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.
My Old Man
Jerry Jeff Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He'd hear an ol' freight train and he'd have to go
Said he'd been blessed with a gypsy bone
And that's the reason I guess that he'd been cursed to roam
Came to town back before the war
Didn't even know what it was he was lookin' for
He carried a tattered bag for his violin
Full of lots of songs of the places he had been
He could pass along to you when his fiddle played
Makin' people drop their cares and woes
And hum out loud the tunes that his fiddle bowed
Til the people there began to join that sound
And ev'ryone in town was laughin,' singin,' dancin' 'round
Like the Fiddler's tunes we all there heard that night
Like some dream that says all the world is right
Instrumental Break
The Fiddler's eye caught a beauty there
She had that rollin' flowin' golden kind of hair
He played for her as if she danced alone
He played his favorite songs, the ones he called his own
She alone was dancin' in the room
The only thing left movin' to that Fiddler's tune
Instrumental break
He played until she was the last to go
The he stopped and packed his case, said he'd take her home
In all the nights that passed a child was born
In all the years that passed, love would keep them warm
And all their lives they'd share that dream come true
And all because she danced so well his fiddler tune
Instrumental break
The train next mornin' blew a lonesome sound
As if she sang the blues of what she took from town
And all that I recall that was said when I was young
There's no one else could really sing those songs he sung
The song "My Old Man" by Jerry Jeff Walker is a touching tribute to the singer's father, who had a restless spirit and a love of music. The lyrics paint a picture of a man who was never satisfied with staying in one place for too long, always feeling compelled to follow the call of the freight trains that passed by. He was a musician at heart, carrying his violin and an old tattered bag filled with songs he had collected during his travels. His fiddle playing had a magical quality that made people drop their cares and get lost in the music. When he played, everybody in town would sing and dance around, and for a little while, everything felt right in the world.
Despite his wanderlust, the old man eventually found a home and a family. He fell in love with a woman who was moved by his music, and together they had a child. Love kept them warm, and the old man's music continued to be a part of their lives. When the old man finally passed away, he left behind a legacy of beautiful music that no one else could sing quite like him.
The lyrics of "My Old Man" are a poignant reminder of the power of music to bring people together and create lasting memories. It's a tribute to the men and women who dedicate their lives to making music, and to the loved ones who support and cherish them.
Line by Line Meaning
My old man had a rounder soul
My father was a wanderer with a deep free-spirited nature
He'd hear an ol' freight train and he'd have to go
Whenever he heard the sound of a freight train, he felt compelled to leave and explore new places
Said he'd been blessed with a gypsy bone
He believed that he was fortunate to have inherited a restless nature from his ancestors
And that's the reason I guess that he'd been cursed to roam
However, he also acknowledged that this nature made it tough for him to stay settled in one place.
Came to town back before the war
He arrived in town long before the war started
Didn't even know what it was he was lookin' for
At the time he arrived, he had no specific goal in mind
He carried a tattered bag for his violin
He brought along his violin in an old, worn-out bag
Full of lots of songs of the places he had been
The violin bag was filled with numerous songs that he had composed while wandering
He talked real easy and he smiled and waved
He was an easygoing man who greeted people with a smile and wave
He could pass along to you when his fiddle played
When he played his violin, he was able to convey a sense of joy and happiness to those listening
Makin' people drop their cares and woes
His music was powerful enough to make people forget their troubles and worries
And hum out loud the tunes that his fiddle bowed
Listeners were inspired to sing and hum along to the tunes he played on his violin
Til the people there began to join that sound
As more and more people joined in the singing and humming, the music grew louder and more lively
And ev'ryone in town was laughin,' singin,' dancin' 'round
Eventually, everyone in the town joined in the celebration and began singing and dancing
Like the Fiddler's tunes we all there heard that night
The music played by the Fiddler that night was so beautiful it was etched into everyone's memory
Like some dream that says all the world is right
The memory of that music was like a dream that hinted at a world where everything was perfect
The Fiddler's eye caught a beauty there
The Fiddler noticed a beautiful woman in the crowd
She had that rollin' flowin' golden kind of hair
The woman had striking, flowing golden hair
He played for her as if she danced alone
The Fiddler played music as if the woman was the only one dancing in the room
He played his favorite songs, the ones he called his own
He played his personal favorites, the songs that he had written himself
She alone was dancin' in the room
At that moment, the woman was the only one dancing
The only thing left movin' to that Fiddler's tune
All eyes were on the woman moving with grace and beauty to the rhythm of the Fiddler's tunes
He played until she was the last to go
He continued to play until the woman was the only one left dancing
The he stopped and packed his case, said he'd take her home
After the music stopped, the Fiddler packed his belongings and offered to escort the woman to her home
In all the nights that passed a child was born
Over the nights that followed, a child was conceived
In all the years that passed, love would keep them warm
The two fell in love and their affection for one another continued to blossom over the years
And all their lives they'd share that dream come true
Throughout their entire lives, the couple cherished the beautiful memory of the night they met through the music of the Fiddler
And all because she danced so well his fiddler tune
The woman's enchanting dancing set the stage for the Fiddler's music to unite a couple in a deep and lasting love
The train next mornin' blew a lonesome sound
The train departing the next morning added a melancholic cadence to the air
As if she sang the blues of what she took from town
As the train moved away, it felt like a mournful tribute to the woman who took the man's heart and passion away to their new life elsewhere
And all that I recall that was said when I was young
These are the memories and stories that I have heard of my father from when I was a child
There's no one else could really sing those songs he sung
My father was unique in his music talent and special way of expressing his joy in song, with nobody else coming close to matching his skills.
Lyrics © Crazy Crow Music / Siquomb Music Publishing
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind