Jerry Jeff Walker

Like his buddy Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker shows signs of drifting away from singer/songwriter territory and becoming an industry. He’s released an autobiography, Gypsy Songman (in which he reveals his birth name — Ronald Clyde Crosby). He makes frequent retreats to Belize, where he recorded his latest CD, Cowboy Boots and Bathin’ Suits, which features the decidedly Parrothead-friendly tune “Just Another Gringo in Belize.” He has double handfuls of rowdy songs his fans love and demand, such as “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” “Hairy-Ass Hillbillies” and “Mr. Bojangles.” Apart from those Buffettesque moves, which have surely made Walker’s entry into the world of sixty-somethings much more pleasant, Walker can still work a song. His versions of Guy Clark’s “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train,” Billy Joe Shaver’s “Old Five and Dimers Like Me,” and Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Redneck Mother” helped put those songwriters on the map. He’s still got a great voice; his recent version of Roger Miller’s “Dang Me” lets him show off and toss a wink to another expert of reinvention.