You may not have heard of songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, but is it quite likely
you’ve heard his songs. “Honky Tonk Heroes,” “I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train,”
“Old Five and Dimers Like Me,” “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Going
to be a Diamond Someday),” considered jewels in the treasure chest of classic
country, far transcend country music and are true art expressed with deep emotion
and crafted thought.
Shaver got his professional start in the rowdy world of early-’70s Nashville songwriters. His first champions were other writers, such as Tom T. Hall and Kris Kristofferson, who were just making it as performers themselves. In 1973, Waylon Jennings recorded Honky Tonk Heroes, consisting almost entirely of songs penned by Shaver. Then our honky-tonk hero spent a few years living his life like a character in one of his songs.
After that rough period, Shaver accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. His newfound faith found its expression not in preaching to his audience but in relating the strength and courage it gave him. A few years ago, he lost his mother and wife within the space of a month and his son a little more than a year later. Eddy Shaver was not only his child but also his guitar-playing companion and bandmate. Burdened by all those those years of hard living and Shaver’s intense grief, Shaver’s heart gave out during a performance. After he recovered, the Texas songwriter poured himself back into his music.
This year, a few days after his 65th birthday, he released an album called Billy and the Kid, produced from songs he and his son had recorded in 1996. He was also inducted this year into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, after receiving the Americana Music Association’s lifetime-achievement award for songwriting in 2002. Music critics and peers have described him as precious and priceless. Willie Nelson calls him the best unknown songwriter around.
Many find that his music teaches them that everyday life can be fraught with peril but nonetheless well worth living. During his live shows he accompanies himself on guitar, sprinkling stories of his songs’ origins and tales of his life travels among his beautifully simple paeans to the complexity of existence.
Listen to Billy Joe Shaver on Friday, Dec. 10, at the Underground City
Tavern in the Hilton Springfield, 700 E. Adams St. Josh Reilly opens the show.
The Outlaw Family Band, an alt-country band from Chicago, plays after Shaver
until 2 a.m. The show starts around 9 p.m. and costs $15 at the door.
This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2004.
