Foster Auditorium

October 13, 1976

With the success of Texans Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, the so-called “Outlaw Country” began to make waves. Another performer in the genre’s popularity came in the form of a brash singer-songwriter from New York named Ronald Clyde Crosby. He’d moved to Austin in the early 1970s, reinventing himself as Jerry Jeff Walker. Walker’s Lost Gonzo Band, which featured Texas musicians, included John Inmon, Bob Livingston, and Gary P. Nunn. They helped Walker create a persona that continued for many years until he died in 2020. By the time the fall show in Tuscaloosa came to town, the Texas musicians had become much more than an anomaly, especially in the South, where artists such as Walker’s close friend Jimmy Buffett were already becoming a force in music. Walker’s signature album, “Viva Terlingua,” was released in 1973. Recorded in tiny Luckenbach, Texas, it was a raw recording – and a huge hit – a breakthrough for Walker’s music, and contemporaries like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and Ray Wylie Hubbard whose songs he recorded and performed. The Lost Gonzo Band was a tight ensemble that had released a handful of albums of their own before hooking up with Walker. They opened the show, and played for about a half-hour or so, then welcomed 34-year-old Jerry Jeff to the stage in his jeans, cowboy hat, red bandana, and boots, with a Fender Telecaster slung over his shoulder. It was a boisterous crowd, to say the least, with fans dancing in the isles on Walker’s instruction. Tom E. was a student attending the show. “I had a shirt just like that when I was in school in Tuscaloosa, only mine was gray. I wore it and a pair of mud-stained Levis to his concert in Foster. I had on a giant cowboy hat, and a pair of boots with 3-inch heels, which made me about 6’ 6”. I was carrying my SLR camera with black and white film in it. I sauntered down to the stage, about six feet from Jerry Jeff. He leaned over in the middle of ‘Don't It Make You Want to Dance’ and threw me about five or six of those big, goofy smiles so I could take pictures. I'd give anything if I knew where those negatives were.”