Dance, Dance, Dance…

Occasional Albums Thing 064 - Steve Earle & The Dukes “Jerry Jeff”

The final installment, #4, of Steve Earle’s tributes to other songwriters brings us a collection of songs written by Jerry Jeff Walker. As the Hype sticker from the cover tells us “This record completes the set, the works of my first-hand teachers, TOWNES, GUY and JERRY JEFF…The records were recorded and released in the order in which they left this world; but make no mistake - it was Jerry Jeff Walker who came first” (the 4th record in the series, “J.T.”, was recorded because Earle HAD to and not because he wanted to).

Jerry Jeff Walker was a Country/Folk singer and songwriter, born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta (pronounced OH-nee-ON-teh), NY where his grandparents played piano and fiddle for local square dances (I never had New York State down as being big on Country music, oh the power of those transmitters down South). After joining, going AWOL from and being discharged by the National Guard, Ronald, as he was known at the time, set off wandering America, busking in New Orleans and across Texas, Florida, and New York, much of the time in the company of academic, poet and folk singer H. R. Stoneback (a friendship Walker wrote about in his 1970 song "Stoney", not included here). Ronald played under the stage names of Jerry Ferris and Jeff Walker, before uniting the two into Jerry Jeff Walker and legally changing his name.

Jerry Jeff is best known for his song “Mr. Bojangles", written after he met a homeless, alcoholic former tap dancer in a drunk tank in New Orleans (you just don’t get stories like that anywhere but America do ya ?) who would only identify himself as Mr. Bojangles, 1) because it was his tap dancing stage name and 2) so the Police couldn’t formally identify him. The song has been covered countless times by such luminaries as Bob Dylan, Sammy Davies Junior (for whom it became his theme song), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band who took it to #9 in the US charts in 1970 and (sadly) Robbie Williams (a version I've never heard but have no doubt is excruciating). 

Steve Earle was introduced to Jerry Jeff when, as a teenager, he was given a copy of JJW’s eponymous solo debut album by his High School Drama teacher, who wanted Steve to sing “Mr. Bojangles” in a production of “The World Of Carl Sandburg” being staged at his High School in September of 1969.

After “Mr. Bojangles” the other real standout song within deserving of a mention is “Hill Country Rain”. It was completely new to me and is a great slice of joyous Country Rock/Americana or call it what you like, 

After previously not knowing any of Jerry Jeff Walker’s music other than “Mr.Bojangles” this record certainly shines a light on a truly great songwriter and I gotta thank Steve Earle for that. Anything that Steve Earle touches ends up sounding like, well, Steve Earle, he is a very distinctive performer. He also says in the sleeve notes that “There was a time in my life when I wanted to be Jerry Jeff Walker more than anything in this world”, so now I have to factor in that some of Steve Earle’s distinctiveness may owe more than a nod to Jerry Jeff.

Hill Country Rain - https://youtu.be/2nRO3ngng4w?si=PBxjKONH8wKCnCUe