On his 1977 live album, A Man Must Carry On, late folk singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker tells his band, “Turn me loose, I’ll never be the same.” While many of Walker’s fans may not recall that seemingly-innocuous bit of stage banter, it was not lost on Todd Snider. The phrase became something of a mantra for Snider, who said, “As soon as I heard it I knew the same was true of myself. I am still totally certain of it. For better or worse, bragging or complaining, it is what is.”
Years later, when the fellow folk troubadour was in the company of one of his idols, Walker told him that “turn me loose, I’ll never be the same” is actually an old rodeo saying that riders would yell when they were ready to go. While Snider may not be a rodeo rider—though he would make one hell of a clown—he implemented the phrase in his own profession.
“When I think a song is ready it’s because it feels like it has a rock I can put my foot on when I sing,” Snider said. “So I yelled put your foot on the rock, asked the cosmos to hook me up, and the next thing you know ol’ Jed’s a millionaire.”
Related: Todd Snider Covers Bob Dylan On ‘The Get Together’ [Watch]
On his latest single, “Turn Me Loose (I’ll Never Be The Same)”, Snider pays tribute to Walker, who passed away last year. The song is just one of many tributes to Snider’s recently departed musical heroes-turned-friends on his forthcoming album, First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder. The concept album, an extension of Snider’s weekly livestreams, finds Todd in the role of our markedly-unrighteous preacher. For all his faults as a man of the cloth, however, Reverend Snider upholds the beatitudes as he buries the dead on the album, including Walker, John Prine, Jeff Austin, Col. Bruce Hampton, and more.
Watch the new music video for “Turn My Loose (I’ll Never Be The Same)” by Todd Snider. First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder is available here for pre-order.
Todd Snider – “Turn Me Loose (I’ll Never Be The Same)” (Official Video)
[Video: Todd Snider]