Gypsy Alibi: A Gonzo Memoir
Gypsy Alibi: A Gonzo Memoir
Gypsy Alibi: A Gonzo Memoir
Description
Description
Born in San Antonio and raised in
Lubbock, Bob Livingston drank from the same West Texas water as musicians like
Terry Allen, Joe Ely, Lloyd Maines, and others who were surfing the wake of
Buddy Holly, Sonny Curtis, and the Crickets. Livingston made his way to Austin
and installed himself among the progenitors of the Cosmic Cowboy movement, who
played outlaw country music and broke the rules that didn't suit them. Livingston
is best known as the bass player and singer for the Lost Gonzo Band that toured
and recorded with visionary mavericks like Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard,
and Michael Martin Murphey. Gypsy Alibi captures the life of a working
musician, its flights of (and fights with) creative genius.
Gypsy Alibi is Cosmic Bob's
origin story, but it also tells a tale of how music traverses the planet. Serving
since the '80s as a Global Music Ambassador for the US State Department,
Livingston has taken Texas music as far afield as India, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Africa, Vietnam, and the Middle East. Livingston's romping
narrative acts as a gonzo travelogue that traces the spread and reception of
uniquely Texan culture across the world.
Lubbock, Bob Livingston drank from the same West Texas water as musicians like
Terry Allen, Joe Ely, Lloyd Maines, and others who were surfing the wake of
Buddy Holly, Sonny Curtis, and the Crickets. Livingston made his way to Austin
and installed himself among the progenitors of the Cosmic Cowboy movement, who
played outlaw country music and broke the rules that didn't suit them. Livingston
is best known as the bass player and singer for the Lost Gonzo Band that toured
and recorded with visionary mavericks like Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard,
and Michael Martin Murphey. Gypsy Alibi captures the life of a working
musician, its flights of (and fights with) creative genius.
Gypsy Alibi is Cosmic Bob's
origin story, but it also tells a tale of how music traverses the planet. Serving
since the '80s as a Global Music Ambassador for the US State Department,
Livingston has taken Texas music as far afield as India, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Africa, Vietnam, and the Middle East. Livingston's romping
narrative acts as a gonzo travelogue that traces the spread and reception of
uniquely Texan culture across the world.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Bob Livingston needs no alibis for the stories he tells of his life in
music, from growing up in Lubbock raised on rock and roll, country and folk, to
his stints with Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Martin Murphey in Austin as the
original Cosmic Cowboy, to his own solo career working the honky-tonks of Texas
and the back roads of India. It ain't bragging if it's true. Besides, you
can't make this stuff up." --Joe Nick Patoski, author of Willie Nelson:
An Epic Life "Bob should be the World Ambassador for Texas Music. Anyone who can
teach an audience of 2,000 in Bangladesh to yodel, in unison, and then close
the show with all of them singing on the Buddy Holly song "Not Fade Away"
deserves your attention. Bob Livingston lived and breathed the Austin Music
Scene of the '70s and beyond. Now he's written it all down for us to enjoy. . . .
Dig it!!" --Lloyd Maines, music producer and musician "My father, Hondo Crouch, said, 'You can't forget memories.' And Cosmic
Bob has a memory like a steel trap. In great detail the
singer/songwriter/master storyteller and international music ambassador spins
the tale of Texas music from the roaring '70s into the present day. Bob was a
member of Jerry Jeff Walker's Lost Gonzo Band, and their quintessential
album ¡Viva Terlingua! was the first to define outlaw music and its
audacious freewheeling fun that literally taught us how to be Texan. We can't
get enough!" --Becky Crouch Patterson, author of Luckenbach, Texas: The
Center of the Universe "Bob Livingston wasn't just eyewitness to a seminal moment in American
music history, he was a lynchpin co-conspirator. So whatever you think you know
about !Viva Terlingua! and Geronimo's Cadillac, about
Rapps Cleaners and the fabled alleys of Austin, you don't have the whole story
until you read this book by the legendary Cosmic Bob. It's history that
matters." --John Spong, longtime Texas Monthly writer and host
of the PRX podcast One by Willie "There's a reason a reason why the dust on Bob Livingston's boots is
caked on thicker than most and why his story jumps off the page like a bronco.
He did not go gently into the wild and woolly nights of the origin story of what
we call Texas music today. Bob's honesty and fearlessness helped shape modern
Texas music for the better." --Hector Saldaña, The Wittliff Collections at Texas
State University
music, from growing up in Lubbock raised on rock and roll, country and folk, to
his stints with Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Martin Murphey in Austin as the
original Cosmic Cowboy, to his own solo career working the honky-tonks of Texas
and the back roads of India. It ain't bragging if it's true. Besides, you
can't make this stuff up." --Joe Nick Patoski, author of Willie Nelson:
An Epic Life "Bob should be the World Ambassador for Texas Music. Anyone who can
teach an audience of 2,000 in Bangladesh to yodel, in unison, and then close
the show with all of them singing on the Buddy Holly song "Not Fade Away"
deserves your attention. Bob Livingston lived and breathed the Austin Music
Scene of the '70s and beyond. Now he's written it all down for us to enjoy. . . .
Dig it!!" --Lloyd Maines, music producer and musician "My father, Hondo Crouch, said, 'You can't forget memories.' And Cosmic
Bob has a memory like a steel trap. In great detail the
singer/songwriter/master storyteller and international music ambassador spins
the tale of Texas music from the roaring '70s into the present day. Bob was a
member of Jerry Jeff Walker's Lost Gonzo Band, and their quintessential
album ¡Viva Terlingua! was the first to define outlaw music and its
audacious freewheeling fun that literally taught us how to be Texan. We can't
get enough!" --Becky Crouch Patterson, author of Luckenbach, Texas: The
Center of the Universe "Bob Livingston wasn't just eyewitness to a seminal moment in American
music history, he was a lynchpin co-conspirator. So whatever you think you know
about !Viva Terlingua! and Geronimo's Cadillac, about
Rapps Cleaners and the fabled alleys of Austin, you don't have the whole story
until you read this book by the legendary Cosmic Bob. It's history that
matters." --John Spong, longtime Texas Monthly writer and host
of the PRX podcast One by Willie "There's a reason a reason why the dust on Bob Livingston's boots is
caked on thicker than most and why his story jumps off the page like a bronco.
He did not go gently into the wild and woolly nights of the origin story of what
we call Texas music today. Bob's honesty and fearlessness helped shape modern
Texas music for the better." --Hector Saldaña, The Wittliff Collections at Texas
State University
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Texas Tech University Press
Pub date:
2025-09-30
Length:
424 pages
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