Steve Earle once said that when he was a teenager, he wanted to be
Jerry Jeff Walker more than anything else in the world, and while
Walker may not be the most obvious influence on his music, the eclecticism of his body of work and his talent for re-inventing himself clearly resonated with
Earle, a man who's gone out of his way to carve out new trails for himself even when it was difficult.
Walker was born in Oneonta, New York, and was a member of the psychedelic band
Circus Maximus before he fell in love with Texas and evolved from a folkie into a member of the Lone Star Outlaw community, the same place where
Earle found his first musical home. 2022's
Jerry Jeff is the fourth (and to take him at his word, the last) in
Earle's series of albums paying homage to songwriters who were important to him, and while the previous LPs (honoring
Townes Van Zandt,
Guy Clark, and his late son
Justin Townes Earle) saw
Earle finding his way into the songs of his heroes,
Jerry Jeff sounds the most like a "Steve Earle" album, as the smart but rowdy attack of
Earle and his band
the Dukes meshes with the smart but rowdy tone of
Walker's lyrics. As a fan and fellow songwriter,
Earle appreciates the full range of
Walker's work, and he's equally comfortable with the playful swagger of "Gettin' By" and "I Makes Money (Money Don't Make Me)" as with the poignance of "My Old Man" and "Little Bird."
Earle manages to sing
Walker's best-known song, "Mr. Bojangles," without sounding rote, and if "Gypsy Songman" was a spunky bit of self-invention for
Walker,
Earle sees it for what it is, as well as knowing it (perhaps unwittingly) mapped out a course he's followed through his own life. At the age of 67,
Earle's voice is rougher and his range narrower than it once was, but he still knows how to deliver a good story, and he appreciates the material enough to give it the right balance of vigor and dynamics.
Jerry Jeff ultimately doesn't boast the gravity of
Earle's previous tribute projects, but that's as much a product of the material as anything else --
Walker rarely aspired to
Townes Van Zandt's level of darkness or
Guy Clark's touches of dour romanticism, and the music reflects his more straightforward eloquence. That said,
Earle sings these songs like they truly matter to him, and with
Jerry Jeff he says farewell to a musical comrade with a very real respect and affection that comes through with every note. ~ Mark Deming
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