In the past week, country music lost both Billy Joe Shaver and Jerry Jeff Walker. Both were figures in the Outlaw Country movement, and I have deep admiration for both of their talents. Of the two, Walker was the one who always left me awestruck. Everyone's referencing his first big song, "Mr. Bojangles," which ironically was a bigger hit for other artists than it ever was for him. But it's Walker's 1973 album Viva Terlingua! recorded live in Luckenbach, Texas, that really cemented his place as a performer unmatched. Backed by the Lost Gonzo Band, I argue that if someone has only one country album in their music collection, it should be Jerry Jeff's Viva Terlingua!. It's a stretch to say Jerry Jeff single-handedly saved country music from the "Nashville Sound" with it, but when folks like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings heard it and realized what artists could accomplish on their own without studio interference, well, things were never the same after that. Not quite two decades later, Jerry Jeff recorded another excellent live album, this one in Gruene Hall, not five miles where I live now. He played there regularly for years, and I always said, "Next time he has a show, I'm going to go." There was always a conflict, though, and I never did. Now I never will. Here's "Pickup Truck Song" performed in Gruene Hall, showcasing his mastery as a storyteller and an unmatched ability to make even the most mundane of subjects fascinating and entertaining.
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