During the late 1950s, Crosby was a member of a local Oneonta teen band called The Tones. The band traveled to Philadelphia to audition for Dick Clark's "American Bandstand", but were turned down. Members of the band found Dick Clark's house and were able to get a recommendation to audition at New York City's Baton Records through the company's lead producer Sol Rabinowitz. The band was given a recording contract, but the studio wanted a quintet backed by studio musicians, which left Crosby and another member out of their recordings.
After high school, Crosby joined the National Guard, but his thirst for adventure led him to go AWOL and roam the country busking for a living in areas like New Orleans, Texas, Florida, and New York. He played mostly ukulele until Harriet Ottenheimer, one of the founders of The Quorum, got him settled on a guitar in 1963. He adopted his stage name "Jerry Jeff Walker" in 1966. He spent his early folk music days in Greenwich Village in the mid 1960s. He co-founded a band with Bob Bruno in the late 1960s called Circus Maximus that put out two albums one with the popular west coast hit "Wind", but Bruno's interest in jazz apparently diverged from Walker's interest in folk music. Walker thus resumed his solo career and recorded the seminal album "Mr. Bojangles" with the help of David Bromberg and other influential Atlantic recording artists. He settled in Austin, Texas, in the 1970s associating mainly with the country-rock outlaw scene that included artists such as Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Waylon Jennings, and Townes Van Zandt.
"Mr. Bojangles" (written by Walker) is perhaps his most well-known and most-often covered song. It was about an obscure alcoholic but talented tap-dancing drifter, (not the famous stage and movie dancer Bill Robinson, as usually assumed). Bojangles is thought to have been a folk character who entertained informally in the south of the US and California, and some say he might have been one of the most gifted natural dancers ever. Authentic reports of him exist from the 1920s through about 1965. Artists from Nina Simone to Bob Dylan, Philip Glass to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, have covered the song. Walker has also recorded songs written by others such as "LA Freeway" (Guy Clark), and "Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother" (Ray Wylie Hubbard).
A string of records for MCA and Elektra followed Jerry Jeff's move to Austin, before he gave up on the mainstream music business and formed his own independent record label. Tried & True Music was founded in 1986, with his wife Susan as President and manager. Susan also founded Goodknight Music as his management company and Tried & True Artists for his bookings. A series of increasingly autobiographical records followed under the Tried & True imprint. Tried & True also sells his autobiography called "Gypsy Songman". In 2004, Jerry Jeff released his first DVD of songs from his past as performed in an intimate setting in Austin, TX.
He interpreted the songs of others like Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, Keith Sykes, Paul Siebel, Bob Dylan, Todd Snider and even a rodeo clown named Billy Jim Baker.
His son, Django Walker, is also a musician. In addition to his residence in Austin, Walker had a retreat on Ambergris Caye in Belize where he recorded his "Cowboy Boots and Bathing Suits" album in 1998.
Members of his band varied over the years. The Lost Gonzo Band and the Gonzo Compadres have backed him in the past. Key members of his band included Craig Hillis - guitarist and arranger on Viva Terlingua, John Inmon, Freddy Krc, Gary P. Nunn, Bob Livingston, Bobby Rambo, Mitch Watkins, Steve Samuel, David Bromberg and others.
Blue Mood
Jerry Jeff Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well I'd already turned the lights out, almost gone to sleep
When a little voice inside me asked, are you all you thought you'd be?
This late night singing's just like dreaming,
More like talking to yourself
I don't find many answers, but the music seems to help.
It's just a blue mood I'm in, comes every now and then
It's the kind that softly knocks you down to your knees
But it's gonna pass in time, in a day or two, well, I'll be fine
Just tonight those blues got the last ol' laugh on me.
I heard they got Suzanna's money, like they stole Fred Neil's and mine
Well, I guess that reinforces music's all we've got sometimes,
Life's mostly handshakes and divorces,
True blue friends that bend and sway
While the price of living honestly comes harder every day.
Chorus
Yeah, I've been recovering from surgery, yea, they took a piece of me,
Well, I've been cut much deeper, I always got back on my feet,
But with the passing of John Henry, then the loss of Stevie Ray;
I see the light of our own time get dimmer every day.
Chorus
The first verse of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Blue Mood" depicts the singer's introspection at night. The singer is questioning whether they have fulfilled their life's expectations. The singer goes on to liken their night time singing to dreaming or talking to oneself. The singer finds solace in music, but not necessarily answers. The second verse continues with the theme of music and its impact on life, tying in the idea that "music's all we've got sometimes." There is a nod to the harsh reality of life with lines about "life's mostly handshakes and divorces" and the difficulty of living honestly.
The chorus brings the song's title, "Blue Mood," to the forefront. The singer admits to being stuck in a blue mood that hits them every now and then, causing them to feel knocked down to their knees. However, the singer acknowledges that the mood will eventually pass, alluding to the idea that time is a great healer. Then the song ends with the final verse featuring a few references to specific musicians and their impact on the singer, including a recent loss of a piece of their own body through surgery.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I'd already turned the lights out, almost gone to sleep
I was about to go to bed when I began to indulge in deep introspection.
When a little voice inside me asked, are you all you thought you'd be?
A small inner voice inquired if my accomplishments so far are aligning with my original aspirations.
This late night singing's just like dreaming,
When I sing like this, it feels like I am in a dream state.
More like talking to yourself
It's like talking to myself; I don't feel like I'm singing to entertain anyone else.
I don't find many answers, but the music seems to help.
Music doesn't necessarily solve my problems, but it provides some kind of solace.
It's just a blue mood I'm in, comes every now and then
I'm feeling blue, it's a passing emotion that revisits me time and again.
It's the kind that softly knocks you down to your knees
This mood is one that unhurriedly pushes me down to my lowest point.
But it's gonna pass in time, in a day or two, well, I'll be fine
However, I know this mood will eventually flee, and I will feel okay in a day or two.
Just tonight those blues got the last ol' laugh on me.
Only tonight the blues managed to get the best of me.
I heard they got Suzanna's money, like they stole Fred Neil's and mine
I heard how Suzanna got cheated out of her money; just like how they cheated Fred Neil and me.
Well, I guess that reinforces music's all we've got sometimes,
These incidents reinforce that sometimes all we have is music to cope with injustice.
Life's mostly handshakes and divorces,
Life is mostly constituted by fleeting relationships and breakups.
True blue friends that bend and sway
True friends are those who help and support us despite their own struggles.
While the price of living honestly comes harder every day.
The cost of living honestly keeps getting steeper each day.
Yeah, I've been recovering from surgery, yea, they took a piece of me,
I'm still getting better after surgery that left me scarred and hurt.
Well, I've been cut much deeper, I always got back on my feet,
I've been hurt more deeply before, but I've always managed to recover.
But with the passing of John Henry, then the loss of Stevie Ray;
However, losing two great legends like John Henry and Stevie Ray still affects me deeply.
I see the light of our own time get dimmer every day.
I feel like the light of contemporary times is fading away as great musicians pass away.
Chorus
Refrain/repeated chorus.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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