come out to play in Texas
the likes of you. Every year to honor their sacred scribe, rabid fans of Jerry Jeff Walker descend on Central Texas to remind us that it was Jerry Jeff at the wheel when Jimmy Buffett first discovered that Florida beach.
"Jerry Jeff was in his old Packard and drove Jimmy Buffett to the beach the first time," Victor Camozzi, a copywriter for GSD&M, said in defense of Jerry Jeff mania. "It's similar to the Parrothead phenomena,
but on a smaller, Texafied scale."
Not too small. Susan Walker, Jerry Jeff's wife and the backbone of his publishing company Tried & True Music, reminds us that the fan club list has grown to 60,000 names scattered across the globe. The annual birthday bash competes with regular tropical outings to Belize for fan club frenzy.
"It's so fun to see these people who have nothing in common but Jerry Jeff's music bond," Susan Walker said. "It's a real release for them."
They're lawyers, business people, mothers and sons, but they all have an affinity for the songwriter whose ditties veer from heartwarming to heart racing and back again. Some jumped on the Walker wagon in the '70s when redneck rock had Austin hippies rubbing shoulders with cowboys and the Jerry Jeff touchstone "Viva Terlingua" hit the record racks with a bang. Others are of a more recent vintage.
Camozzi, 27, is somewhere in between. As a kid, he and his cousin listened to his aunt's records and discovered the semi-naughty singalong "Pissing in the Wind." They were hooked and the two kids have
grown into adult fans--so much so that California resident Camozzi jumped at a job opportunity that would mean he could LIVE IN AUSTIN!
"When you're a Jerry Jeff fan, it's like you're in on a secret," Camozzi said. "For a lot of fans his songs and lyrics are your Bible for life. You can slap on a vinyl album and find the words to sustain you."
Listen long enough and the music and the man become forever entwined in your life story. Take Jill Clement of Houston, who was accused of being the "Walker Stalker" by friends after seeing Jerry Jeff perform
34 times in '96 alone. She's also been on the Belize trip six times and attended the last five birthday bashes.
"His lyrics touch my heart and speak to me," she explained.
Like that night in Gruene Hall. Jerry Jeff and the Gonzo Compadres were jamming on stage. Jill and boyfriend Zach bobbed to the music. Suddenly the band paused. Zach asked Jill to climb the hill to marriage. She said yes. Jerry Jeff broke into the Guy Clark-penned "Coat from the Cold." Zach and Jill danced as one.
For Chris Joyce, 45, of Chicago, Jerry Jeff is a pilgrimage back to his days at Boston College. The night in the mid-'70s when the Boston Red Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth game of the World Series to force a seventh game, Joyce chose instead to see Jerry Jeff open for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. No regrets.
Next the college buddies wandered to Austin. Had Charlie Dunn fashion them some manly footwear, saw David Allen Coe perform at the Armadillo World Headquarters, got a Goat Roper Radio bumpersticker at KOKE-FM. Joyce and his college roommates have been coming back for the birthday celebration for 13 years. His wife doesn't understand it, but she's accepted Jerry Jeff as a part of the package deal.
"It's generational now," said Joyce, a cable television executive. "People's kids are now into Jerry Jeff. You can put your arms around it and be part of it, as opposed to people who go to a 20,000-seat arena."
That would surely include Betty Carson of Nashville and her 26-year-old son Kevin Shackleford. They liked Jerry Jeff so much they bought the company. Well, not quite, but they did buy land near Luckenbach and plan on building a vacation home there. She first went to Luckenbach in the '70s when Kevin was barely out of
diapers. She went back when Kevin toured with Todd Snider in '96 and was thoroughly smitten with the holiest of Jerry Jeff concert venues.
"Even though you have kids, you're not sure you're grown up yet yourself," Carson said. "The paradox about (Jerry Jeff) is he does the rowdy kicking stuff, but also the reflective songs. I think that's true of all of us."