It’s Turntable Tuesday because life is too short not to listen to great music! Turn that TV off! Crank up a speaker near you and let the neighbors hear your music! On Tuesday March 16 my phone calendar told me it was Scamp Walker’s birthday. I thought it would be a good day to celebrate the music of a man who has added so much fun to my life for many years.
If you would like to listen to my companion podcast you can listen here or subscribe for free on any of the streaming services you use. My podcast is easily searchable on any streaming service where you get your podcasts by searching “Andrew Talbert.” Look for the World Wide Music Media logo. I’ll see you on your mobile device.
This week on the podcast Andrew is joined by Bob Livingston to talk all about this classic album as Bob was the bass player on “Viva Terlingua” and a founding member of Jerry Jeff’s “Lost Gonzo Band.” This is the album that brings you the origins of famous tracks like Gary P. Nunn’s “London Homesick Blues” which was has been the theme song for the PBS series Austin City Limits for almost thirty years as well as Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother.” Bob has collaborated with a long list of musicians for almost five decades and his resume is so extensive it takes seven pages to print it. More on all of that this week on the podcast. Bob’s website can be found at this link: https://www.boblivingstonmusic.com/
Jerry Jeff Walker. I first heard that name in a little town in Mississippi called Madden. I had moved there with my family as my Dad had taken a job with the brand new branch bank there. The new bank was a big deal for this town which only really had a three way stop sign in front of what could be called a general store. The nearest grocery store was about 15 miles away and the main bank office was in that same town. There was one of the best schools in the state right in Madden and I was lucky to have a spot in that building. There was a very small hospital and a tiny post office. That was about it for this town. You could say Saturday nights could be pretty quiet for a teenager unless you were hanging out with a slightly older crowd who played guitars and music. This crowd was also either going to college and maybe visiting family locally on the weekends or working the two weeks on, two weeks off on schedule on the oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico out of Louisiana. A couple of these locals were sometimes hauling cattle to as far as Texas. With these sources for music importation there was a good chance some great tunes were going to be heard from some very musically rich areas. I was all into listening to the regional trends coming out of the 12 volt audio systems in trucks and cars. It wasn’t long after I arrived in Madden that I was listening to the music of Jerry Jeff Walker, Gary P. Nunn, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jimmy Buffett who was the “local” boy done good, and many others including Willie Nelson. “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother” from Viva Terlingua was a local hit song for our 1970’s generation and a bit of a theme song in high school.
Many years later I would meet Jerry Jeff and his wife Susan several times whether it was on a Key West beach performing in 2006 or backstage before a show in Asheville, North Carolina to talk about his then new “Jerry Jeff Jazz” album. I still have the radio promo tracks he did for me that day in Asheville and really enjoyed the conversations I had with him. Jerry Jeff Walker has produced some amazing music for this generation and has always surrounded himself with some amazing musicians. His music will live on for a long, long time.
Be sure to listen in and subscribe to the companion podcast this week. Special guest “Viva Terlingua” bass player and founding “Gonzo Band member” Bob Livingston joins me as we talk about the history and tracks from this 1973 classic album.
Until next time, I’ll see you down the road.