Tag: Billy Joe Shaver

A Legend Lives Forever

“You just can’t beat Jesus Christ,

and you can’t beat good ol’ boys.”

Billy Joe Shaver said that once — and he meant it.

He was a poet of the backroads, a sinner who believed, a man who took every bruise and turned it into a hymn. Four years gone today, and his words still hang in the Texas wind like gospel smoke.

Before the world called it outlaw country, Billy Joe was already livin’ it. He didn’t just write songs — he carved ‘em out of bone and truth. When Waylon Jennings dropped Honky Tonk Heroes in ’73, nearly every song on that record was Shaver’s. That album lit the fuse for a whole movement — the outlaws, the drifters, the storytellers who wanted to tell it their way.

He wrote ‘em raw and righteous — Old Five and Dimers Like Me, I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal, Ride Me Down Easy, Georgia on a Fast Train. His words were plainspoken but full of fire — simple enough to hum, heavy enough to live by.

He inspired Waylon, Willie, Kristofferson, and every soul who ever picked up a pen hopin’ to write something real. Even now, you can hear echoes of Billy Joe in every Texas dance hall and dive bar where the truth still matters.

“When this whole world is blown asunder

And all the stars fall from the sky

Remember someone really loves you

We’ll live forever, you and I.”

Billy Joe Shaver may have left this world in 2020, but his legend — like that song — will live forever.

His stories were the acid test of country music: what’s left after everything else burns away.

And damned if we don’t still shine through the grime.

That Lonesome Song

A couple of Sundays back I attended a show out at the Wagnernoel in Midland. I have been listening to the music of Jamey Johnson since he released his second studio album back in 08, but until then, I had never seen him play live.

Jamey is a hell of a song writer. You might know that one song he does, ‘In color,’ I mean the song does have some great things going for it, but Johnson has a whole catalog of lyrics that match or trump that songs greatness.

Jamey Johnson has also written some great songs that were recorded by other artists. I think that’s the ceiling for a song writer. When you hear the words that you wrote down on paper and they are coming from the mouth of George Strait blasting through the speakers of your cars radio, you know you have made it.

‘Give it Away’ is one of those songs. I wouldn’t say Jamey Johnson gave it to anyone. King George recorded the song when no one else gave a damn who Jamey Johnson was. He’d just lost his record label and wasn’t sure what direction his life would turn, and outta no where- Enter King George.

Jamey Johnson is great entertainment. He is a showman. At the concert hall that night he played several songs by another George. The one whose last name is Jones. He played them at the request of his good buddy Rooster. Some of you might remember Rooster from the short lived reality series, West Texas Investors Club. Some of you remember Rooster because of his brother Matthew McConaughey, that movie star guy. I remember Rooster just being Rooster. I grew up with his son, and also happened to graduate high school with his current wife Erica.

At the show Rooster reminded us all to listen and appreciate the lyrics. The songwriter makes the song. No matter who is playing it. That Lonesome Song tells us a story, from the heart.

Jamey Johnson also did some brilliant covers from one of the best ever, Billy Joe Shaver. In fact he did more covers that night then I was ever expecting, but he did them better than I ever expected so it was all perfectly okay by me.

That Lonesome song is one of my personal favorites of all time. It tells a story that I can personally relate to. I think many of my friends can too. Couple that with Johnson’s ‘High Cost of Living’ (which was a disappointment that he didn’t even have it on the set list that night) and you’ve got a pretty accurate picture of my life.

You should have seen it in Color.

Pancho.