What a blast from the past! This was unofficially our anthem of US drilling crews working on oil & gas rigs in the North Sea in the 80's. We usually drove the British crews crazy by us singing it pretty much non stop the last few days till crew change! And we could start a roughneck ruckus in the pubs singing it !
I wish Texans weren't such egomaniacs. ;) Bill, I've been all over the country and seen a whole mess of the world. Texas is great. But it's not as if the rest of the country is crap and we don't love the US. I'm tired of this attitude. Texas, it's just another state. The other 49 are pretty cool too.
The greatest Texas cosmic cowboy song ever!!!!!!!! Gary P Nunn, Jerry Jeff , Lost gonzos, thats like Waylon, Willie , Asleep at the Wheel , Bob Wills and Ernest Tubb!!! now thats Texas style country..when country was ugly, not all GQ..lol
I just saw Gary P. Nunn last Saturday night in Hamilton, Texas(pop2800). Small venue but big music. Open air on the town square. He's now age 77 and kicking it harder than ever!
I gotta move to L.A. so you know I'm going to miss Texas. Then, God willing, we are retiring in London. I already miss Texas. I will always visit Texas as long as I can walk to get on a plane.
I love Texas, born in upstate new York but spent a lot of time in west Texas in the military , I want to go home with the armadillo, friendliest people and the prettiest woman I've ever seen.....
Yes, sir - Agreed. Just saw Gary P perform at Gruene hall this past weekend and he gave many nods to his old buddy Jackie Jack. It was a soul cleansing show.
Your great and i love your song but gee i really miss Mr JJW. Saw you guys in Melbourne roughly about 40 years ago., Really sad that Australia missed that concert in Melbourne . Only about 200 people there. Fuck me you guys were the most electric band i ever ever had the privilege to see. We may have been present BUT you guys were in your own world just played for your selves.. So into your zones . What a privalige it was to the 200 or so people present. In love wth JJW before we left the concert. Would have left my husband that night for him. Miss him and you guys so much.
As the saying here in Texas goes, I wasnt born here but I got here as quickly as I could...been almost 50 years now. The days in the 70s, in Austin when there was so much good music with Jerry Jeff, Rusty Weir, Willie Nelson.. Good times. I remember spending a summer in Europe while in college and being in a bar in Pamplona, Spain and teaching everyone the words to this song.. The whole bar singing loudly....1978.
Gary P. Nunn and of course, JJ Walker,' Time has neither diminished nor tarnished this song. Pure Freaking Genius. Both of ya. Thank you for posting this song.
Saw JJ and the Lost Gonzo Band in a little bar in N. Hollywood. Not sure of the date, late '70's, early "80's. After closing time with power off, they went acoustic 'til the cops came. Invited remaining fans to their hotel bar. 'Bout 20 of us went and they played adlib for another couple hours. Blew me away. I lived in Hawaii, and there's the best of performances there, but nothing before or since, could compare to that night in Hollywood (that's where the hotel was)!
My lullaby... No joke, my dad would sing this all the time. Miss that man, but my baby girl is in London and she shared this song with her group. Proud moment.
Texas expat here. I do not miss the endless sprawl of Houston and Dallas Ft. Worth, but I often go back to the Hill Country and the endless South Texas Beaches. When I miss Texas, I sing this song and Patsy Cline.
Thank you for lifting my spirits, both Mr. Nunn and Mr. Walker. Wife in hospital, not well. You made me feel better, but that's the power of music, n'est pas?
I now play only in a jam band; yet a group with an agenda and set lists. I stumbled upon this masterpiece maybe a year ago. Is there really a better sing-along tune to close out a night than Gary P.’s? And this live version is a national treasure. So glad JJW invited Gary P. to do it.
OMG... and so many times at the Armadillo in Austin and Luckenback too! And dance halls in Gruene and elsewhere in Central Texas in the early 70s! Them were the days...
Jerry Jeff Walker's music takes me back to Texas when my sister lived there. The dive bars were something to remember. I never did get the hang of the two-step, though.
