K.F. Raizor, author of the website Raizor's Edge and the book We Can't Sing and We Ain't Funny: The World of Homer and Jethro is our guest writer today on That Nashville Sound. She's ever so gracious to provide wonderful tributes to honor those to whom the music we treasure just wouldn't be the same without. Thank you, K.F.
Jerry Jeff Walker died Friday (10/23) after a recurrence of throat cancer.
For all of the automatic association with Texas country music that one has with the name Jerry Jeff Walker, in truth he wasn’t born in Texas...nor with that name! He was born Ronald Clyde Crosby on March 16, 1942, in Oneonta, New York.
The past was wild, including going AWOL from the National Guard. Walker ended up in jail in New Orleans, where he encountered an old man who frequented jails for public intoxication. From that experience, Jerry Jeff Walker established himself with one of the great classics in music: “Mr. Bojangles.”
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did a country version of the song, then Sammy Davis Jr. recorded a pop rendition that made the song an American music standard, and basically set Walker for life financially.
Free to be himself, he established himself in what he called “gonzo country,” in hindsight a forerunner of the mid-70s “outlaw” movement. He made music on his own terms, scoring minor hits (“I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight” and “Jaded Lover” made small dents in the country singles charts) and recording one of the classic albums of the 70s: ¡Viva Terlingua!
Although never a “chart-topper,” Walker had a large and loyal following. He appeared in numerous places over the years: as host of TNN’s Texas Country, his annual birthday bash at Gruene Hall in Texas, and most famously, with the theme song to Austin City Limits (“London Homesick Blues,” written and sung by Gary P. Nunn, which appeared originally on the ¡Viva Terlingua! album).
Walker was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017. Although in remission for a couple of years, Walker announced earlier this summer that there was a recurrence.
Farewell to the legendary Jerry Jeff Walker, who was 78.
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