Americana music master is a well-kept secret

by Ed Heflin

a version of this article was originally published in the Macomb Journal

 February 2, 2003

When singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver performed in Chicago on December 14, 2002, the Chicago Tribune titled its review “Country music master Shaver stirs the heart.” Despite a reputation among critics and peers as an exceptional talent and prolific writer, Shaver remains virtually unknown to the masses. The secret will soon be out of the bag, though, as he enters a stage in his career that finds him making an impact not only with his music but with his life story.

Shaver’s musical boundaries extend beyond country and are actually more indicative of a new genre called Americana, music that is created by mixing country, rock, blues, bluegrass, and a little bit of everything else. The Americana Music Association (AMA), a coalition of roots musicians, labels, radio stations, and other industry professionals dedicated to promoting and celebrating Americana, gathered in Nashville on September 13, 2002, to honor the year’s best artists and to present lifetime achievement awards.

The AMA’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting went to the surprised Shaver, a Texas legend whose songs have been recorded by artists including The Allman Brothers, Asleep At The Wheel, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson.

In its coverage of the awards show, The Wall Street Journal editorialized, “Billy Joe Shaver...shocked the audience when he said he’d never before won an award. That’s when it became clear that such an egregious oversight by the mainstream of a singer-songwriter who has contributed so much to country music is justification alone for the invention of the AMA awards.”

Shaver’s contributions include writing numerous songs made famous by others, such as the 1980 John Anderson hit, “I’m Just An Old Chuck of Coal.” Many artists have recorded his songs that include “I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train,“ “Bottom Dollar,“ “Ride Me Down Easy,“ “You Asked Me To,” and “Willy The Wandering Gypsy and Me.” 

Bob Dylan, who rarely covers other writers, has often played Billy Joe‘s “Old Five And Dimers Like Me” in concert. Billy Joe tells a story about another famous fan of that song. “John Steinbeck’s son came up to me at a Bob Dylan concert. He said ‘My dad’s favorite song was ‘Old Five and Dimers Like Me.‘ With the respect I have for Steinbeck’s writing, that made me feel real good,“ remarked Shaver.

Billy Joe wrote nine of the ten songs for the landmark 1973 Waylon Jennings album, Honky-Tonk Heroes, an album widely credited with changing the course of country music by starting the outlaw movement. Billy Joe was fairly new to the music business at that time and remembers being “just the guy that was around hollering at him (Waylon) every once in a while telling him he was ruining my melody and stuff like that.” 

Shaver estimates he’s been nominated for a Grammy about five times, never winning but happy to have his songs recorded by so many others. It wasn’t always that way. He says that people used to come up to him after a show and tell him he “did that Waylon song real good,” which sometimes led him to get mad, get drunk, and “give away guitars.“ “Nowadays,” according to Billy Joe, “I just say thank you!”

Over the last ten years an overwhelming amount of good and bad has happened to Billy Joe Shaver. He and his guitar prodigy son, Eddy, formed Shaver, a band the critics loved and fans passionately followed. A meld of Billy Joe’s honky-tonk roots and Eddy’s blazing guitar work, the best introduction to their work is the 1993 classic Tramp On Your Street or the 1995 house-rocking Unshaven: Live At Smith’s Olde Bar.

In 1995, Razor and Tie released Restless Wind:The Legendary Billy Joe Shaver 1973-1987, a compilation of astounding songs that illustrates why Billy Joe is so revered by fellow artists.

The actor Robert Duvall, a fan and friend of Billy Joe, cast him as his best friend, a substantial role, in the 1997 movie “The Apostle.” Billy Joe played a reformed drunk, which he said wasn’t a big stretch for him, and doing the part wasn‘t hard because “Bobby told me not to act every chance I got.” 

Then, in the space of a month in 1999, Billy Joe’s mother and wife passed away from cancer. On December 31, 2000, Eddy’s long battle with heroin addiction ended in his death from an overdose. Eddy had played professionally with his dad since the age of 13 and had appeared on every one of Billy Joe’s albums since 1981’s I’m Just An Old Chuck of Coal, and his sudden loss in the wake of the other tragedies was devastating to Billy Joe. As if he hadn’t suffered enough, in August 2001 Billy Joe suffered a heart attack on stage at Gruene Hall in Austin, Texas. 

That he can continue to write, perform, and record is a testament to his zest for life and his strong faith in God (a topic he is not bashful about discussing). Though some of his songs demonstrate his faith, he is as worldly as ever and still loves to play honky-tonks, where he tells about his life through his songs.

After Eddy’s death, Billy Joe quit writing for a while, for the first time since he was five years old. He was convinced to enter a studio again in September 2002, and at the age of 63 has recorded one of the finest albums of his career, Freedom’s Child. Released on November 19, 2002, the reviews have been glowing, as evidenced by these samples: 



“...certainly one of the year’s best country albums.”

Joe Heim, WASHINGTON POST 



“Mixing smoldering Southern rock and closing-time country, his new album Freedom’s Child roars in the face of personal and national tragedy.”

Jim Ridley, NASHVILLE SCENE 



“Roaring back from the successive losses of his mother, wife and son/collaborator Eddy, country outlaw, songwriter supreme Shaver offers a surprisingly kicky collection of love ballads, social observations, wordplayful novelties and melancholy memory pieces.”

Bob Strauss, LA DAILY NEWS 



“His best tunes are both rowdy and startlingly vulnerable, burning with the fervor of a preacher illuminating the gospel of the down and out.”

Bob Townsend, ATLANTA CONSTITUTION 



“As always, each performance has the feel of an ancient field recording or Walker Evans photograph, one more reason Shaver remains a national treasure.”

