Billy Joe Shaver

Vinyl Records and Rare LPs:

Long In The Tooth
New - Vinyl - LRR-25423
Sealed 2014 US original gatefold release. "Billie Joe Shaver was one of the original members of the 1970s outlaw country movement, but he never became a household name like Willie Nelson or Waylon Jennings, although Shaver songs like "I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train," "Good Christian Soldier," "Willie the Wandering Gypsy and Me," and "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Some Day)" are acknowledged classics. Shaver, a hard-living Texas country singer and songwriter whose best songs were a fair step past brilliant, either didn't play the game right, or didn't care for the spotlight, or maybe the game just passed him by, who knows. He had a bit of a revival in the 1990s with his band Shaver, which included his son Eddy Shaver, a rising Texas guitar slinger who had mentored with Dickey Betts and had already played on albums by Waylon Jennings, Guy Clark, and Willie Nelson and toured as lead guitarist with Dwight Yoakam, but Eddy's death in 2000 of a heroin overdose pretty much sank that ship, too. But the elder Shaver never stopped writing songs, although his recording career seemed behind him. Luckily, he still had this album in him. Long in the Tooth features ten new Shaver songs, and if his voice by now (the album was released in his 75th year) has worn to a deep, rough rasp, the songs are as strong and as vital and world-weary wise as ever, and at least three of them here -- the opener "Hard to Be an Outlaw" (a duet with Willie Nelson); the beautiful, ragged fiddle and piano waltz "I'll Love You as Much as I Can"; and "The Git Go," which is full of a kind of rugged, hard-earned resignation -- have the feel of instant Shaver classics. This release probably won't make Shaver a household name any more than any of his other albums over the years, if being a household name is, or ever was, even a goal of Shaver's in the first place, but he's still one of the best country songwriters out there and his song catalog is among the greatest in the whole history of the genre. Here's hoping that this set isn't a swan song and that he still has more songs in him to add to that impressive legacy." All Music Guide – Steve Leggett more

Old Five And Dimers Like Me
New - Vinyl - MG 7421
Factory Sealed 1973 Original. Cut Corner. Songs Are: “Black Rose,” “Old Five And Dimers Like Me,” “L. A. Turnaround,” “Jesus Christ, What A Man,” “Played The Game Too Long,” “I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train,” “Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me,” “Low Down Freedom,” “Jesus Was Our Saviour And Cotton Was King,” “Serious Souls” And “Bottom Dollar." “Billy Joe Shaver Slipped Onto The Recording Scene Very Quietly In 1973. He Was Already Heralded A Fine Songwriter By Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, And Waylon Jennings, But Even They'd Recorded One Or Two Songs Of His Up To That Point. After The Issue Of This Debut Album, However, The Floodgates Opened For Shaver With The Aforementioned Trio And Johnny Cash Himself Recording Billy Joe's Songs -- A Trend That Continued 30 Years Later. Old Five And Dimers Like Me Reveals A Songwriter At The Height Of His Power, A Songwriter Who Undersells His Case Via Quiet Melodic Music Steeped In Texas Country, Folk, And The Blues. Shaver Was A Study In Contradictions On This Album And Proved To Be So In Life As Well. He Was A Big Man On The Cover, A Rough And Tumble Farmer Who Liked His Music Hot And Simple And Wrote Words Like A Poet Laureate. His Performances Of His Own Songs Have Been Derided In The Past Because Of The Supposed Limitations In His Voice. But Though He May Not Produce The Performance Drama That Some Of His Peers Can, His Versions Of These Songs Are Far More Poignant Than Any Cover Version Of Them. Old Five And Dimers Like Me Is A Masterpiece Not Only As A Genesis For Outlaw Country, But Of American Songwriting At Its Very Best.” Thom Jurek, AMG. more