PRIMARY WAVE JANGLES WITH JERRY JEFF WALKER

Primary Wave has partnered with the estate of late singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker on the latter's music publishing catalog, recording copyrights and artist royalties.

As part of the pact, Walker's recorded masters will be released and distributed through Sun Records, in partnership with his label Tried & True Music. Sun will provide marketing support on any other future releases.

Best known as the writer of the heartbreaking classic "Mr. Bojangles," Walker first gained a foothold in the Greenwich Village folk scene. After a stint with the psychedelic band Circus Maximus, he recorded "Bojangles" in 1968. It was subsequently cut by a bevy of stars, including Neil Diamond, Nina Simone, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis Jr. and Harry Nilsson.

Though the song was his only mainstream hit, Walker developed a large and appreciative audience from his adopted base in Austin alongside such Texas outliers as Kinky Friedman and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Songs like "Pissin' in the Wind" and "Sangria Wine" offered their own spiky, disorderly spin on the outlaw ethos being limned by Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.

Walker also aided in raising the profile of fellow tunesmiths like Ray Wylie Hubbard and Guy Clark, whose "L.A. Freeway" and "Desperadoes Waiting for the Train" he memorably performed. As one of the architects of so-called "cosmic cowboy music," he helped shape the evolution of country music, and his influence is detectable in the songs and style of numerous current stars.

“When JJ passed [in 2020], Jimmy Buffett was first at my door asking what he could do," said Walker's widow and longtime manager Susan. "‘Help me find the perfect home for JJ’s catalog and label,’ I asked. And he did. May both their words and songs be remembered and cherished forever. Bubbles up!”