Search - Jerry Jeff Walker :: Ridin High

Essential Jerry Jeff, Part II

TundraVision | o/~ from the Land of Sky Blue Waters o/~ | 07/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First you need to get Viva Terlingua, and be able - drunk, sober, or anywhere in between - to drawl "You're from down South, and when you open your mouth, you always seem to put your foot there" (London Homesick Blues - Home with the Armadillo) and give the component words to the MOTHER acronymn in Up Against the Wall. Once you have passed Jerry Jeff 101, you need to proceed to "Ridin High." I cannot to this day hear or speak the proverb "the Pot can't call the Kettle black" without fighting the sometimes almost insurmountable urge to sing it.And, in a song that rivals the pH of that song about vain folk who fly off to Nova Scotia in their Lear Jet to see a total eclipse of the sun, fire an acerbic shot at a soon-to-be-former lover:
"Well, don't get up, I can find my own way to the door.
Well I can see you are an angel,
Whose wings just won't unfold
Tune up your harp
Polish your old halo
Yeah, the only kind of man that you ever wanted
Was the one that you knew you'd never hold very long
Sitting there cryin' like I'm the first one to go." In the ballad Night Rider's Lament, JJ responds to folks who accuse: "you must have gone crazy out there:" "they ain't never seen the Northern Lights, They never seen the hawk on the wing" He ain't crazy! He's an endearing and enduring music icon!And of course, there's the piece de resistance, the Quixotic anthem to futility and performing necessary biological functions in the face of meteorological hindrances whence, much to our chagrin, it blows on all our friends."

Ridin' High still rules

TundraVision | 06/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you own only one Jerry Jeff album, this should be it. I have been listening to it for over 25 years and have never, ever gotten tired of it. The songs are like old friends and take me back to my college days. It is one of those rare albums where you like every single song and love most of them. "Jaded Lover" is my favorite Jerry Jeff song. Listen to "Pissin' in the Wind" and you will always feel better."

His Best Studio Album

D. Allen | McKinney Texas | 10/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This record has a live feel to it, and it is full of great songs that don't seem to get old. According to legend, Jerry Jeff went down to Austin in the very early seventies to check out the scene at the Armadillo World Headquarters and fell in love with the Austin music scene and the Hill Country. He joined and became the the central figure in the now legendary music that came out of Austin in the early and mid seventies. He also put out a couple of fine records before joining the Austin scene:

"Drifting Way of Life" and "Bein' Free". Highly recommended if you like Jerry Jeff and don't already have them. BTW: Michael Murphey's "Geronimo's Cadillac" and "Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir" are finally available on CD as an Australian import here on Amazon."