Billy Joe Shaver - Long In Tooth
Album review by: George Peden, Sr.
Staff Journalist
Some superstars nowadays Get too far off the ground Singing ‘bout the back roads They never have been down They go and call it country But that ain’t the way it sounds It’s enough to make a renegade like me Want to terrorise the town.” Billy Joe Shaver - “Hard To Be An Outlaw”.
Waco’s (Texas) favorite son Billy Joe Shaver is back. He’s older. He’s wiser. However, the same defiance that hails him as a beacon of cowboy music culture is intact on his latest album -- his first in seven long years of waiting.
There’s no escaping the truth, Billy Joe Shaver is real deal country. For that reason, many of today’s country music fans won’t listen. Some modern fans are more tuned to fire bombs, confetti cannons,light shows and mega visuals, preferring hype over substance and noise over music. That’s a shame.
Billy Joe Shaver has never been a household name, but in the outlaw world beyond Nashville he’s a force valued and sought. Waylon Jennings paid the ultimate recognition by recording Honky Tonk Heroes, a 1973 gem of Shaver originals. Purists regard the album as the definitive outlaw album. They may just be right.
To get a grasp of a real denim, true and tried original, you need look no further than this 74-year olds signature tune, the revealing “ I’ve Been to Georgia on a Fast Train”.
His drawl shares it all when he tells, “My grandma’s old age pension is the reason I’m standing here today... a good Christian raisin’ and an 8th grade education... I wudn't born no yesterday.” It’s that survival mode that has kept Billy Joe a respected tunesmith, allowing his music to etch the borders of a life well lived. So, after triumph (he’s had tunes cut by some of country music’s finest) and turmoil (divorce and the loss of his son to drugs), each life event seemingly adds color to his storytelling. That gritty sharing is here on arguably one of his best albums, the tarnished Long in the Tooth.
From the opening track to the closing cut, to my weathered ears this is musical nirvana. Sure, the voice has age, but it’s the power of the passion which is the big winner here. Billy Joe has lived his lyrics. He’s honest. You can’t want anything more.
“It’s hard to be an outlaw who ain’t wanted anymore,” laments Shaver on the opening track, one he shares with Willie Nelson. The reality of age and a wrinkled decline bares out : “Someday we both may wind up in some junk yard on the side; but ‘till that day you can bet your ass were gonna whip and ride.” Having set the tone, the album spins ruggedly track to track. The title cut, with it’s honesty of taking all night to do what once was done all night, is defiance with a BJS imprint. But while Shaver recognises the downfall of getting older, he recoups by telling us that “I still got a young man’s brain.” Old men everywhere rejoice!
On a album of good, better and best tracks, it’s hard to label favourites. “Git Go” gives a knowing nod to life’s truths, while “Sunbeam Special” rides a memorable time for those like the album, are a little long in the tooth.
“I’ll Love You As Much As I Can” is the lament of a true heart; it’s Shaver raw and sincere. A similar mood comes with the made-for-late-at-night reflections on the sobering “I’m In Love”.
Good tunes leave you in a better place than where they found you. “Last Call For Alcohol”, and the life observations of “Checkers & Chess” leave you thinking, but importantly smiling. “I’m just an ol’ chunk a coal”, sings Billy Joe on a remembered hit. “But I’m gonna be a diamond some day,” with these tunes and this album, some day has arrived.
Out on Lighting Rod Records.
Some superstars nowadays Get too far off the ground Singing ‘bout the back roads They never have been down They go and call it country But that ain’t the way it sounds It’s enough to make a renegade like me Want to terrorise the town.” Billy Joe Shaver - “Hard To Be An Outlaw”.
Waco’s (Texas) favorite son Billy Joe Shaver is back. He’s older. He’s wiser. However, the same defiance that hails him as a beacon of cowboy music culture is intact on his latest album -- his first in seven long years of waiting.
There’s no escaping the truth, Billy Joe Shaver is real deal country. For that reason, many of today’s country music fans won’t listen. Some modern fans are more tuned to fire bombs, confetti cannons,light shows and mega visuals, preferring hype over substance and noise over music. That’s a shame.
Billy Joe Shaver has never been a household name, but in the outlaw world beyond Nashville he’s a force valued and sought. Waylon Jennings paid the ultimate recognition by recording Honky Tonk Heroes, a 1973 gem of Shaver originals. Purists regard the album as the definitive outlaw album. They may just be right.
To get a grasp of a real denim, true and tried original, you need look no further than this 74-year olds signature tune, the revealing “ I’ve Been to Georgia on a Fast Train”.
His drawl shares it all when he tells, “My grandma’s old age pension is the reason I’m standing here today... a good Christian raisin’ and an 8th grade education... I wudn't born no yesterday.” It’s that survival mode that has kept Billy Joe a respected tunesmith, allowing his music to etch the borders of a life well lived. So, after triumph (he’s had tunes cut by some of country music’s finest) and turmoil (divorce and the loss of his son to drugs), each life event seemingly adds color to his storytelling. That gritty sharing is here on arguably one of his best albums, the tarnished Long in the Tooth.
From the opening track to the closing cut, to my weathered ears this is musical nirvana. Sure, the voice has age, but it’s the power of the passion which is the big winner here. Billy Joe has lived his lyrics. He’s honest. You can’t want anything more.
“It’s hard to be an outlaw who ain’t wanted anymore,” laments Shaver on the opening track, one he shares with Willie Nelson. The reality of age and a wrinkled decline bares out : “Someday we both may wind up in some junk yard on the side; but ‘till that day you can bet your ass were gonna whip and ride.” Having set the tone, the album spins ruggedly track to track. The title cut, with it’s honesty of taking all night to do what once was done all night, is defiance with a BJS imprint. But while Shaver recognises the downfall of getting older, he recoups by telling us that “I still got a young man’s brain.” Old men everywhere rejoice!
On a album of good, better and best tracks, it’s hard to label favourites. “Git Go” gives a knowing nod to life’s truths, while “Sunbeam Special” rides a memorable time for those like the album, are a little long in the tooth.
“I’ll Love You As Much As I Can” is the lament of a true heart; it’s Shaver raw and sincere. A similar mood comes with the made-for-late-at-night reflections on the sobering “I’m In Love”.
Good tunes leave you in a better place than where they found you. “Last Call For Alcohol”, and the life observations of “Checkers & Chess” leave you thinking, but importantly smiling. “I’m just an ol’ chunk a coal”, sings Billy Joe on a remembered hit. “But I’m gonna be a diamond some day,” with these tunes and this album, some day has arrived.
Out on Lighting Rod Records.