Rich Kienzle, AMAZON.COM 



“Shaver is still working gloriously outside the commercially motivated boundaries of Music Row.”

Jim Abbot, ORLANDO SENTINEL 



“...with Freedom’s Child (Compadre), the 63-year-old Shaver has reemerged with some of the best songs of his career, which is saying a lot.”

Nick Cristiano, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER 

Freedom’s Child is just the beginning of what may be a breakthrough year, as Shaver continues to rebound with projects that are introducing him to the general public. Old pal Robert Duvall took time off from a busy filming schedule in order to play rhythm guitar in the recently-recorded video for the single “Freedom’s Child.” Luciana Pedrazza, Duvall’s girlfriend, is editing a documentary she filmed about Billy Joe , a documentary that longtime fan Lady Bird Johnson plans to introduce at its premiere.

In addition to the documentary, a full-length feature film looms in the future. Acclaimed screenwriter Horton Foote (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies, The Trip to Bountiful) wants to co-write (with Billy Joe) a major motion picture about Billy Joe’s life.

Billy Joe Shaver is not letting all of this go to his head. I know, because I spent some time with him on December 14 in the afternoon and evening before his show at Fitzgerald’s in the Chicago suburb Berwyn. Far from the rowdy man of years ago that liked to party and fight, he is humble, soft-spoken, and polite, somewhat embarrassed at all the attention he has been receiving.

The December concert marked Billy Joe’s second excursion to Fitzgerald’s in 2002, the first being his annual trek to perform at the American Music Festival hosted by Fitzgerald’s every Fourth of July. At the July show I was blown away by his high energy, tenderness, get-down-on-your-knees fervor, and polished comic timing, to say nothing of the well-crafted tunes. Though I had listened for years to his recorded material, finally seeing him perform live was an eye-opener. I even got to meet him and shake hands after the show. 

Thus, when he announced a North American tour to promote Freedom’s Child, and I learned that Chicago was one of the stops that included Atlanta, Cambridge, New York City, Toronto, St. Louis, and Kansas City, I hastily booked my room and bought my ticket. I was perfectly content with the thought of seeing another fantastic live show, but had no idea that my trip would end up being a far more dramatic experience.

While groggily checking into my hotel at 1 p.m. (long drive and hadn’t slept much the night before in anticipation of the show), I bent over to pick up my bags when someone next to me said to the desk clerk, “I’m Mr. Shaver and I’m here to pick up my credit card that I left last night.”

After a few seconds I realized what I had just heard, turning to my left to see Billy Joe standing next to me! We had a short conversation about the July show, that evening’s upcoming show, and the new album, then shook hands and hugged before we went our separate ways to have lunch. 

I ate lunch, returned to the hotel, and just as I headed up to my room I bumped into Billy Joe as he returned from his lunch! After about a five-minute conversation I started to ask if I could get a photo of us. I was able to get out the words, “Would you mind...” when Billy Joe finished the sentence for me with, “I think a picture would be a great idea. Would you like me to take my hat off or leave it on?” We got the desk clerk to take the picture, then Billy Joe headed up to his room to take a nap, something which I needed but was way too excited to accomplish.

I headed down the street to the one-hour photo shop, thinking that a walk would calm me down. On the way back I noticed a handsome young couple feeding a squirrel outside the hotel, so I quickly loaded the camera, snapped some photos of the scene, and told them, “I got some really good shots there. Thank you.” Introductions commenced, with me finding out I was talking to Billy Joe’s bass player and drummer, Brad Fordham and Lisa Pankrantz! We talked for a half hour about the tour, with them mentioning several times that they were working for the nicest man around. They live in Austin, and while excited about being “up north,” said Canada was a little cold for their liking. Brad and Lisa wanted to know where Macomb is located, which I couldn’t easily explain to a couple of Texans who had never been to Illinois before. 

Jerry Hollingsworth, this tour’s manager and a fine bass player, walked by and joined the conversation. He played bass at the July show, so when he learned I possessed an “unofficially authorized” CD of that live show, we exchanged addresses in order for me to send him a copy later. 

At this point, the day had turned into one of the most memorable of my life. Jerry told me Billy Joe wouldn’t hit the stage until 11:30, so I finally napped and watched a fight on HBO, heading to the lobby at 10:30 to catch a cab and ...run into Billy Joe again! We talked some more while waiting outside for a cab along with band-member Jamie Hartford, son of the late John Hartford (writer of “Gentle On My Mind”).

After arriving at Fitzgerald’s, Jerry Hollingsworth motioned me over to the side of the stage and we talked for about fifteen minutes while the opening act ended their set. Jerry, whose sister is Billy Joe’s attorney, is the main driver for the 35-foot bus that carries Billy Joe and the band on tour. The life of a tour manager is not glamorous (he handles lodging accommodations, sets up and mans the t-shirt and CD concession at each show, and keeps track of the equipment) but he reiterated what Brad and Lisa told me earlier that day, that Billy Joe is the nicest person he’s ever worked with in the music business. Jerry shared that Billy Joe even likes to do a fair amount of the driving. 

By the time Billy Joe Shaver began his set, I was on a cloud, amazed at how the day had turned out. I settled up front, where some kindly tall people took pity on a short person who was hoping to get some close-up photos of the show. When Billy Joe nodded to me after his first song, I managed a delayed and feeble wave back at the stage.

As the end of the show neared, Shaver told the crowd that he would stick around and sign anything and everything for the audience after the last song. As I exited Fitzgerald’s, Billy Joe Shaver was hunched over, signing t-shirts, CD’s, hats and whatever, with a large crowd waiting patiently in line to say a few words to him. One thing is no secret, he is as bighearted as he is talented.