Although never reaching the mainstream success of outlaw country counterparts like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker’s fingerprints are all over the genre. His best-known song, “Mr. Bojangles”, became a Top 10 hit on the all-genre Hot 100 for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1971. Walker has also been covered by well-known country artists like Sammy Davis Jr., Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, and Bob Dylan. On this day (March 16), we’re paying tribute to Jerry Jeff Walker on what would have marked his 84th birthday.
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Jerry Jeff Walker Was Born An Outlaw
Born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta, New York, on March 16, 1942, Walker grew up “surrounded by music.” His maternal grandparents led a square-dance band in the small upstate town roughly 180 miles northwest of New York City.
In fact, his grandmother, Jessie Conrow, gifted the 13-year-old his first guitar on Christmas 1954. Crosby learned the instrument by listening to artists like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Marty Robbins, Louis Armstrong, and more. By his teen years, he was playing with local bands.
Upon graduating from Oneonta High School in 1960, Crosby joined the National Guard at his father’s urging. However, military service couldn’t quite slake his thirst for adventure, and he soon went AWOL, busking his way across the country after his discharge. In the late 1960s, Crosby legally changed his name to Jerry Jeff Walker, an amalgamation of his two aliases, Jerry Ferris, and Jeff Walker.
“Mr. Bojangles”
Spending some time in New York City on the Greenwich Village folk scene, Walker wrote and recorded his best-known song, “Mr. Bojangles,” for his 1968 album of the same name. He based the track on a street performer he met in a New Orleans jail, who went by that name to hide his identity from police.
Aside from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s hit version, artists including Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone, and Bob Dylan also put their spin on the song.
Securing a record deal, Jerry Jeff Walker settled in Austin, Texas, in the early 1970s. There, he fell in with an outlaw crowd that included Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kinky Friedman, and Guy Clark. In 1972, Walker covered Clark’s “L.A. Freeway” for his self-titled album.
Walker died of throat cancer on Oct. 23, 2020, at age 78. He recorded more than 30 albums throughout his career.
Featured image by Erika Goldring/Getty Images
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