewhat uneven, and like Elliott he was better known for whom he influenced —Donovan, among others— than for his own art. With Elliott, he had gone to England to play live and record. Elliott went back, and Adams stayed. He took Donovan, who had been playing around the UK with Gypsy Dave, under his wing as sort of protege; as a result, the influence of American traditional music can be distinctly heard in Donovan's earlier work — see DLB.

Adams died in Antwerp, Belgium in 2000. His collaboration with Elliott left behind a body of influence that prevails today. Topic Records UK has made most of his and Jack's recordings available on CD.

Contents 1 Discography 1.1 Solo Projects 1.2 With Ramblin' Jack Elliott 2 Sources 3 External links

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo Projects

• 1967: Portland Town
• 1972: Feelin' Fine
• 1974: Movin' On
• 1977: Along the Way
• 1978: Folk Friends, double LP recorded in Germany with Davey Arthur, Alex Campbell, Guy & Candie Carawan, Finbar Furey (The Fureys), Wizz Jones , Werner Lämmerhirt and Hannes Wader.
• 1994: Derroll Adams LIVE
• 1997: Songs Of The Banjoman
• 2002: Banjoman — a tribute to Derroll Adams, Blue Groove BG-1420

[edit] With Ramblin' Jack Elliott

• 1957: The Rambling Boys
• 1963: Roll On Buddy
• 1969: Folkland Songs
• 1969: Riding in Folkland
• 1975: America

[edit] Sources

• Williams, Paul: Bob Dylan Performing Artist vols. 1–3 (aka The Early Years, The Middle Years & Mind Out of Time, respectively)
• Pennebaker, D. A.: Dont Look Back
• Donovan: Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964–1976
• Folk Freak Plattenproduktion Folk Friends 1978

[edit] External links

• Home page
• Extensive discography with tracks and covers