Billy Joe Shaver RIP

[The Six]

Billy Joe Shaver, outlaw country pioneer, dead at 81

Billy Joe Shaver, an outlaw country pioneer with a rugged voice and a stellar songbook, has died at age 81.

Shaver had a stroke and died Wednesday at Ascension Providence Hospital in Waco, Texas, according to reports by Variety, Sirius XM and other media outlets.

Shaver, a Texas native, earned a devoted following with decades of performances in nightclubs and honky-tonks -- including several shows in Alabama -- and he recorded 17 studio albums during his long career. His records, which influenced generations of musicians in country and Americana music, ranged from 1973′s “Old Five and Dimers Like Me” to 2014′s “Long in the Tooth.”

Shaver, nicknamed the “Wacko from Waco,” was a colorful character with a checkered past, and many of his plain-spoken, storytelling tunes reflected that sensibility. His songbook includes “I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train,” “You Asked Me To,” “Live Forever,” “Ain’t No God In Mexico,” “Old Five and Dimers Like Me,” “Honky Tonk Heroes,” “Black Rose,” “Ride Me Down Easy,” “Ragged Old Truck" and I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)."

“His wild life gave him plenty of material,” Michael Hall wrote in a 2010 article in Texas Monthly. "There was the boozing, drugging, womanizing, and fighting in the seventies and eighties, when he was part of a long-haired Nashville Rat Pack of country music outlaws, well-known troublemakers like Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.

https://www.al.com/life/2020/10/billy-joe-shaver-outlaw-country-pioneer-dead-at-81.html

[GH2001]

Ride Me Down Easy.....whats what Wiregrass says to Snags on a weekly basis when they meet up.

[Kaos]

Never heard of him. 

[Snaggletiger]

Ride Me Down Easy.....whats what Wiregrass says to Snags on a weekly basis when they meet up.

Actually, we've started singing Back in the Saddle Again.  But things have changed.

[AUTiger1]

Motherfucker!  Jerry Jeff Walker just the other day.  2020 sucks ass!

[Snaggletiger]

Never heard of him.

I thought he was talking about this guy.

[GH2001]

Actually, we've started singing Back in the Saddle Again.  But things have changed.

Hes a fickle bastard I've heard. 

[Buzz Killington]

Ride Me Down Easy.....whats what Wiregrass says to Snags on a weekly basis when they meet up.

I thought that was a fast train to georgia?

[AUTiger1]

I thought that was a fast train to georgia?

I've got an 8th grade education and you shouldn't be treating me this way!

[Kaos]

I thought that was a fast train to georgia?

Last train to clarksville

[GH2001]

Last train to clarksville

they love a good train

[Snaggletiger]

Last train to clarksville

I'll meet you at the station.

[GH2001]

I'll meet you at the station.

can you define station?

[WiregrassTiger]

Shaver was my kind of picker and writer. Loved his stuff. Most all Of it. Lost Prine, Jerry Jeff as aut mentioned and now billy joe. 3 great ones gone in 2020. Not the ones most of you would like but for my taste, these 3 are cream of the crop.

Billy Joe was rough around the edges. Great writer. Old chunk of coal, fast train to Georgia and this one are some of my favs he wrote.

He lost 2 or 3 fingers in a saw mill and was still a good picker. He killed a fellow in self defense according to him a few years ago. I think he was in his 70s at the time. In a honky tonk parking lot. 

I know some folks who knew his son, who was a damn fine picker gone way too soon.

RIP Shaver

[GH2001]

Shaver was my kind of picker and writer. Loved his stuff. Most all Of it. Lost Prine, Jerry Jeff as aut mentioned and now billy joe. 3 great ones gone in 2020. Not the ones most of you would like but for my taste, these 3 are cream of the crop.

Billy Joe was rough around the edges. Great writer. Old chunk of coal, fast train to Georgia and this one are some of my favs he wrote.

He lost 2 or 3 fingers in a saw mill and was still a good picker. He killed a fellow in self defense according to him a few years ago. I think he was in his 70s at the time. In a honky tonk parking lot.

I know some folks who knew his son, who was a damn fine picker gone way too soon.

RIP Shaver

Sure...if you like guys that want to act homeless and look like they smell. 

[Snaggletiger]

Sure...if you like guys that want to act homeless and look like they smell.

Oh he does.  Trust me.

[Kaos]

I was once assigned to a detail that made sure Willie Nelson got from his hotel suite to the interview room, out to the stage, back to the interview room and then to his room.  

I've never smelled anything worse.  It was like a horse carcass or something.  The dude flat out reeked.  Nice, easygoing, treated us like we were old friends.  Extremely laid back and zero ego.  But that funk...  

Had the same task for LeAnn Rimes when she was about 14 or so I guess.  She was sweet then and nice to everybody, but I heard she turned into a bitch. 

[WiregrassTiger]

I was once assigned to a detail that made sure Willie Nelson got from his hotel suite to the interview room, out to the stage, back to the interview room and then to his room. 

I've never smelled anything worse.  It was like a horse carcass or something.  The dude flat out reeked.  Nice, easygoing, treated us like we were old friends.  Extremely laid back and zero ego.  But that funk... 

Had the same task for LeAnn Rimes when she was about 14 or so I guess.  She was sweet then and nice to everybody, but I heard she turned into a bitch.

What did LeAnn’s pussy smell like?

[WiregrassTiger]

Sure...if you like guys that want to act homeless and look like they smell.

Both of these were true of him at times, I’m certain. But his songs were exquisite.

[GH2001]

But his songs were exquisite.

well you also thought that about your old geo tracker