Lone Wolf: The Best of Jerry Jeff Walker

Jerry Jeff Walker

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 13, 1998)
• Original Release Date: January 13, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002NG4
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #320,767 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!!!, March 30, 1999

By A Customer

Having been a Tried and True Warrior (JJW Fan Club Member) for 12+ years, I have had the opportunity to collect everything he has ever put out. This collection brings together some of the "lost treasures" that until now could only be found at a specialty store... on vinyl. Walker is one of the few who can move from one extreme to the other without losing touch with the listener. The tempo builds through Her Good Loving Grace, then gently slips to the irreverance of Northeast Texas Women before settling into Comfort and Crazy (one of the most beautiful love songs ever written), and culminates with a rousing rendition of Ain't Livin Long Like This. This collection tugs at the heart and raps on the funnybone while keeping a straight face. THAT is what music should be about.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jerry Jeff's Excellent Elektra Recordings Are Finally Here, August 12, 1998

By A Customer

The songs included on "Lone Wolf" were compiled from two of Jerry Jeff Walker's late 1970's Elektra albums, "Jerry Jeff (Red, White & Blue Album)" and "Too Old To Change." Most people associate Walker with his bawdy "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mothers" and wistful "Mr. Bojangles." These Elektra songs are less well known but express a great range of emotion and reveal Walker's exceptional ability to embrace a variety of musical styles and make them his own.

Songwriter Mike Reid's elegaic "Eastern Avenue River Railway Blues" is rendered by Walker with a sense of mystery, sadness and dark-thirty humor, using a beautifully recorded piano line as its backbone, and showing off some pretty sexy sax; Rodney Crowell's rocking ode to self destruction, "I Ain't Livin' Long Like This," seems to have been written for Bobby Rambo's howling guitar and Walker's gutteral, growling, incoherent vocals -- which! are also displayed in force on the title track "Lone Wolf," the macho strut of "Bad News," and the somewhat crass, dated and simplistic "Boogie Mama." Country fans will enjoy the easy swing of "Northeast Texas Women," while "Her Good Lovin' Grace" is delivered with a bit of Caribbean spice. Many people have recorded Billy Callery's "Hands On the Wheel," including Willie Nelson, but none have ever matched Walker's sadness and loneliness as he renders the heartbreaking lyrics against the sparse musical canvas of a thumb-strummed electric.

Other songs successfully demonstrate Walker's ability to croon a sweet love song ("Comfort and Crazy"), goof off and try to shock like a silly kid ("I'm Not Strange"), or dream of distant lands ("Mountains of Mexico") in a gentle way. Without a doubt, the most exceptional accomplishment on this CD is Walker's stunning paean to aging without grace, &qu! ot;Too Old To Change."

It's a shame that Elektra has! n't released Walker's work on CD, for it's some of his best -- but at least these glimpses into the hearts of those two fine pieces of work are finally available for Walker's fans -- and the curious newcomers alike.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars down and dirty to easy and slow., June 25, 2000

By	casey j putnam (Houston,Texas) - See all my reviews

If your into melodic views of the street life followed by drunkin maniac tangients,followed by two fools in love, than this is the album for you. This album, cleary demonstrates the four sides of Jerry Jeff.From the lovely and lucent comfort and crazy to the wired maniac saga of Lone wolf.Jeckle and hide would be proud.There's also social comentary on eastern avenue railway.The stuperous too old to change is hillariuos."Sometimes I look over my shoulder and smile a what they said about me,You betya!"This album has a lot of those suggestions about the state he was in at that time, but it can be morbidly entertaining when your in a goofy mood.Jerry jeff's graveld vocals give the Perfect adornment to the Drunken, madman, hell bent, ain't living long like this. you wonder if the police are actully about to come bustin in your house.Only jerry jeff could make you start hallucinating from the music alone.