Jerry Jeff Walker - CD

Jerry Jeff Walker's album was first released in 1972 and now available on an expanded CD with five extra songs including a 2002 version of his classic Mr. Bojangles. This album was one which introduced Texan Walker as part of the left-field non-Nashville country acts of the day alongside Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and Waylon Jennings. In the liner notes Walker - who has actually recorded about 30 albums - speaks of being studio averse (he says cutting tunes sounds like surgery) yet on these dates recorded live in Austin and New York he enjoyed the support of top drawer players like guitarist/violinist Dave Bromberg, mouth harp player Mickey Raphael and others on songs which sometimes stand on the edge of country rock. Although his originals are often folksy and poetic if slightly downbeat, he also delivers excellent versions of Guy Clark's "That Old Time Feeling" and "L.A. Freeway", and Rodney Crowell's "Song for the Life" among the bonus tracks.