Billy Joe Shaver
Encyclopedia
Billy Joe Shaver is a Texas country music singer and songwriter. Shaver's 1973 album Old Five and Dimers Like Me is a classic in the outlaw country
Outlaw country
Outlaw country is a subgenre of country music, most popular during the late 1960s and the 1970s , sometimes referred to as the outlaw movement or simply outlaw music...

 genre.

Biography

Shaver was raised by his mother, Victory Watson Shaver, after his father Virgil left the family before he was born. Until he was 12, he spent a great deal of time with his grandmother in Corsicana, Texas
Corsicana, Texas
Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45 some fifty-five miles south of downtown Dallas. The population was 24,485 at the 2000 census...

 so that his mother could work in Waco
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....

. He sometimes accompanied his mother to her job at a local nightclub, where he began to be exposed to country music.

Shaver's mother remarried about the time that his grandmother died, so he and his older sister Patricia moved in with their mother and new stepfather. Shaver left school after the eighth grade to help his uncles pick cotton, but occasionally returned to school to play sports.

Shaver joined the U.S. Navy on his seventeenth birthday. Upon his discharge, he worked a series of dead-end jobs, including trying to be a rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...

 cowboy. About this time, Shaver met and married Brenda Joyce Tindell. They had one son, John Edwin, known as Eddy
Eddy Shaver
John Edwin "Eddy" Shaver was an American country-rock guitarist, arranger and songwriter.The son of country artist, Billy Joe Shaver, Eddy learned to play guitar at an early age, tutored by Allman Brothers Band guitarist, Dickie Betts, who gave Eddy his first guitar...

, who was born in 1962. The two divorced and remarried several times.

Shaver took a job at a lumber mill to make ends meet. One day his right hand (his dominant hand) became caught in the machinery, and he lost the better part of two fingers and contracted a serious infection. He eventually recovered, and taught himself to play the guitar without those missing fingers.

Shaver decided that life was too short to do something he didn't enjoy, so he set out one day to hitchhike to L.A.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. He couldn't get a ride west, and ended up accompanying a man who dropped him off just outside of Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

. The next ride brought him to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, where he found a job as a songwriter for $50/week. His work came to the attention of Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...

, who filled most of his album Honky Tonk Heroes
Honky Tonk Heroes
Honky Tonk Heroes is an album by Waylon Jennings, released in 1973 on RCA Victor. With the exception of the tenth and final track, all of the songs on the album were originally written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver, who helped shape Jennings' movement in the direction of outlaw country...

with Shaver's songs. Other artists, including Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 and Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...

, began to record Shaver's music. This led to his own record deal.

Unfortunately for Shaver, the first few recording companies he signed with soon folded. He was never able to gain widespread recognition as a singer, although he never stopped recording his own music. On his records, he has been accompanied by other major rock and country music musicians like Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

, Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...

, Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...

 and Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...

 (of the Allman Brothers), Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...

, Flaco Jiménez
Flaco Jiménez
Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez is a Tejano music accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. Jiménez's father, Santiago Jiménez Sr. was a pioneer of conjunto music. He began performing with his father at age seven and recording at age fifteen, as a member of Los Caporales...

, and Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...

.

After losing his wife, Brenda, and his mother to cancer in 1999, Shaver lost his son and longtime guitarist Eddy, who died at age 38 of a heroin overdose on December 31, 2000. Shaver nearly died himself the following year when he had a heart attack on stage during an Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...

 show at Gruene Hall
Gruene Hall
Gruene Hall, was built in 1878 by Richard Gruene and is located in the historical town of Gruene, Texas , and bills itself as "the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas." Gruene Hall has hosted such acts as Willie Nelson, George Strait, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, Hal...

 in New Braunfels, Texas
New Braunfels, Texas
New Braunfels is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas that is a principal city of the metropolitan area. Braunfels means "brown rock" in German; the city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The city's population was 57,740 as of the 2010 census, up 58% from the 2000...

. After successful heart surgery, Billy Joe came back to release a new album entitled Freedom's Child in 2002.

In 1999, Shaver was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...

. In November 2005, Billy Joe Shaver performed on the CMT Outlaws
CMT Outlaws
CMT Outlaws was an annual concert featuring country music's outlaws. The CMT Outlaws show was aired on Country Music Television.-2004:* Hank Williams, Jr.* Lynyrd Skynyrd* Kid Rock* Big & Rich* Gretchen Wilson* Montgomery Gentry* Shooter Jennings...

