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.
Old Five And Dimers Like Me
Jerry Jeff Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just makin' up my mind to be,
More than the measure of
What I thought others could see.
Good luck and those fast bucks
Are too few, and too far between,
Those other Cadillac driversAnd those old five and dimers like me.
You know, she stood beside me,
Tellin' me she would be something to lean on,
When everything ran out on me.
No fenced yards ain't hole cards
Like as not, never will be.
Any reason for rhymers
And those old five and dimers like me.
Now I've searched for so long,
Now that I've found that I believe
All that I do or say
Is all I ever will be.
Too far and too high and too deep
Ain't too much to be.
Yeah, too much just ain't enough
For those old five and dimers like me.
I guess an old five and dimer
Is all I intended to be.
The lyrics to Jerry Jeff Walker's song "Old Five And Dimers Like Me" reflect the singer's acceptance and embrace of his own identity as an outsider, rejecting the material wealth and success that society often measures people by. The singer has spent his life trying to be more than just what others see him as, but ultimately realizes that the struggle for success ("good luck and those fast bucks") is not worth sacrificing his true self for. He identifies with those who are similarly rejected by society, including "Cadillac drivers" and "rhymers," expressing solidarity with "old five and dimers like me."
The singer recalls that when he was at his lowest point, it was the support and love of someone who stood beside him that gave him the strength to carry on. However, he acknowledges that success in the traditional sense is not a guarantee for him or for anyone, and that the odds are stacked against him ("no fenced yards ain't hole cards / like as not, never will be"). Despite this, he remains committed to his own identity as an artist, recognizing that he has searched long and hard to find a sense of purpose and meaning that he believes in. The singer concludes that he may never achieve great wealth or status, but that being an "old five and dimer" is all he ever intended to be.
Line by Line Meaning
Yea, well I spent a lifetime Just makin' up my mind to be, More than the measure of What I thought others could see.
I've spent my whole life trying to be more than what other people wanted me to be and what they could see on the surface.
Good luck and those fast bucks Are too few, and too far between, Those other Cadillac drivers And those old five and dimers like me.
It's hard to make a living and succeed, especially when you're up against people with more money and status. There are only a few lucky ones who make it and the rest of us are struggling to get by.
You know, she stood beside me, Tellin' me she would be something to lean on, When everything ran out on me. No fenced yards ain't hole cards Like as not, never will be. Any reason for rhymers And those old five and dimers like me.
She was there for me during tough times and promised to be a source of support when everything else fails. The odds are against me, as I don't have a lot of resources or connections. There's no clear path forward for me or other people like me who might try to make a living as a songwriter or musician.
Now I've searched for so long, Now that I've found that I believe All that I do or say Is all I ever will be.
After a long search, I've come to realize that I am who I am and will never be anyone else. Everything I do or say defines me and that's all there is to it.
Too far and too high and too deep Ain't too much to be. Yeah, too much just ain't enough For those old five and dimers like me.
It's okay to strive for something better, but sometimes it's just not possible. For people like me who have already been through a lot, even doing the bare minimum can be a challenge, so we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves.
I guess an old five and dimer Is all I intended to be.
In the end, I've accepted that I am an old five and dimer and that's all I ever wanted to be or could be.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Billy Shaver
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@soundguy5813
RIP Jerry Jeff & Billy Joe ! Both one of a kind.!
@michaelmckenzie5232
We lost the singer and writer this week .This tunes fueled my youth.Feeling old and vulnerable
@kathyjacques2688
Not that anybody cares but Jerry Jeff has got me through a lot of rough spots in my travels so embrace that mind set!
@shagbarghhickory837
I care, he did the same thing for me. I sang lots of his songs as I hitchhiked across the USA and Canada.
@k1j2f30
I knew a lot of "old five and dimers" when I was growing up in Wyoming in the early 70's. Hell, most everyone I new were "five and dimers." I had a lot of fun drinkin' and smokin' and fightin' with them. I always saw my self as being more than that, I'd show them. Some 45 years later, looking at myself, I can see "an old five and dimer is all I was intended to be." And.....that's alright. Goodnight Jerry Jeff where ever you are ol' boy, and thanks for all those eloquent words of inspiration over the years. I hung on every one of them.
@reocutler104
Where were you? I was in Rock Springs in the 70's. I tirned into a 5 and dimer myself.
@phibber
Billy Jo Shaver wrote this song
@michaelmckenzie5232
See ya on the other side.You fueled a lot of my weekends in my misspent youth
@pcoffey49
What we can remember about those weekends ;-)
@oprin10
I am so devastated right now, I love you Jerry Jeff!