50th Celebration Viva Terlingua Recording - AUGUST 18 & 19, 2023
JERRY JEFF WALKER’S INDUSTRY-CHANGING ALBUM
VIVA TERLINGUA! TURNS 50 WITH TWO-DAY CELEBRATION IN
COSMIC HOME OF LUCKENBACH TEXAS
AUGUST 18 & 19, 2023
Festivities Include:
● Special Preview of “THEY CALLED US OUTLAWS” Docuseries, Featuring
Jerry Jeff Walker — Presented in Association with the Country Music Hall of
Fame® and Museum
● Friday Night “Songs & Stories” hosted by Django Walker with numerous
Jerry Jeff protégé’s, Members of the Lost Gonzo Band, and “Cosmic
Cowboy” Icons
● Saturday Night Dance Under the Luckenbach Moon
MORE INFORMATION + TICKETS HERE
JUNE 11, 2023: “Hey Buckaroos, It’s Scamp Walker Time Again.” That immortal exhortation by
original Cosmic Cowboy, Jerry Jeff Walker, introduced the legendary album VIVA TERLINGUA!
to the world in 1973. And, in fact, it is “Scamp Walker Time Again” in celebration of the “Gypsy
Songman” himself and the 50th Anniversary of the album that captured the developing spirit of
the Austin sound and Outlaw Country movement. This timeless masterpiece, featuring the
acclaimed Lost Gonzo Band, immortalized the iconic town of Luckenbach Texas nearly four
years before Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson would put it on an international map.
On August 18 and 19, critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter Django Walker, son of Jerry Jeff
and Susan Walker will produce a 2-day 50th anniversary celebration of VIVA TERLINGUA!, in
partnership with the world-famous Luckenbach Texas. Kicking off the festivities on Friday night is a special
preview screening of “THEY CALLED US OUTLAWS,” the highly-anticipated six-chapter, twelve-hour
documentary on the history and legacy of the Outlaw country-rock movement of Cosmic
Cowboys and Honky Tonk Heroes, directed by Austin’s Eric Geadelmann and presented in
association with the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. A Jerry Jeff Walker short film
was created exclusively for the event to celebrate the industry-changing album and highlight
the story of Luckenbach’s Hondo Crouch and his friendship with Jerry Jeff, plus never-beforeseen
archival footage and interviews with luminaries of the past and present.
Friday night’s highlight will include an evening of “Songs & Stories” in Luckenbach’s famous
dancehall, hosted by Django Walker alongside numerous protégés of Jerry Jeff, plus members
of the Lost Gonzo Band and several Cosmic Cowboy luminaries. The celebration continues on
Saturday with an outdoor dance under the Luckenbach Moon, with many surprises and special
guests.
“Music brought my Pops so much joy,” Django expressed, “and VIVA TERLINGUA! captured the
joy in the not knowing, as I like to say. As in, ‘where’s he going with this?’ ‘What’s going to
happen next?’ And, ‘how’s this going to turn out?’ This 50th Celebration is an extension of that
mystery --- ‘who’s going to play? ‘What’s going to happen next?’”
JERRY JEFF WALKER
A New York native, the celebrated musician and storyteller migrated to Austin’s “Groover’s
Paradise” scene in 1971 after hitchhiking and busking around the country; and a stint in the
Greenwich Village Folk scene that produced the quintessential song, “Mr. Bojangles,”
popularized by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and recorded by a wide range of artists such as Harry
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Belafonte, Tom Jones, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Bob Dylan. Michael Martin Murphy declared that
“Mr. Bojangles is the greatest American song ever.”
“Texas,” Jerry Jeff explained, “was the only place where they didn’t look at me like I was crazy.”
But it was during a walk, down the sidewalk back in Manhattan, that led to the inspiration to
record the album that would forever cement his legacy in the annals of American music and
Texas culture.
Jerry Jeff had gone up to New York to finish mixing his first project for MCA (“Jerry Jeff Walker”)
that included legendary songwriter and close friend Guy Clark’s acclaimed song, “L.A. Freeway”
and was recorded in a little studio on Sixth Street in Austin; without a mixing board. “I didn’t
really labor over the process of recording,” Jerry Jeff explained. “I had an idea how it should
feel.”
“So I had gone up to New York,” Jerry Jeff revealed, “I’m walking down the street, and there’s
an RV parked on the curb, two wheels on the curb with a bunch of chords going out and in
through a bathroom window and it says, ‘Dale Ashby and Father Recording Services.’ It turned
out Ol’ Pop Ashby was a top engineer who had spent his whole life inside a studio. He wanted
to build a remote truck to go on location. And, so I tapped on the door. They opened and I said,
‘What are you guys doing?’ They said, ‘We’re making a live recording here at this town hall
concert.’ I said, ‘No shit! How would you guys like to go to Luckenbach Texas?’ They said, ‘Give
us a map, we’ll find it.’”
“HONDO’S TOWN – LUCKENBACH TEXAS”
Jerry Jeff figured he had a great idea, “We’re going to go to this dance hall in Luckenbach Texas
where I always have fun – down at Hondo’s town – and we’re going to make an album down
there under the trees.”
VIVA TERLINGUA! was recorded (mostly) live in the picturesque, tiny hill country hamlet of
Luckenbach Texas (est. 1849) where “everybody’s somebody” and Hondo became the “Clown
Prince,” authoring poems, celebrating Luckenbach’s big full moon, holding court at various
“offishul” festivities and generally giving grown-ups permission to get in touch with the child
within. Hondo’s business card read “Imagineer,” and people began to fall under the magical
spell of Luckenbach; including Jerry Jeff.
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“Hondo was magical,” Jerry Jeff expressed, “He was always hip but down to earth. He was
always kind of a twinkly good time … just magical. We got married there, Susan and I, and we
just had fun down there all the time.”
VIVA TERLINGUA!
Recording the album was a Sangria Wine-fueled merrymaking time; “Wild and Wooly” is how
Jerry Jeff described it. “Well, about 900 people showed up to that little dance hall. Hondo had
to come up that night and tell them to get down out of the rafters. The old dance hall wouldn’t
make it.”
The album features unforgettable tracks such as “Sangria Wine” (written by Jerry Jeff and
inspired by a crazy night in Coconut Grove – ask Jimmy Buffett), “London Homesick Blues,”
(Gary P. Nunn), “Desperados Waiting For A Train” (Guy Clark), “Redneck Mother” (Ray Wylie
Hubbard) and “Backsliders Wine” (Michael Martin Murphy); which have become anthems for
Texas music lovers. Along with Jerry Jeff, the Lost Gonzo Band musicians on the album included
Gary P. Nunn, Robert “Cosmic Bob” Livingston, Michael McGeary, Herb Steiner, Craig Hillis,
Mickey Rafael, Kelly Dunn, Mary Eagan and Joanne Vent. Produced by Michael Brovsky and
recorded and remixed by Martin Lennard, the album was a Free Flow Production in Association
with Jerry Jeff Walker, released by MCA RECORDS (1973).
Today, the legacy of VIVA TERLINGUA! lives on, inspiring new generations of musicians and
listeners alike. Jerry Jeff Walker’s ability to weave tales of love, loss and life’s simple pleasures,
combined with the vibrant backdrop of Luckenbach continues to captivate audiences
worldwide.
For more information on JERRY JEFF WALKER and the 50th celebration of VIVA TERLINGUA!
https://Jerryjeff.com
For more information on LUCKENBACH TEXAS https://www.luckenbachtexas.com
For more information on “THEY CALLED US OUTLAWS” - set for release next year - check out the
official trailer via Rolling Stone HERE.
https://theycalledusoutlaws.com