I saw Ramblin' Jack at the Millpond Traditional Music Festival this past weekend. I've been a "fan" of Jack for over thirty years. He performed Saturday afternoon and it was not the best I'd seen him, but there were no major flaws - I'd have liked it better if he did more ramblin' (Jack's brand of storytelling), but it was a treat to see him, and get some CD's signed later and tell him about the old shows at the Ash Grove from decades past.

Sunday he came on stage, and seemed disoriented. He forgot lyrics, repeated verses, played poorly, and at one point checked with the MC to see how much time he had left, then proceeded to sing "Talkin' Fishing Blues" for the second time. People were stunned, but said nothing. He went into "Old Shep" right after that and it was a repeat also. Someone in the audience said, "Hey, Jack, you've already done that."

Jack then took a request for "South Coast, sang two verses beautifully, and then stopped, apologized and rambled on about the daytime being for horseback riding but not for music, he should have never agreed to do this gig, all very embarrassing for everyone...

In retrospect I was just wondering if anyone knows how Jack's health is...was this a fluke?... Is there some dementia or alzheimers?... Did some overzealous fans get him loaded in the morning?

Had he been obnoxious about it I wouldn't be so concerned, but he was nearly pathetic in his manners...

A loving, concerned fan...