 2005. In 2006, Shaver was inducted in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame
Texas Country Music Hall of Fame
The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame/Tex Ritter Museum, located in Carthage in Panola County in East Texas honors those who have made outstanding contributions to country music and were born in the state of Texas. This includes singers, songwriters, disc jockeys and others.A museum, a large...

. He recently served as spiritual advisor to Texas independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman
Kinky Friedman
Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...

. For his efforts, the Americana Music Convention awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting. He currently lives in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....

.

Shaver sings the themes to the Adult Swim Television show, Squidbillies
Squidbillies
Squidbillies is an animated television series about the Cuylers, an impoverished family of anthropomorphic hillbilly squids living in the Appalachian region of North Carolina's mountains. The show is produced by Williams Street Studios for the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network and...

. The opening themes, collectively called "Warrior Man", are only a stanza long and end with a sotto voce
Sotto voce
Sotto voce means intentionally lowering one's voice for emphasis. The speaker gives the impression of uttering involuntarily a truth which may surprise, shock, or offend...

spoken word portion. The end credits theme is a banjo instrumental.

Most notable records

Billy Joe Shaver's debut album was Old Five and Dimers Like Me (1973). Almost every song on the album has become a classic (particularly the title track, as well as "I Been to Georgia On a Fast Train" and "Willy The Wandering Gypsy and Me"), many being performed by other artists such as David Allan Coe
David Allan Coe
David Allan Coe is an American outlaw country music singer who achieved popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. He has written and performed over 280 original songs throughout his career...

. When I Get My Wings (1976) included "Aint No God In Mexico" (also a hit for Waylon Jennings). Gypsy Boy (1977) included "Honky Tonk Heroes" and You asked me to.

Shaver is also known for his hit "Live Forever", co-written by his son Eddy, which was also performed by The Highwaymen
The Highwaymen (country supergroup)
The Highwaymen were an American supergroup comprising four country music artists well known for, among other things, their involvement and pioneering influence on the outlaw country subgenre: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson...

. Shaver also wrote numerous songs for artists such as Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...

 and Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

.

Shaver continued to release records throughout the 1980s and 1990s; the most notable was the critically acclaimed Tramp On Your Street, released in 1993, which prominently featured the guitar playing of Eddy Shaver.

Billy Joe Shaver's most recent album, 2007's country gospel
Country gospel
Christian country music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...

 style Everybody's Brother was Grammy-nominated. Many of the songs are duets with artists such as Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

, Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...

 and Tanya Tucker
Tanya Tucker
Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...

. Musicians playing on the album included Randy Scruggs
Randy Scruggs
Randy Scruggs is a music producer, songwriter and guitarist. He had his first recording at the age of 13...

, Laura Cash and Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart
John Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...

.

Shooting in Lorena, Texas

Police in Lorena, TX about 10 miles south of Waco, issued arrest warrants for Shaver April 2, 2007 on charges of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm in a prohibited place. This was in connection with an incident outside a tavern, Papa Joe's Texas Saloon in Lorena on March 31, 2007, in which Shaver shot a man, Billy Bryant Coker, in the face with a handgun. Coker's injuries were reported as not life-threatening.

Witnesses interviewed by police report hearing Shaver saying "where do you want it?" and then, after the shot was fired, "Tell me you are sorry" and "No one tells me to shut up." Coker told police the attack was unprovoked. Shaver's attorney declared that Shaver had shot Coker "in self-defense" after Coker threatened Shaver with a knife.

After unsuccessfully attempting to surrender to police in Austin, TX, who were unaware of the warrant, Shaver turned himself in at McLennan County Jail in Waco, TX on Tuesday, April 3. He was released after an hour on $50,000 bond and gave his scheduled performance at Waterloo Records in Austin that evening, where he reportedly told fans, "Don't forget to pray for me, and tell your kids to pray for me, too."

He was acquitted in a Waco court on April 9, 2010 after testifying that he acted in self-defense.

The Texas based country musician, Dale Watson
Dale Watson (singer)
Dale Watson is an American alternative country/Texas Country singer, guitarist and songwriter based in Austin, Texas. He's positioned himself as a tattooed, stubbornly independent outsider who is interested in recording authentic country music...

