Jerry Jeff Walker Gonzo Stew by David Pilot
	What happens when legends get old? How do they change? Do they lose their magic? Well, sometimes, yeah, they do. And sometimes they grab hold of the magic of others and manage to keep the flame burning. Sometimes that even helps them find their own spark again. Where does any of this find old Jerry Jeff these days? He's sure not tearing down the beer halls on Sixth Street anymore, not like he did in the Lone Wolf days. And he's not cattin' around with Navajo rugs as much here lately, either. Seems like he spends more time in Belize wearin' cowboy boots with his bathin' suits than he does on the back porch writing songs that matter. Anybody remember the hodgepodge CD called "Scamp"? Couple of great songs, and a bunch of atonal pap. Then the Buffett nod with the next album. . .thought it was all over. "Gypsy Songman" took JJW back to his roots, though, and now "Gonzo Stew" shows that the tide might be turning. It's thirteen songs deep, and Jerry Jeff wrote six of 'em his own self. Had help from John Inmon and Keith Sykes on one of those, but let's count it anyway. He's not quite all the way into the George Strait "hey I'll sing that fella's song, it's pretty good" mode yet, but seems he's heading that way. But, like Strait, Walker does know how to pick a good song and make it entirely his own. Jerry Jeff's style since "Navajo Rug" has been pretty static. The formula hasn't changed on this disc. Couple of nominal barnburners, several pretty ballads that'll make you stop and think as you sing along, and one or two cuts that are just perfect examples of the reason there's a Skip button on your CD player. The two best cuts on the album come from other writers, though it's fair to say Jerry Jeff had a pretty big hand in one of 'em. 'Texas On My Mind' was penned in Liverpool by his son Django Walker, and it's obvious he was missing home in a way that only a Texan who's had to head north of the Red River can understand. You've heard Pat Green sing this song about a million times by now, and do an admirable job of it. But when Jerry Jeff gets his pipes wrapped around the tune, it's a heartbreaker. I'll admit to sizable bias since I'm penning this review in Charlotte, NC, having been relocated here by my company, but this song brings a little tear and a homesick tug unfelt since college and freshman orientation. Half a mind to jump a big jetliner and wing it on my way back home, indeed. Two cuts later Todd Snider's 'Alright Guy' jumps out in a light unseen on Snider's version. Where Todd gets downright raucous with his take on his own tune, Jerry Jeff turns in a thoughtful rendition, loud in places but in its totality understated as perfectly as a well-cooked steak. Considering the man's past and reputation, and the changes he's made in the years with Susan, this song takes on a whole new meaning and life---and it's a good'n. The heartstrings get tugged pretty hard on 'Where Was I,' a little walk along memory lane through the neighborhoods filled with Armstrongs and Kennedys and Lennons and loves and losses.   I was in a Dallas disco The night that John Lennon died And the DJ played "Imagine" And everybody cried. I remember a thousand lighters held up in our hands Oh we were singing "Let's give peace a chance. . ." But where was I when you stopped loving me, Yeah, when did I become history? There's not many things that escape my memory, But tell me, where was I When you stopped loving me?   Funny how we seem to recall with digital clarity our surroundings and company at the moment we first heard the news of some great historical event. Funnier how we can't ever picture for the life of us where we were or what we were doing when that one special love got tired and fed up with our bullshit. Jerry Jeff knows it, and hammers the point home with heartbreaking intensity. Walker penned the next cut, 'Candles and Cut Flowers.' It's a straightforward ballad in the "Live From Gruene Hall" style. Just a simple song about a simple day and the small things that a woman will do to make herself feel special---and the way some of those simple woman things embed themselves in a man's heart and make her all the more indispensable to him over the course of a life together. The majority of this disc plays in that vein, mining the quiet backroads of love and life. Soothing and quiet at a listen, but intense and poignant upon introspection. That is Jerry Jeff Walker's gift, and something he can do better than just about anybody else out there when he wants to. There are exceptions and upbeat tunes, such as 'It Don't Matter,' which seems to be reaching for the bar set by 'Gettin' By.' It falls short, to say the least. There is also an extremely disappointing, if not flat out annoying, take on Roger Miller's classic 'Dang Me.' This version, as mentioned earlier, makes the listener eternally thankful for the Skip button. 'Little Old Town Called New Orleans' is a decent tune if you're drinking around a card table or bucket of crawfish, but anywhere else it's not one you'll miss. As has become the norm with Jerry Jeff, this is an album of hits and misses. When the man is on his game, he's the one everybody else in Texas music is trying to catch. When he's off, well, he's off. The good news for diehard fans is that "Gonzo Stew" has a lot more hits than misses. That's a very welcome departure from the last couple of discs, "Gypsy Songman" excluded, and hopefully means we'll get more of the good stuff here soon from the man who left New York to become a Texas legend. I'll cross my fingers if you will. Overall, "Gonzo Stew" is a tasty dish for fans of Jerry Jeff Walker, and it could serve as a decent introduction to some who want to know more about the man and the music that makes Texas the right place to be. In flashes you'll hear the JJW who took Guy Clark's classics 'L.A. Freeway' and 'Desperados Waiting For A Train' and made 'em his own. If you've been down that long old dusty road with Jerry Jeff over the years, this won't be your favorite album, but it won't be a dustcover or dartboard, either. Catch up with JJW at www.jerryjeff.com, and order "Gonzo Stew" right here through www.rockzilla.net.   You can contact David Pilot at: tailgunner-at-rockzilla.net

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