While Vanguard certainly helped introduce Jerry Jeff Walker to the world, the label was not privy to his peak period as a stoned cowboy in mid-1970s Austin. VANGUARD VISIONARIES, instead, focuses on the years when Walker was still messing around with a sort of low-rent folkie singer-songwriter style, and there are still plum tracks to be found, including the hit for which Walker achieved fame, "Mr. Bojangles," and "Driftin' Way of Life," a song that foreshadows Walker's later slack tendencies. For hardcore Jerry Jeff fans looking for his roots, this is a good start, although completists seeking a more thorough collection might want to investigate Vanguard's BEST OF THE VANGUARD YEARS.
