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.
Navajo Rug
Jerry Jeff Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Home fries on the side,
You wash her down with the roadhouse coffee
That burns up your inside,
It's just a canyon, Colorado diner,
A waitress I did love,
We sat in the back 'neath an old stuffed bear,
A worn out Navajo rug.
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Shades of red and blue
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Whatever became of the Navajo rug and you?
Well, old Jack the boss, he left at six
It was, 'Katie, bar the door'.
She'd pull down that Navajo rug
And we'd spread it across the floor,
I saw lightning frame the sacred mountains
The wooing of the turtle doves
Just Iying next to Katie,
On that old Navajo rug.
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Shades of red and blue
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Whatever became of the Navajo rug and you?
Well, I saw old Jack about a year ago,
Said the place burned to the ground,
All he saved was an old bear tooth
And Katie she left town,
Well, Katie, got a souvenir too,
Jack smiled as he spit out a big old plug,
Well, you shoulda seen her coming through the smoke
She was dragging that Navajo rug.
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Shades of red and blue
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Whatever became of the Navajo rug and you?
So every time I cross the sacred mountains
And lightning jumps above,
It always takes me back in time
To my long lost Katie love,
You know everything keeps on a moving
Everybody's on the go,
Hey, you don't find things that last anymore
Like a hand-woven Navajo.
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Shades of red and blue
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
Whatever became of the Navajo rug and you!
The song "Navajo Rug" by Jerry Jeff Walker tells the story of a man reminiscing about a time in his past when he was in love with a waitress named Katie. The song starts by describing a simple breakfast - eggs on toast with home fries and coffee - that the man shared with Katie at a diner in Colorado. They would sit together in the back of the diner, surrounded by old Americana decorations and an old stuffed bear. However, the centerpiece of their spot was a worn-out Navajo rug spread on the floor. The rug is described as having shades of red and blue, and it is clear that it was a sentimental item for both the man and Katie.
As the song progresses, the man recalls moments of intimacy with Katie on the Navajo rug. He remembers a time when they were alone on the rug, and lightning flashed across the sacred mountains in the background. Despite the man's fond memories, the relationship ultimately ended. The diner burned down, and Katie left town. However, the man still thinks about Katie and the Navajo rug fondly as he travels through the sacred mountains, and he reflects on how hard it is to find things that last like the hand-woven rug.
Overall, the "Navajo Rug" is a poignant depiction of how places and objects can become intertwined with our memories and emotions for a lifetime.
Line by Line Meaning
Well it's two eggs up on whiskey toast
The meal consists of two eggs on whiskey toast
Home fries on the side
Potatoes are served alongside the main dish
You wash her down with the roadhouse coffee
The meal is consumed with strong, diner-style coffee
That burns up your inside
The coffee has a strong and possibly unpleasant effect on your stomach
It's just a canyon, Colorado diner
The scene describes a diner in a canyon in Colorado
A waitress I did love
The singer had romantic feelings for the waitress
We sat in the back 'neath an old stuffed bear
The singer and the waitress sat in the back of the diner under a stuffed bear decoration
A worn out Navajo rug
There was a worn-out Navajo rug on the floor of the diner
Aye, aye, aye, Katie,
The artist is speaking directly to Katie
Shades of red and blue
Colors that may be associated with a Navajo rug
Whatever became of the Navajo rug and you?
The singer is wondering about the fate of both Katie and the rug
Well, old Jack the boss, he left at six
The boss of the diner left work at six o'clock
It was, 'Katie, bar the door'
An expression used to tell someone to take action against impending danger
She'd pull down that Navajo rug
Katie would get the Navajo rug out for them to use on the floor
And we'd spread it across the floor
The Navajo rug would be laid out on the diner floor
I saw lightning frame the sacred mountains
The artist witnessed a lightning storm illuminating the mountains
The wooing of the turtle doves
The mating call of turtle doves
Just l̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ lying next to Katie
The singer was laying next to Katie
On that old Navajo rug
The singer and Katie were on the Navajo rug
Well, I saw old Jack about a year ago
The artist saw the diner boss a year ago
Said the place burned to the ground
The diner was destroyed in a fire
All he saved was an old bear tooth
The boss was only able to save an old bear tooth from the diner
And Katie she left town
Katie left the town following the fire
Well, Katie, got a souvenir too,
Katie had also taken a memento from the diner
Jack smiled as he spit out a big old plug
Jack smiled and spat out a piece of chewing tobacco
Well, you shoulda seen her coming through the smoke
Katie emerged out of the smoke carrying the Navajo rug
She was dragging that Navajo rug
Katie was pulling the Navajo rug out of the diner
So every time I cross the sacred mountains
The artist crosses the mountains and remembers his past experiences
And lightning jumps above
Lightning is visible in the sky above the mountains
It always takes me back in time
The singer is taken back to his experience with Katie in the diner
To my long lost Katie love
The singer is nostalgic for his past relationship with Katie
You know everything keeps on a moving
Life keeps moving forward
Everybody's on the go
Everyone is always busy and on the move
Hey, you don't find things that last anymore
The artist laments the fact that nothing seems to endure
Like a hand-woven Navajo.
The hand-woven Navajo rug is an example of something that lasts and endures
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: THOMAS GEORGE RUSSELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind