6 Years Ago Today, We Lost the Outlaw Country Legend Whose Songs Were Covered by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

On this day (October 23) in 2020, Jerry Jeff Walker died in an Austin, Texas, hospital after a battle with throat cancer. He was 78 years old. Walker was one of the unsung heroes of the outlaw country movement in the 1970s. He is widely remembered for writing songs like “Mr. Bojangles,” which has been covered by countless artists. He also recorded definitive covers of several songs, including “Desperados Waiting for a Train” and “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother.”

Walker didn’t start his career as a progressive country artist, nor did he start life as Jerry Jeff Walker. Ronald Clyde Crosby was born and raised in Oneonta, New York. After a brief stint in the National Guard, he began busking on the streets of New Orleans. At the time, he was a folk musician playing under the name Jerry Ferris. Later, he changed his stage name to Jeff Walker. Then, he combined the two names.

In the mid-1960s, he was involved in the Greenwich Village folk scene. He and Bob Bruno formed the band Circus Maximus and released two albums. However, creative differences caused the pair to part ways. He released his debut solo album, Mr. Bojangles, in 1968. The title track peaked at No. 77 on the Hot 100, but failed to reach the country chart. Two years later, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released the song as a single and it reached No. 9 on the Hot 100.

Jerry Jeff Walker Goes to Texas

By the early 1970s, Ronald Crosby had legally changed his name to Jerry Jeff Walker and moved from New York to Austin, Texas. There, he fell in with the progressive and outlaw country scene. He was writing, recording, and playing local venues with Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Waylon Jennings, and other Texas legends. Unfortunately, he didn’t find the same mainstream success as others in the scene.

He did, however, write songs that were recorded by several legendary artists. For instance, “Mr. Bojangles” was a hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Then, Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Sammy Davis Jr., and other legends recorded it. Walker also co-wrote “Railroad Lady” with Jimmy Buffett. They both recorded the song before it was covered by Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Lefty Frizzell.

Walker was also a master interpreter of other writers’ songs. He recorded the definitive versions of Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother” and Guy Clark’s “Desperados Waiting for a Train.”

[RELATED: No Matter How Many Times We Hear These 3 Outlaw Country Deep Cuts from the 1970s, They Don’t Get Old]

While none of his releases were major chart hits, his 1973 live album Viva Terlingua is an outlaw country classic. Recorded in Luckenbach, Texas, the collection gives listeners a glimpse of the powerful singer, songwriter, and entertainer we lost in 2020.

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