Track Listing

1. Gypsy Songman
2. Mr. Bojangles
3. Jaded Lover
4. LA Freeway
5. Hairy Ass Hillbillies
6. Gettin' By
7. Desperadoes Waiting For A Train
8. Sangria Wine
9. Up Against The Wall Redneck
10. Pot Can't Call The Kettle Black
11. Like A Coat From The Cold
12. Mississippi You're On My Mind
13. Pissin' In The Wind
14. It's A Good Night For Singing
15. Old Five And Dimers Like Me
16. Leavin' Texas
17. Railroad Lady
18. Tryin' To Hold The Wind Up With A Sail
19. Lone Wolf
20. I Ain't Livin' Long Like This

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4955 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-28
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Just like the lead character in his classic composition "Mr. Bojangles," Jerry Jeff Walker steps to a different tune. He gave himself the perfect title when he wrote his autobiography Gypsy Songman. Some consider "gypsy" a euphemism for irresponsible, some consider it eccentricity, and some call it artistic license, but whatever you want to label it, it was the fuel that provided the fire in Walker to write the songs he wrote. Walker writes from his own experience. He can take a microcosm of a thought and elaborate enough for its poetry to shine through. Gypsy indeed - this is a man who even chose his own name.

Born Ronald Clyde Crosby in 1942, the youngster grew up in Oneonta, New York, surrounded by music. His grandmother played piano, his parents loved to dance and he spent hours listening to their Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong records. It was his grandmother who bought him his first guitar at Christmas when he was 12 and he learned a few chords from the man who owned the local pizza parlor.

The "Jerry" part of his name came from a false I.D. he got when he was 19, since the drinking age was 21. For several years, he went by the name on that card--Jerry Ferris. After going AWOL from the National Guard in the early '60s, and settling in New Orleans (officially moving to Texas in 1971), he chose a new name. He liked the name Jeff and then partly as a tribute to a black jazz pianist he had befriended, Kirby Walker, he chose the surname of Walker. The friends who knew him as "Jerry" couldn't make the switch as easily, so Ronald Crosby, aka Jerry Ferris, became Jerry Jeff Walker.

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Customer Reviews

no...not the ultimate...but still pretty darn good...
First off let me say, I loves Jerry Jeff. Buy anything and everything I find, tho I don't own it all, someday I'spect I will. While this is a good start, all of us die-hard double J.W. fans know there is a box set a-comin' down the trail someday, and that I hope is the 'ultimate collection' that will include his best from ALL his labels. Which should amount to at least a 4 to 6 cd set... Of course, the box set won't satisfy everyone,but, very few box sets do. As far as this set goes, clocking in at over 77 minutes,it is a good intro to Jerry Jeff, but having to leave off such great songs as "DRIFTIN' WAY OF LIFE", "RAMBLIN',SCRAMBLIN',"GOT LUCKY LAST NIGHT", "HILL COUNTRY RAIN", "NAVAJO RUG" and one of Jerry Jeff's best, most solemn ballads, "BLUE MOOD", plus another dozen or so fitting tunes, this would of made a great double cd collection that would of possibly merited the "ultimate" label.Still, for the uninitiated, it's the best collection out right now, and... it is Jerry Jeff! 'Nuff said.

The Best Jerry Jeff Compilation--Until They Dig In The Vaults
This CD is a very good representation of Austin's and Jerry Jeff Walker's Cosmic Cowboy years.

In the 1970s the new, amazing music coming out of Austin had the national music columnists looking for the words to describe it..."Progressive Country", "Cosmic Cowboy", "Redneck Rock", "Country Rock", or simply "Austin Music". This music could be experienced at Armadillo World Headquarters or dozens of music venues in and around Austin.

The definitive albums of progressive country rock---the CLASSIC "Jerry Jeff Walker" (his first Austin album, recorded live in the studio, and YET to be released on CD), "Viva Terlingua" (recorded live in the dance hall of Luckenbach, Texas), "Walker's Collectibles", "Ridin' High", "It's A Good Night For Singin'", "A Man Must Carry On" (which won a Grammy nomination for a live version of "Mr Bojangles"), etc---well-represent what was going on in Austin in those years.

As much as anyone, Jerry Jeff Walker and The Lost Gonzo Band created the progressive country rock coming out of Austin in the 70s. The primary Lost Gonzo Band included Bob Livingston, John Inmon, Gary P. Nunn, Donny Dolan, Kelly Dunn, Tomas Rameriz, and sometimes Jimmy Baker. (On "Viva Terlingua" the band also included Craig Hillis, Michael McGeary, Herb Steiner, Mary Egan, Mickey Raipheld, and Joanne Vent.)

The Lost Gonzo Band opened for Jerry Jeff Walker in the first season of Austin City Limits, with an incredible set of songs, one flowing into the next. Then they backed Walker for one of the most spontaneous and improvised Austin City Limits ever.

In the notes for "A Man Must Carry On" Walker wrote, "We started this album after 'Viva Terlingua'. It led us through over two years of recording and eighty-five boxes of tape." As Imagineer Hondo Crouch would say, one can only imagine what good music could be culled from all those tapes, to make a truly "Ultimate" collection.

A Yankee In Sam Houston's Court
What is it about Texas? Some of the best artists in the land(any genre) seem to have come out of Texas or have been heavily influenced by it. Such is the case with Jerry Jeff Walker. Raised in New York State, you'd think that the influence of Texas twang would be far away from his ears, but it called out to him. The call of the Crescent City wasn't too far behind either, for New Orleans, LA has put out an A-list of performers comparable to that of the entire state of Texas, and Walker found himself living there for awhile also.

Nowadays, it's not unusual to see a Jerry Jeff Walker sticker plastered on the back of a beat-up Ford with Texas plates. His influence has been felt far and wide, but he has still managed to stay rather low key and regional when compared to other artists/songwriters of his stature.

"Ultimate Collection" does well to serve up a taste of Jerry Jeff Walker. From the amazing "Mr. Bojangles" to "Sangria Wine" and the fun "Hairy Ass Hillbillies," many of Walker's best self-penned tunes are here. His talent is also shown on songs from folks like Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Ray Wiley Hubbard, and Billy Joe Shaver, among others. He makes their songs his own.

Personal favorites in this collection include "I Ain't Livin' Long Like This," "Up Against The Wall Redneck," "Leavin' Texas," and "Like A Coat From The Cold." Other good selections include "Desperados Waiting For A Train," which can also be heard on the Cash/Kristofferson/Jennings/Nelson "Highwayman" album, and "Pissin' In The Wind."

This entire album is solid, and none of these songs come across as filler. Though many complain that some of Walker's other hits have been left off of here, this is a sufficient album for new listeners and old-timers as well.

If you enjoy artists like Gary P. Nunn(a former member of Walker's band), Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, and Robert Earl Keen, you're sure to enjoy Jerry Jeff Walker. He has that honky-tonky swagger and Texas kick about him that makes Texas artists so unique. Also, fans of Jimmy Buffett are sure to enjoy Walkers stories about real folks as well.

Highly recommended.