Viva Terlingua
Encyclopedia
¡Viva Terlingua! is a live
progressive country
album by Jerry Jeff Walker
and The Lost Gonzo Band
recorded August 18, 1973 at the legendary Luckenbach Dancehall in Luckenbach, Texas
and released later that year on MCA Nashville Records. The album excellently captures Walker's strived-for "gonzo country" sound, a laid-back country base with notes of "outlaw" rock, blues, and traditional Mexican norteño
and Tejano
styles.
The Lost Gonzo Band as featured on the album included Gary P. Nunn
and Kelly Dunn on keyboards (standard and electric piano
and Hammond B-3 organ
), Herb Steiner on pedal steel guitar
, Craig Hillis on electric and acoustic guitar
s, Bob Livingston
on bass, Michael McGeary on drums
, country veteran Mickey Raphael
on harmonica
, and Mary Egan on fiddle
, with Joanne Vent and many others contributing backup vocals
. The album captures the band early in their life, and their simultaneously laid-back and tight style contributes heavily to the album's enduring popularity. The Lost Gonzo Band in several forms and with myriad varying members continues as Walker's backing to this day.
Notable tracks on the album include a now-famous and rollicking version of Ray Wylie Hubbard
's "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother," a version which continues to receive airplay on free-form
radio outlets today, both "traditional" and "progressive
" stations alike. The song's ribald lyrics, uptempo rock beat and firmly country-rooted instrumentation make it a prime example of the "outlaw" phenomenon.
Other covers include a somber cut of Guy Clark
's "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train," the Michael Martin Murphey
-penned drunkard's
lament "Backslider's Wine," and Gary P. Nunn's own "London Homesick Blues," another "life of a country singer" song which endures on radio, well-known for its chorus of "I wanna go home with the armadillo
."
The remaining songs were all Walker originals, and except for "Little Bird," which appeared on Walker's debut album Mr. Bojangles, all make their recorded debut. The opener, "Gettin' By," is a semi-autobiographical reflection on Walker's haphazard recording and writing style as he describes how "I can see (then-MCA Records president) Mike Maitland pacin' the floor," but assures him, "Mike, don't you worry, something's bound to come out."
A bit of Texas tradition is captured in "Sangria
Wine," a recollection of nights passed in the company of friends, Mexican food, and the titular potent potable. "Get It Out" and "Wheel," which both make their lone showings in Walker's recorded output here, are twin sides of the same coin: the first a declaration of defiant living, the second a meditation on the fragile and transitory nature of life.
The album inspired a tribute album
of sorts, a nearly track-for-track remake called "Viva Terlingua! Nuevo!", recorded in the same location in January 2006. Many of the original Lost Gonzo Band members from the 1973 session appeared on the album, along with new artists who have become part of the "red dirt
" or Texas Country
scene like Cory Morrow
, Jimmy LaFave
, and The Derailers
. However, Jerry Jeff Walker took legal issue with the album, saying it "too closely resembles the original" http://www.misslana.com/txlogcabin/vtn.htm. After a name change to "Viva Terlingua! Compadres!" the album was released in March of 2007.
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
progressive country
Progressive country
Progressive country is a subgenre of Texas country music started in the early 1970s in Austin, Texas. The term was coined by programmers at Austin's KOKE-FM in 1972 as a way to differentiate the style of country music in Austin from that being made in Nashville...
album by Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
and The Lost Gonzo Band
Lost Gonzo Band
The Lost Gonzo Band was founded in 1973 and toured and recorded with many of Texas' most colorful musicians including Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphey, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. The original members of the band were, Bob Livingston, Gary P. Nunn, John Inmon, Kelly Dunn, Tomas Ramirez and...
recorded August 18, 1973 at the legendary Luckenbach Dancehall in Luckenbach, Texas
Luckenbach, Texas
Luckenbach is an unincorporated community thirteen miles from Fredericksburg in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas, United States, part of the Texas Hill Country. It consists of between South Grape Creek and Snail Creek, just south of U.S. Highway 290 on the south side of Farm to Market Road...
and released later that year on MCA Nashville Records. The album excellently captures Walker's strived-for "gonzo country" sound, a laid-back country base with notes of "outlaw" rock, blues, and traditional Mexican norteño
Norteño (music)
Norteño , also norteña or conjunto, is a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. The norteño genre is popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community...
and Tejano
Tejano music
Tejano music or Tex-Mex music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Mexican-American populations of Central and Southern Texas...
styles.
The Lost Gonzo Band as featured on the album included Gary P. Nunn
Gary P. Nunn
Gary P. Nunn is a Texas Country singer/songwriter. Nunn was born in Oklahoma and moved to Brownfield, Texas as a sixth grader. He was a member of Lubbock, Texas rock band The Sparkles during the 1960s. In 1995, Nunn was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame, and in 2004, into the Texas Hall of...
and Kelly Dunn on keyboards (standard and electric piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and Hammond B-3 organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
), Herb Steiner on pedal steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
, Craig Hillis on electric and acoustic guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, Bob Livingston
Bob Livingston (musician)
Bob Livingston is a musician from Texas. He is a singer-songwriter, bass player, and a founding member of The Lost Gonzo Band. Livingston was a key figure instigating the cosmic cowboy, progressive country and outlaw country music movements that distinguished the Austin, TX music scene in the 1970s...
on bass, Michael McGeary on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, country veteran Mickey Raphael
Mickey Raphael
Michael Siegfried "Mickey" Raphael is a professional harmonica player, best known for his work with Willie Nelson. He has recorded with Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Mötley Crüe, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Chesney, U2 and Neil Young.Raphael's style is mostly second...
on harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, and Mary Egan on fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, with Joanne Vent and many others contributing backup vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
. The album captures the band early in their life, and their simultaneously laid-back and tight style contributes heavily to the album's enduring popularity. The Lost Gonzo Band in several forms and with myriad varying members continues as Walker's backing to this day.