We ain't that bad in London, now, honest, heard this first in the 70s with Jerry Jeff Walker. And I would like to add the best holiday I ever had was New York then driving round the Deep South, greetings from London!
Came here because the wonderful Jerry Jeff Walker just passed away and I'm going through some of my favorites of his (including like here, where he didn't write the song). No, you're not that bad, in fact you live in a lovely country, and this is the most good-natured counter-needling they could've done. In the mid-70s the UK was more different from the US than it is now, and Texas was more different from much of the rest of the US than it is now. I lived in Oklahoma and had been in London and people were fascinated at someone from so "exotic" a location and the tone was "how can someone from such a primitive place even make it to here?" If you had thin skin it would have been annoying but we thought it was hysterical and occasionally put on an act (we'd learned to do that with New Yorkers). This song captured all of that and still pulls me back 45 years to my teenage years. Take care and stay safe!
I wanna go home with the armadillo to. I remember my dad used to play this song when i was little and now god rest his soul i play it today. i love you dad.
Grew up in same town as Gary. Got in a fight with his brother once. Saw Gary and Jerry play at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix long ago. Gary is 3-4 yr older than me. RIP Jerry Jeff. RIP Steve Nunn.
Pure Gonzo! Love ya Jerry Jeff and Gary P. We Texans really are unique. That's why people hate us. You don't like what you don't understand or you fear. God Bless from Baytown Texas
This is so true. I feel the same way. I was born here, am living & God willin' I'll die here. Did some travelin over the years,but there is no place on earth like ",Texas".
That's okay, it just shows there are much fewer of us that have taste and recognize talent. I've seen Jerry Jeff, Gary, Billy Joe Shaver, Delbert McClinton, etc etc....many many times in small personal venues with every seat filled by good people. If they were a huge arena type acts, I would have never have the memories I enjoy now. Some of life's greatest pleasures and treasures should be shared and enjoyed by a select few that understand and truly deserve it. You're blessed you are one of them
I miss Texas SO much . People can say what they want , put us down and trash us - but I will always be proud that I grew up in Texas. Great memories that will never die..................
snottyxraygirl Fear not! You can always come home,every things the same(some transplants are weird)but mostly the same! We still don't take shi-! PS.From just about anyone!!
amen! to all! I'm here in Tennessee, wishing I was back in Texas! For the 10th year we went to Willie's July 4 picnic, and back to Luckenbach, say what you will, Luckenbach is magical! It restores my soul every time! Go to the true home of the Armadillo, visit the Texas Hill Country, you'll leave 10 years younger and your faith in humanity will be restored!
Another piece of my musical youth has gone to Terlingua in the sky....I wore huge grooves in Viva Terlinga..............what a record ...what an icon Jerry Jeff was to the so called "outlaw country" music scene....and to all us younguns who got to get drunk and screw :) Via Con Dios Maestre
All I know we used to listen to Jerry up here in MN in the 70's. He gives us good memories. TX I am still pissed that you have our North Stars. Love the cowboys!
Have too many people lost the ability to have real fun and love of what their doing like musicians and music lovers getting off on the pleasure and fun of enjoying and doing what they love? Can’t hear this song without smiling , cheering, and wanting to join in ,
We just got to Austin last night and this came up on my feed. lol. A few months ago when in Austin I ran into Jerry Jeff's son. Jerry Jeff had passed and both of us had some memories to share..... Thanks for the post.
Many Moons ago, roughly 25 hundred probably, while residing at the "Armadillo Farm" located a J away from lovely Luckenbach along 1376, I took an Irish Gal i met @ Luckenbach over to the Albert Ice House one beautiful evening. On our return to "The Farm" while loudly singin' along with this particular song spinnin' in my CD player, I accidentally hit & killed an Armadillo. It still haunts me. One day, I'll have a pet Armadillo named "Terry Allen" & he shall be treated like a King. I do not wanna hear that b.s. bout them carrying diseases. Oooo, that Irish gal woke up the next morning & said was her grandest Texas experience. She was crushed when I informed her I was an Ohio Boy. God Bless Jerry Jeff! "Hondo Still Cries"
