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.
Long Afternoons
Jerry Jeff Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And she loved only me
And she knew how to touch me,
And how to turn to me
She knew how to kiss,
and she knew just what to whisper
No need to explain how I felt about her
So soft brown in the sun
You could blow it away,
When she took it down undone
So fresh light and clean,
Like a snow'on a flower
No need to explain the way I still feel about her
Her ribbons and her lace,
we shared in her room
I remember them well,
On those long afternoons
And her words falling softly,
just like a warm summer shower
No need to explain the way I feel about her
Soon the hayfields are ripen
Soon the berries will show
And they will fade into autumn,
And lie under the snow
Some years among many,
Give so much to remember
There's no need to explain the way I feel about her
The song "Long Afternoons" by Jerry Jeff Walker is a beautiful and melancholic ode to a woman from the past that the singer once loved deeply. The lyrics are rich in imagery and detail, hinting at a complex and passionate relationship that has long since ended. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the song, describing the woman's ability to touch, kiss, and whisper in the singer's ear in a way that deeply moved him. Her hair is also a prominent image, described as soft brown and light like snow on a flower. The singer then goes on to describe sharing ribbons and lace with her in her room on long afternoons, where her words fell softly like a warm summer shower. The final stanza speaks more to the passage of time and the inevitability of change, as the hayfields ripen and the berries show. However, the memories of this woman, and the way she made the singer feel, are timeless and will always be cherished.
One interesting thing about this song is that it was written by Jerry Jeff Walker himself, and was first released on his 1972 album "Jerry Jeff Walker". It has since become a fan favorite and a staple of his live performances. Another interesting fact is that Walker was heavily influenced by folk and country music, and was associated with the "Outlaw Country" movement of the 1970s. He was known for his storytelling ability and his ability to capture the essence of a time and place in his lyrics. "Long Afternoons" is a perfect example of this, with its vivid imagery and emotional depth.
Another interesting aspect of this song is the use of metaphor and symbolism, particularly in the image of the woman's hair. The soft brown strands blowing in the wind is a powerful image that evokes feelings of sensuality and vulnerability. The snow on a flower imagery suggests both purity and fragility, adding to the overall sense of longing and nostalgia in the song. Also, the mention of ribbons and lace reflects a more innocent time in the singer's life, and speaks to the tender nature of his relationship with this woman.
In terms of musical style, "Long Afternoons" is a classic folk song, with its use of acoustic guitar and gentle, mournful melody. The song is simple in its structure, with three stanzas that each build on the previous one, creating a sense of momentum and emotional intensity. This simplicity allows the lyrics to stand out, and gives the listener space to connect with the feelings being expressed.
Chords:
G: 320033
Em: 022000
C: x32010
D: xx0232
Am: x02210
Line by Line Meaning
I once knew a woman
I had a past relationship with a woman
And she loved only me
She had feelings of love only for me
And she knew how to touch me,
She had a great understanding about how to make physical contact with me
And how to turn to me
She knew how to emotionally reach out to me
She knew how to kiss,
She was an expert in kissing
and she knew just what to whisper
She was good at whispering things that I wanted to hear
No need to explain how I felt about her
It's unnecessary to describe how I felt about her
And her it was brown,
The color of her hair was brown
So soft brown in the sun
Her hair looked soft and brownish in the sunlight
You could blow it away,
Her hair was so light that it could be blown by the wind
When she took it down undone
When she removed her hair tie, it would fall down untied
So fresh light and clean,
Her hair would always look neat and well-groomed
Like a snow'on a flower
Her hair was as light and delicate as snow on a flower
No need to explain the way I still feel about her
It's not necessary to describe my current feelings toward her
Her ribbons and her lace,
She had decorative ribbons and lace in her room
we shared in her room
We spent time together in her room
I remember them well,
I have vivid memories of the ribbons and lace
On those long afternoons
We spent hours together on some afternoons
And her words falling softly,
She would talk in a soft and gentle voice
just like a warm summer shower
Her voice was like a soothing, refreshing rain in the summertime
No need to explain the way I feel about her
It's not necessary to describe how I still feel about her
Soon the hayfields are ripen
The hayfields will soon be ready for harvest
Soon the berries will show
The berries will soon be ripe and ready to eat
And they will fade into autumn,
As fall approaches, they will become less vibrant
And lie under the snow
Eventually, they will be buried under snow
Some years among many,
Out of many years, there are some significant ones
Give so much to remember
Those significant years leave many memories to cherish
There's no need to explain the way I feel about her
It's not necessary to describe my feelings about her anymore
Contributed by Asher E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.