“Mr. Bojangles” writer Jerry Jeff Walker dies at 78
Jerry Jeff Walker, the singer-songwriter who wrote “Mr. Bojangles” and helped create what became known as outlaw country, passed away Friday, Oct. 23, at 78. He had been suffering from throat cancer.
Born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta, New York, Walker had become part of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, then formed the band Circus Maximus. They released two albums before breaking up. Walker, who adopted his new name in 1966, wrote his most renowned tune, based on a stay in a New Orleans drunk tank, in 1968. His version reached only No. 77 on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart, but the one recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970 became a massive hit. The song would be recorded by well over 100 artists, including Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Dylan, Harry Nilsson and Walker acolyte Todd Snider, who recorded a full album of Walker tunes, Time as We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker.