Songwriter Jeff Jeff Walker has died from throat cancer at the age of 78.
Walker’s best-known song was ‘Mr Bojangles’, a hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Dozens of artists including Neil Diamond, Sammy Davis Jr, John Denver, Jim Croce, Don McLean, Nilsson, Bob Dylan Cat Stevens and Robbie Williams have recorded the song.
Walker wrote the song after being jailed for being drunk in 1965. His inmate only ever identified himself as Mr Bojangles. Bojangles told his story to the prisoners freaking out one who told him to lighten up, so he performed a tap dance.
Jerry was born in Oneonta, New York in 1942. After a stint in the National Guard (he went AWOL) he became a busker around New Orleans, Texas, Florida and New York. He wound up in Greenwich Village in the mid 1960s before settling in Austin in the 1970s where he was part of the growth of the Outlaw Country scene with Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt and Michael Martin Murphey.
Jerry Jeff Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017. He died in Austin, Texas.
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