, wrote a song about the incident titled "Where Do You Want It?" The song has been recorded by Whitey Morgan and the 78's
Whitey Morgan and the 78's
Whitey Morgan and the 78's are honky tonk country band based in Flint, MI. In 2010 they signed a recording contract with Chicago based Bloodshot Records.-Formation and Early History:...

 and appears on their second album, Whitey Morgan and the 78's
Whitey Morgan and the 78's (album)
-Recording history:It was recorded in December 2009 and January 2010 at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock, NY. The band members at the time of recording included Whitey Morgan on Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Benny James Vermelyen on Guitar and vocals, Tamineh Gueramy on Fiddle, Jeremy...

, on Bloodshot Records
Bloodshot Records
Bloodshot Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois which specializes in roots-inflected indie rock, punk blues, and a Chicago brand of outlaw country...

.

Acting

In 1996, Shaver took a part in the movie The Apostle
The Apostle
The Apostle is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Robert Duvall, who stars in the title role. John Beasley, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton, June Carter Cash, Miranda Richardson and Billy Joe Shaver also appear...

, playing opposite Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....

. He had additional speaking roles in the Duvall film Secondhand Lions
Secondhand Lions
Secondhand Lions is a 2003 American dramedy film written and directed by Tim McCanlies. It tells the story of an introverted young boy who is sent to live with his eccentric uncles on a farm in the U.S...

(2003) and in The Wendell Baker Story
The Wendell Baker Story
The Wendell Baker Story is a 2005 American film. It is the first film directed by Luke Wilson and his eldest brother Andrew Wilson, which premiered at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas in March 2005...

(2005).

In 2004, a documentary of his life, A Portrait of Billy Joe was released. The documentary was directed by Luciana Pedraza
Luciana Pedraza
Luciana Duvall is an Argentine actress and director. She is married to American fellow actor Robert Duvall, and is the granddaughter of Argentine aviation pioneer Susana Ferrari Billinghurst....

.

In 2008, he co-starred with Bill Engvall
Bill Engvall
William Ray "Bill" Engvall, Jr. is an American comedian and actor best known for his work as a stand-up comic and as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy group.-Early life:Bill Engvall was born in Galveston, Texas...

 and Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus
William "Billy" Ray Cyrus is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor and philanthropist, who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon...

 in the made for TV USA Network Movie, Bait Shop.

Studio albums

Year Album US Christian Label
1973 Old Five and Dimers Like Me Monument
1976 When I Get My Wings Capricorn
1977 Gypsy Boy
1981 I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal
1982 Billy Joe Shaver Columbia
1987 Salt of the Earth
1993 Tramp on Your Street Volcano
1995 Unshaven: Live at Smith's Olde Bar
1996 Highway of Life Justice
1998 Victory New West
1999 Electric Shaver
2001 The Earth Rolls On
2002 Freedom's Child Compadre
2003 Live from Down Under Sphincter
Try and Try Again Compadre
2004 Billy and the Kid
2005 A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver: Live
The Real Deal
2007 Storyteller: Live at the Bluebird Sugar Hill
Everybody's Brother 50 Compadre

Compilations

Year Album Label
1994 Honky Tonk Heroes Bear Family
1995 Restless Wind Razor & Tie
2007 Greatest Hits Compadre

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Album
US Country
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

CAN Country
1973 "I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train" 88 Old Five and Dimers Like Me
1978 "You Asked Me To
You Asked Me To
"You Asked Me To" is a song written by Billy Joe Shaver and Waylon Jennings. It was originally recorded by Jennings on his 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes. This record spend fifteen weeks on the Billboard country singles charts, reaching a peak of number eight. Shaver recorded his own version in 1977...

"
80 Gypsy Boy
1993 "Live Forever" 96 Tramp on Your Street
2011 "Wacko from Waco" TBD

Music videos

Year Video Director
1993 "The Hottest Thing in Town"
"Live Forever" Steve Boyle
1994 "Georgia On a Fast Train" chris rogers
1996 "Comin' On Strong"
2002 "Freedom's Child"
2005 "Live Forever" Rick Schroder
Rick Schroder
Richard Bartlett "Rick" Schroder, Jr. is an American actor and film director.He debuted in the 1979 hit film The Champ, going on to become a child star on the sitcom Silver Spoons...

2007 "Get Thee Behind Me Satan" The Brads

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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