Notable tracks on the album include a now-famous and rollicking version of Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard is an American Texas Country singer and songwriter.-Early life:Hubbard grew up in southeastern town of Hugo, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in south Dallas, Texas in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High School with Michael Martin Murphey, who had his own band at the time...
's "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother," a version which continues to receive airplay on free-form
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
radio outlets today, both "traditional" and "progressive
Progressive country
Progressive country is a subgenre of Texas country music started in the early 1970s in Austin, Texas. The term was coined by programmers at Austin's KOKE-FM in 1972 as a way to differentiate the style of country music in Austin from that being made in Nashville...
" stations alike. The song's ribald lyrics, uptempo rock beat and firmly country-rooted instrumentation make it a prime example of the "outlaw" phenomenon.
Other covers include a somber cut of Guy Clark
Guy Clark
Guy Clark is an American Texas Country artist. In his career, he has released more than twenty albums, primarily on major labels. He has also written singles for other artists, including Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell....
's "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train," the Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, Country music, and Popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including Cowboy Songs, the first album of cowboy music to achieve gold status since Gunfighter...
-penned drunkard's
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
lament "Backslider's Wine," and Gary P. Nunn's own "London Homesick Blues," another "life of a country singer" song which endures on radio, well-known for its chorus of "I wanna go home with the armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...
."
The remaining songs were all Walker originals, and except for "Little Bird," which appeared on Walker's debut album Mr. Bojangles, all make their recorded debut. The opener, "Gettin' By," is a semi-autobiographical reflection on Walker's haphazard recording and writing style as he describes how "I can see (then-MCA Records president) Mike Maitland pacin' the floor," but assures him, "Mike, don't you worry, something's bound to come out."
A bit of Texas tradition is captured in "Sangria
Sangría
Sangria is a wine punch typical of Spain and Portugal, also consumed in Argentina and Uruguay. It normally consists of a wine, chopped fruit, a sweetener, and a small amount of added brandy. To be specific, a wine is a light, dry, young, high acid, unoaked, inexpensive wine, usually red wine due...
Wine," a recollection of nights passed in the company of friends, Mexican food, and the titular potent potable. "Get It Out" and "Wheel," which both make their lone showings in Walker's recorded output here, are twin sides of the same coin: the first a declaration of defiant living, the second a meditation on the fragile and transitory nature of life.
The album inspired a tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
of sorts, a nearly track-for-track remake called "Viva Terlingua! Nuevo!", recorded in the same location in January 2006. Many of the original Lost Gonzo Band members from the 1973 session appeared on the album, along with new artists who have become part of the "red dirt
Red Dirt (music)
Red Dirt Music is a music genre that gets its name from the color of soil found in Oklahoma. Although Stillwater, Oklahoma is considered to be the epicenter of Red Dirt music, there's a Texas Red Dirt sound as well. Outlaws Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson are associated with that distinctive...
" or Texas Country
Texas Country
Texas country music is a rapidly growing sub-genre of American country music. Texas country is known for fusing traditionalist root sounds with the outspoken, care-free views of outlaw country...
scene like Cory Morrow
Cory Morrow
Cory Morrow is a Texas Country singer/songwriter who has gained popularity throughout the Southwest. Morrow started playing guitar at Memorial High School in Houston. He continued to develop as a musician while attending Texas Tech University, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity...
, Jimmy LaFave
Jimmy LaFave
Jimmy LaFave is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician born in Wills Point, Texas, a small farming community located near Dallas. At a young age, LaFave's family moved to the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas where he attended junior high and high school. By the early teens LaFave was...
, and The Derailers
The Derailers
The Derailers are an American country music band based in Austin, Texas. They were founded by Portland, Oregon natives Tony Villanueva and Brian Hofeldt in 1994.-History:...
. However, Jerry Jeff Walker took legal issue with the album, saying it "too closely resembles the original" http://www.misslana.com/txlogcabin/vtn.htm. After a name change to "Viva Terlingua! Compadres!" the album was released in March of 2007.
Track listing
All songs by Jerry Jeff Walker except as noted.- "Gettin' By" - 4:01
- "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train" (Guy ClarkGuy ClarkGuy Clark is an American Texas Country artist. In his career, he has released more than twenty albums, primarily on major labels. He has also written singles for other artists, including Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell....
) - 5:47 - "Sangria Wine" - 4:25
- "Little Bird" - 4:10
- "Get It Out" - 3:37
- "Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother" (Ray Wylie HubbardRay Wylie HubbardRay Wylie Hubbard is an American Texas Country singer and songwriter.-Early life:Hubbard grew up in southeastern town of Hugo, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in south Dallas, Texas in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High School with Michael Martin Murphey, who had his own band at the time...
) - 4:32 - "Backslider's Wine" (Michael Martin MurpheyMichael Martin MurpheyMichael Martin Murphey is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, Country music, and Popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including Cowboy Songs, the first album of cowboy music to achieve gold status since Gunfighter...
) - 3:34 - "Wheel" - 6:00
- "London Homesick Blues" (Gary P. NunnGary P. NunnGary P. Nunn is a Texas Country singer/songwriter. Nunn was born in Oklahoma and moved to Brownfield, Texas as a sixth grader. He was a member of Lubbock, Texas rock band The Sparkles during the 1960s. In 1995, Nunn was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame, and in 2004, into the Texas Hall of...
) - 7:43