Jerry Jeff Walker died at 78

[TheBigA]

They call him a Texas troubadour, and he's spent most of his life in Austin. But he was born in upstate New York. Best known for writing Mr. Bojangles, a song made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and also performed by Sammy Davis Jr. He also had hits with LA Freeway, Desperadoes Waiting For a Train, and Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainmen...lker-texas-singer-songwriter-dies-78-73806084

Died of throat cancer, same as Eddie Van Halen.

 

[CTListener]

Oh damn! One of a kind talent, one of a kind personality. He was never a hitmaker -- those songs mentioned never did much on the country chart -- but there was a loose, offhand quality to his records that I always found irresistible. Check out "Gettin' By" and "Jaded Lover" on YouTube sometime. RIP, Jerry Jeff.

 

[TheBigA]

Oh damn! One of a kind talent, one of a kind personality. He was never a hitmaker -- those songs mentioned never did much on the country chart

You're right...he was an outlaw BEFORE the outlaw movement. He's why Willie left Nashville and stayed in Texas.

 

[CTListener]

You're right...he was an outlaw BEFORE the outlaw movement. He's why Willie left Nashville and stayed in Texas.

The station I used to hear his music on was WCAS, a little folk-rock daytimer in Cambridge, Mass. I only heard him once on a country station, which is why it's stuck in my mind all these years. I was driving near Clarksdale, Miss., on Highway 61 (yes, THAT Highway 61) in the late '70s when "Jaded Lover" came on the country station I'd been listening to. The song barely charted a few years earlier, but somehow it was cleared for airplay on a Mississippi AM, probably a mom-and-pop operation with the DJs having some leeway in choosing music to play.

 

[TheBigA]

The station I used to hear his music on was WCAS, a little folk-rock daytimer in Cambridge, Mass.

Coincidentally on this same day, folkie Arlo Guthrie announced he's retiring from music.

 

[CTListener]

Coincidentally on this same day, folkie Arlo Guthrie announced he's retiring from music.

More sadness. I had the pleasure of seeing him in concert back in the '90s. He was a funny storyteller. In fact, his stories were often more captivating than his songs, but he wrote -- and sang -- plenty of good ones. I give him a lot of credit for relying on his own personality and perspective rather than trying to be his father. Woody was a man with a message, Arlo was his slightly off-center son, quick with a smile and full of good cheer in performance. There's video of YouTube of him serenading Pete Seeger -- a friend of both Guthries -- with an awesome rendition of Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love" at a Seeger tribute concert that I've watched quite a few times over the years. Of course, the song was preceded by a long, rambling, and funny, story.

 

[installLSC]

You're right...he was an outlaw BEFORE the outlaw movement. He's why Willie left Nashville and stayed in Texas.

Which would get him a namedrop in this song, which ironically got him a lot more attention on country radio than his own songs

 

[CTListener]

Which would get him a namedrop in this song, which ironically got him a lot more attention on country radio than his own songs

Kind of like when Garth Brooks mentioned Chris LeDoux in "Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old," except that actually was enough to get LeDoux a major label deal and a couple of decent hits. "Luckenbach, Texas" also mentioned singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury, who remained a cult favorite, never breaking through on radio. He had the original recording of "American Trilogy," which Elvis later turned into a spectacular closing number in his live shows in Vegas and elsewhere.

 

[Oldie919]

Back in 1979 I attended one of Jerry's concerts in Houston.....
After the shindig my (then) girlfriend went to the hotel where he was staying, hoping to meet him(!!)....
Around 2 AM -- after she failed to return --- I went looking for her....
I didn't find HER....but I DID find Jerry --- in his hotel room....WITH WILLIE!!
I asked if my girlfriend was there....."Oh, you mean the FM chick? Yeah, she was here but left....."
(My girlfriend and I worked at an FM station in Orange, Texas at the time......)
Lots of memories from my days in the Lone Star State (albeit, not too many days -- about 9 months, actually!!)