Jerry Jeff Walker

































































Jerry Jeff Walker
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There's a photo on the back of a long-out-of-print Jerry Jeff Walker album that kind of sums it all up. In the picture, Jerry Jeff is outside an old roadhouse on a lonesome highway. It's night, and his collar is turned up against the chill breeze as he hunches over to light a cigarette. His guitar is slung around his back. It's hard to tell if he's entering or leaving the roadhouse, but either way you figure he's got many miles to go before he sleeps. Somehow, one gets the idea that that is how Jerry Jeff has always pictured himself. Even when he was playing screaming cowboy rock 'n' roll to thousands of people, the solitary troubadour was always on the inside, looking out. Jerry Jeff has lived—and is living again—the troubadour's life. Lots of musicians talk about the road; Jerry Jeff really is the kid who rode his thumb out of his hometown in upstate New York to such exotic destinations as Key West (where he introduced another young musician named Jimmy Buffett to the pleasures of island life)…He really did sing for pennies on New Orleans streetcorners, alongside Mr. Bojangles…He really did strap his guitar on the back of a motorcycle and go busking across Canada…And he really did sing in the smoky cafes and folk clubs of Greenwich Village, following in the footsteps of Bob Dylan and Ramblin' Jack Elliott. And that all happened before he became a star. Most folks know that story—how Jerry Jeff moved to Austin, Texas in the early Seventies and reinvented himself as a Lone Star country-rocker. He became, along with Willie Nelson and Asleep At The Wheel, one of the arbiters of the internationally famous Austin musical community. Since then, he has celebrated the music of peers such as Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, and served as a fountainhead and inspiration to younger musicians such as Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Todd Snider, and a moderately successful country tunesmith named Garth Brooks. A string of records for MCA and Elektra followed before Jerry Jeff gave up on the mainstream music business and formed his own independent record label, Tried & True Music, in 1986. Another series of increasingly autobiographical records followed under the Tried & True imprint. He's played for four or five presidents, toured in Lear Jets and bought second homes in New Orleans and Belize (the fruits, in part, of having penned an American pop standard, "Mr. Bojangles"). His band of musicians, known variously as the Lost Gonzo Band and the Gonzo Compadres, have been indispensable parts of the endless caravan. But even with all that, Jerry Jeff still sees the world with a troubadour's eyes. His songs are the way he makes the world make sense, how he passes on stories of the people he meets, the way he feels on a given morning. He has come full circle, back to his solitary singer-songwriter roots. You might say he was heading this way all along.
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01/28/2011 - Jerry Jeff's ‘Stew' stirs it up - Read More
11/07/2010 - Jerry Jeff Walker documentary will answer some of fans' longtime questions - Read More
08/22/2010 - At the Zoo: Jerry Jeff Walker induces smiles and good-time, boozy sing-alongs - Read More
03/05/2007 - Palo Duro, Jerry Jeff Walker settle lawsuit - Read More
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12/01/2005 - Jerry Jeff Walker Q&A - Read More
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Average Rating : 4.6              Total Reviews: 87


Jerry Jeff Walker  04/09/2011            
TX Music Jim
Amazing, ageless, timeless. Playing and sounding as good as ever. Very few artists can still go out there and leave it all on the stage after a killer 2 hour set at damn near 70 years old.
Jerry Jeff Walker  05/02/2010            
TX Music Jim
You would not have a Texas, Red Dirt music scene without Jerry Jeff Walker. Viva Terlinqua is the forerunner to todays great albums from Reckless Kelly and so on. He still puts on a helluv a live show. Do yourself a favor and check out a JJW show.
Jerry Jeff Walker  11/18/2009            
Randa
Jerry Jeff is a classic and anyone that has ever had the pleasure to listen to his music knows that. His new album is Moon Child, and it is wonderful. Following Jerry Jeff's music is sweet music to my ears.
Jerry Jeff Walker  01/11/2009            
Van Vleck
This guys is a pitiful, self-serving, sniveling drunk from New York. Anyone who equates Mr. Crosby... uhh... Walker with Texas should be shipped, along with him, to Oneonta.
Jerry Jeff Walker  10/11/2008            
[email protected]
how can i get dear john letter lounge by jerry jeff
Jerry Jeff Walker  08/24/2008            
Jimmy Jack Waffle fan
I always liked the way you did a love song. Also the songs about your family. I've seen the spring at the Great Divide and a hawk on the wing. But I've never heard old camp cookie sing, my regrets or possibly a blessing.
Jerry Jeff Walker  08/20/2008            
caddydaddy
Dont even have to hear this before rating it. Just the song selection speak for themselves.Waiting for it too arrive.Saw Jerry three different times in three different decades and He would say these songs are the best of the best even though it doesnt have Too Old To Change which I asked him to play once and his reply was that was too dark a time for me to ever play again.Really wanted to hear it live!
Jerry Jeff Walker  06/04/2008            
cooter
hey beano ur very igonorant when it comes to texas history. the battle of the alamo was fought before there was a texas. at the time it was a province of mexico and the soldiers at the alamo were texians. therefore it wasnt possible for native texans to be at the alamo.so take that and smoke u ignorant dippy.
Jerry Jeff Walker  04/28/2008            
Far West Luckenbach
There's no denying that Jerry Jeff has exposed some mighty compelling music over the years (most of it written by other writers), but in defense of cooter, JJW is a lowlife when it comes to interacting with others. He routinely treats his band members like cattle, he holds high disdain and resentment toward his fans for "invading his space", usually refers to the college-age kids who come to his shows as "frat f*cks", has insulted, offended, or downright hurt 90% of venue owners and others he has "victimized" in the music industry, a couple of years ago sued a group of Texas artists who had come together to pay tribute to him at Luckenbach, fired longtime sidekick and friend Bob Livingston for being part of that tribute, constantly whines and complains like a teenage girl to those unfortunate to have to be around him. If that's your idea of a fine Texan or a "badass", you don't live in the same Texas the rest of us do.
Jerry Jeff Walker  01/08/2008            
Beano
Say Cooter...can you name anybody who died fighting for Texas at the Alamo that was a native Texan? Guess that means they weren't really Texans. I'm sure JJW would have gladly laid down his life to defend the Nation of Texas had he had the opportunity. You might want to ask him about that one yourself, though. The first live concert I ever saw was Jerry Jeff Walker at Six Flags Over Texas in 1980; it was the first annual "Jerry Jeff Walker All Night Armadillo Party", every concert I've seen since pales in comparison. I saw him at Billy Bobs again in the late nineties; not as good as the first time around but a great show nonetheless. No telling how many Jerry Jeff albums, 8 tracks, cassettes, and CD's I've owned over the years...I'd guess close to 50 total. He may not be an icon in some people's eyes, but he is in mine. And in Beano's world, my opinion is the only one that matters.
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