The 100 Best Live Recordings - No. 91: ¡Viva Terlingua!
No. 91 - Jerry Jeff Walker - ¡Viva Terlingua! (MCA Nashville, 1973)
“When you’re down on your luck and you ain’t got a buck, in London you’re a goner…”1
Jerry Jeff Walker was equal parts songwriter and exceptional interpreter of other songwriter’s compositions. Having recorded seven albums in five years, Walker grew disenchanted with the clinical environment of the recording studio and wanted to make an “authentic” country album. So, on August 18, 1973, a day that had to be goddamn hot in Texas, the singer assembled his ragtag Lost Gonzo Band in the humid confines of the Luckenbach Dancehall. Walker and his band held the recording session in a 100-degree barn, adding to the loose and rollicking ambience of a true Texas roadhouse. ¡Viva Terlingua! was born.
This stark and unpainted environment provided an intimate atmosphere that contributed to Walker’s brand of “Gonzo Country,” which would fly in the face of Nashville’s “countrypolitan” brand of the music churned during the 1960s. Gonzo Country distinguished itself with its blended elements of country, rock, blues, and traditional Mexican norteño and Tejano styles. The chemistry between Walker and The Lost Gonzo Band was palpable, contributing to the album's enduring popularity and genuine flavor, creating the antecedent to the upcoming “Outlaw Country” of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.
The recording featured future country standards, including Guy Clark’s “Desperados Waiting For A Train, Gary P. Nunn’s “London Homesick Blues,” and Ray Wiley Hubbard’s “Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother,” songs that would be performed by a million no-names in as many dives between Bakersfield and Nashville. Also included were Walker’s “Gettin’ By,” “Sangria Wine,” and “Little Bird.”
¡Viva Terlingua! is a monument of American music smelling of cigarettes, stale beer, and sweat.
“London Homesick Blues,” Gary P. Nunn, London Homesick Blues Music (BMI), 1973.