The life and career of Jerry Jeff Walker, the singer-songwriter who wrote Mr. Bojangles, a timeless waltz, a love song from a French Quarter drunk tank. Jerry Jeff soon transformed Texas music with gonzo energy and creative fusion, igniting the Austin progressive country revolution. In his own words.

Three men's lives, told through the story of one song. Jerry Jeff Walker, the singer and writer behind the classic hit "Mr. Bojangles," never would have expected that his song, inspired by an experience in a New Orleans jail cell, would make Richard Nixon cry, or that it would be covered by Sammy Davis, Jr., the entertainment giant and, controversially, a supporter of Nixon.This work, told through the perspective of writer, performer and listener, traces these three men's overlappi...

Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll declared, “Ray would be at the top of the list if I were gonna read about somebody’s life.” In The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of Ray Wylie Hubbard, author, journalist, and music producer Brian T. Atkinson demonstrates why Carll and so many others hold Ray Wylie Hubbard in such high regard. Atkinson takes readers into and beyond the seedy bar in Red River, New Mexico, where the incident occurred that inspired Hubbard’s most famous song, “R...