R.I.P.: Jerry Jeff Walker, Texas Music Scene Influencer

Jerry Jeff Walker (March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020)

Jerry Jeff Walker, perhaps most noted around the world as the man who penned pop and country hit “Mr. Bojangles” has died at the age of 78, reports dfw.cbslocal.com.  According to the Associated Press, family spokesman John T. Davis said Walker died Friday, October 23 of cancer.

“He had battled throat cancer for many years, and some other health issues, the cause death was cancer,” Davis said Saturday.

“The last time I’ll play here,” a quote from Jerry Jeff’s, “Too Old To Change” album released in 1979. He uttered the line prior to recording the title track on that album. “I can’t say I’ve been sorry, about anything I’ve ran off to see,” another lyric from that song. Both seem a bit prophetic in how Walker lived his life. And how he left it.

Although, when Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017 he was quoted as saying, “I guess I took my singing for granted, and now I don’t.” Walker was speaking to the Austin American Statesman in 2018 and told them he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

North Texas country music radio personality Mark “Hawkeye” Louis of 96.3 KSCS reacted to the loss of Walker.

“The Texas Music Scene exists today because of the groundwork that Jerry Jeff Walker laid back in the 70s. The fact that his fans span all generations is a testament to his talent as a songwriter and a performer. It is a sad day for Texas,” Hawkeye said.

Jerry Jeff Walker was not a native Texan, but as he was often quoted, he “got here as quick” as he could. He had his roots in New York’s Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s and he was a founding member of the band Circus Maximus – that according to the Associated press. He moved to Texas in the 1970s and in 1972 had his first hit with his version of the Guy Clark song “L.A. Freeway.”

It was shortly thereafter that Jerry Jeff Walker helped inspire the new Cosmic Cowboy Texas music scene.