Best known as the songwriter for Waylon Jennings’ 1973 album ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’, the colorful Texan storyteller had his songs recorded by Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley
Billy Joe Shaver, the outlaw country music pioneer who wrote some of the genre’s greatest songs, died of a stroke in Waco, TX on Wednesday He was 81 years old Connie Nelson, a friend of Shaver, confirmed his death to Rolling Stone
The great classics of Shaver’s career included “Honky Tonk Heroes”, “Georgia on a Fast Train”, “Old Five and Dimers Like Me” and “Live Forever” He wrote 10 of the 11 songs of the country breakthrough Waylon Jennings’ outlaw in 1973, Honky Tonk Heroes; Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley have all recorded his songs; and in 2010, Willie Nelson called him « the greatest living songwriter »
Shaver was living the outlaw lifestyle that others only sang about In 2007 he was accused of shooting a man in the face at a bar near his home in Waco The lawsuit drew friends, including Nelson and actor Robert Duvall, in favor of Shaver, who was ultimately found not guilty and then turned the ordeal into a song, « Wacko From Waco »
Born in Coriscana, Texas on August 16, 1939, Shaver was raised by his mother, Victory, and would later leave town to find a job at a honky-tonk in Waco He often accompanied his mother to his work at the local nightclub, where he exposed himself to country music. In the early ’60s Shaver moved to Houston and attended a club called the Old Quarter, where he met Townes Van Zandt They became drinking buddies and their friendship led him to Nashville He marked an apprenticeship for the author – composer Harlan Howard before working for singer-songwriter Bobby Bare
« Billy Joe was already here before anyone talked about an outlaw movement, » Steve Earle said in 2010 « And I’m from the generation that moved to Nashville because people started talking about an outlaw movement »
But Shaver struggled to break into Nashville, where he was rejected by artists like Chet Atkins He found a fan in Kris Kristofferson, who recorded his song « Good Christian Soldier » for his debut album in 1971 , Kristofferson invited Shaver to play at the Dripping Springs reunion – which inspired Willie Nelson to host his revered annual picnic – in Austin Shaver’s performance at the picnic was notoriously spotty, but afterward he attended a songwriting circle where he performed « Willy the Wanderin ‘Gypsy and Me, » a soaring ode to Nelson Jennings loved. what he heard « He said, » Do you have any other cowboy songs? « Razor recalled to Rolling Stone in 2010 » I said, ‘I’ve got a full bag «
Jennings promised to listen to these songs But for weeks Shaver didn’t hear anything « I wasn’t used to that drunk talk where they get high and say they’re going to do something and not to doing « Shaver went to Nashville to look for Jennings at a recording studio » I said to him, « If you don’t listen to them I’m going to whip your ass right here in front of God and everybody, » said Shaver in 2010 « And I was ready »
Jennings listened to the songs, including the swampy « Honky Tonk Heroes » which became the title song for her upcoming album « He just slapped his leg and said, » I know what I have to do « , Shaver said Jennings’ 1973 LP Honky Tonk Heroes became one of the flagship albums of outlaw country, but Shaver couldn’t take a break as a mainstream artist on his own. After his first album, Old Five Dimers, released in 1973 by Monument, the label ceased operations. Shaver’s drug use escalated – one night in the mid-1970s he drove his car through the glass window of a car dealership « I was welcome wherever I went because I was writing great music that entertained the artists, « Shaver said » It’s just that I didn’t have the direction and stuff like that They said I was unmanageable «
In fact, Shaver’s life was strewn with tragedy. When he was 21, he lost two fingers on his right hand in a sawmill accident (“I don’t have a pointer,” he joked. can’t « ) He married one of his wives, Brenda, three times and lost her to cancer in 1999 Around the same time, his mother (whom he sang in » My Mother’s Name is victory ”) died Then on the morning of December 31, 2000, his son and creative partner Eddy Shaver, a fiery guitarist who remembered Stevie Ray Vaughan, was found dead of a heroin overdose
A grieving razor happened the same night at a New Year’s Eve concert with Nelson « Willie got a band together My band went crazy, they all fell apart and left crying and everything But Willie called me… and said, « Billy, you have to get back on your horse, » Shaver said « And I’m an old cowboy, I know what he’s talking about So I rode up there »
Shaver told Rolling Stone that he was considering revenge for his son’s death – until Nelson’s cooler head prevailed. « I knew where [the drugs] were coming from – this drug dealer, I would have shot and killed him instead of calling the police, ”he said « But Willie talked me out of it. He said, ‘You better leave him alone’ And I did I just left him alone But you never forget something like that »
Billy Joe Shaver and Willie Nelson, after Shaver appeared in court for shooting a man in the face in 2007
Shaver took a step forward, releasing the last album he and Eddy had recorded, The Earth Rolls On, in April 2001 Freedom’s Child arrived in 2002 and in 2007 he released what was to be his last album. studio for almost seven years, Everybody’s Brother
That same year, Shaver stopped by a bar in Lorena, Texas for a beer with his ex-wife Wanda, and got into an argument with a customer Shaver testified that the man was rude to his wife and told Shaver to “Shut Up” After the two got out, witnesses said Shaver asked the victim, “Where do you want it? « Then pointed a pistol at his cheek and pulled the trigger Shaver claimed self-defense and was acquitted » I’m so sorry for the incident, « Shaver said afterwards. will work out where we become friends enough for him to give me back my ball «
While he has never had such a successful solo career as his peers who composed his songs, Shaver’s solo recordings (and with Eddy in the Shaver duet) are country music staples: « Georgia we have Fast Train, « » Tramp on Your Street, « and » You Asked Me, « among them His upbeat track » Live Forever « became his signature song, with Shaver performing it on stage with outstretched arms. , he fell dramatically to his surgically repaired knees during « You Can’t Beat Jesus Christ, » an irreverent prayer in which Shaver calls his savior a « type of country compoundHe also preached his faith in the equally turbulent « Get Thee Behind Me Satan », starring John Anderson
In 2014, Shaver released his latest album, Long in the Tooth, which featured the duet “Hard to Be an Outlaw” with Willie Nelson He professed his long-term commitment to songwriting in an extensive interview with Rolling Stone the same year, drinking Red Bulls he kept in a ragged bag at his feet
« Not everyone can devote themselves to it I am a songwriter first, then everything else I do second … I enjoy entertaining and I appreciate all aspects what goes with it, but the song is like the cheapest psychiatrist there is, « Shaver said » And I need it pretty much all the time «
Shaver recorded and toured until his death In January, he joined Tanya Tucker on stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to perform « I’m Just an Old Lump of Coal » In 2004, Shaver was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame But while he is mentioned in the Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit dedicated to the outlaw country, his own enthronement escaped him – an oversight that continued to confuse the Shaver ornament
« If you don’t want to put me in there, that’s fine But I just don’t understand that this is telling you the truth, » he said « I feel like I’m part of the foundation and can -even being a cornerstone I think I am so «
Billy Joe Shaver, Outlaw country, Honky Tonk Heroes, Texas
World News – United States – Billy Joe Shaver, Outlaw Country seminal songwriter, died at 81
