For longer than I can remember, I have been enthralled with Billy Joe Shaver. His lyrics completely capture the essence of pure American songwriting. They’re honest and applicable, eye opening and ageless. His storied life reads like a best seller, full of deranged characters, love lost and gained, hard falls and rising from the ashes. His songs are pot marks of all the ultimate highs and low blows. Recently Shaver released Long in the Tooth, his first studio album in six years. Critics and fans alike are all raving about his insightful lyrics, range and delivery. For those who thought he was gone, let us confirm the incorrect nature of your misgivings. Shaver is better than ever and showing no signs of slowing. We caught up with Billy Joe to talk about Long in the Tooth, life lived in transit, and selling newspapers.
In Music City USA, Shaver calls out Nashville on its pre-madonna practices of releasing pop garbage and calling it country. “Some super stars nowadays/Get too far off the ground/Singing bout the backroads/They never have been down/They go and call it country/But that ain’t the way it sounds/Makes a renegade like me/Want to Terrorize the town.”
Jordan Knight: Based on what you are saying in Music City USA, is there any hope for the music industry?
Billy Joe Shaver: “Oh, God yes. Everybody’s got to write honest and simple. Simplicity don’t need to be greased. It’s like a wheel that keeps squeaking, if its real simple, it don’t really need to be greased. Simplicity of the songs has gotten away from us all. A lot of the time, the words in theses songs, I swear I don’t even know what they mean. I try not to learn them. A lot of the time, they’re shooting over everybody’s head. They’re singing to college graduates and that’s cool. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not a real big market. There’s a lot of folks out here working hard and they need entertainment and they need something they can understand.”
JK: You are quoted as saying, “This is the best album I’ve ever done. It’s just dangerously good. I expect it to change things and turn things around the way Honky Tonk Heroes did.” The recognition of the effects of Honky Tonk Heroes came a little after the release. Do you anticipate Long in the Tooth being more straightforward in its acceptance?
BJS: “It’s taking hold very quickly. It doesn’t have the great Waylon Jennings singing it. I’m singing it. I sing pretty good, but I don’t think anybody will ever be as good as he was. These songs are up to par with anything I’ve ever done. There just as good as my first one, so I’m happy about that. I think all the critics and the people who are buying records are happy about it too. I’ve been real successful and I’m not going to change the way I do things. I think we’re in pretty good shape really.”
JK: Chunk of Coal is one of my all time favorite songs. I am instantly in a great mood whenever I hear it. It is simple and powerful and packed full of truth. The line” I’ll kneel and pray everyday/Lest I should become vain along the way” is the perfect example of knowing yourself and being true to who got you here. You have come back to this theme in I’m in Love. “You’re the Angel of Light/You have sown the seeds and grown it/For the rest of my life/I can never stop from glowing/I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love.” Can you talk about your inspiration for this song?
BJS: “It’s about me being born again really. It’s like a love song. It’s about being in love with Jesus. ‘And the cord is finally severed/I am free to begin the beginning of forever.’ Your whole slate gets wiped clean and you get to start at the beginning again. That’s where it is for me. I’ve actually slipped back so much, I’m hoping I can get born again, again.”
JK: In Long in the Tooth, you say, “Time did a number on me/I ain’t the man I used to be/Running half speed but better than most/I lived up to all them stories been told.” How has life on the road changed for you as the years have progressed?
BJS: “It’s been wonderful. I’ve got new tires on the ground and stuff like that. I’ve got a bigger van now. It’s wonderful to be out here living what you love and loving what you do. If you’re lucky enough to find that, it’s a real blessing. I love it. I love to travel and I wouldn’t be able to travel like this if I didn’t do this music. I wouldn’t be able to afford it. But I get to travel, to see new things and meet new people. It’s what I get off on anyway. You write. Everybody should. It’s the cheapest psychiatry out there. You turn it loose and let it roll.”
JK: That’s the most important thing anyone can do. “This above all: to thine own self be true.”
BJS: “Whoever said that was right. That was a mouthful wasn’t it?”
JK: Nine words can change the whole scope of the way you think about things.
BJS: “Oh, God yeah! It don’t take much.”
JK: Do you remember the first time you played in front of people?
BJS: “(Laughing) Yeah. When I was eight years old, I used to sell newspapers on the corner and I sold a lot of papers. I just pat my butt and sing. I was just saying whatever was going on with me. There was a settlement of black people who lived across the railroad tracks where my grandmother raised me, and I would go over there everyday from the time I was about six. There was a lady over there who had a standup piano on her front porch and everybody would come by there. There would always be somebody with a bottle neck and they’d be singing on these black tunes. ‘I loved a woman.’ They would sing all the time. That’s where most of my influence came from. I was really impressed by them. And Jimmy Rogers of course. We did so much Jimmy Rogers. All the black folks thought that he was black from hearing the radio play, and they were just so proud of him. (Laughing) When they found out he wasn’t black, they quit singing his songs, and I did too.”
JK: How about the first time you wrote what you would call a good song?
BJS: “I was so loose and so happy to be doing it, that I never did rate myself. When I came to town in ‘66 to Nashville, I had some really great songs and I knew it. I’d been checking them out with little band things I’d throw together. I’d been working on them since I was about eight. I knew I was good. I knew the stuff I was singing was good. I was happy with it and I’m the worst critic. That’s when I ran into Waylon Jennings and he took that whole album called Honky Tonk Heroes. He did it as close to how I did it as he could. He was so well known and loved it and it was great. I really love ol’ Waylon. He was a good guy and he knew how to deliver my type of songs. And it turned out to be his type too.”
JK: We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Shed in a few weeks.
BJS: “That’s my favorite spot. I love it there. They video it every time we do a show. I bet he’s got some really good videos. I’ve looked a t some of them and they all sound good. I love them all over there. They’re just really good folks.”
JK: It’s a venue where you wouldn’t expect a venue to be and maybe that’s what makes it so special.
BJS: “I guess so. It’s a business, but everybody is welcome. It’s just great. I love it . I really do. (Laughing) That old Dragon thing too. I love it. I like to look at it, I ain’t gonna get caught up with it.”
Billy Joe Shaver will be performing at The Shed in Maryville, Tennessee on Saturday, June 20th. Doors are at 6pm. Tickets are $20.00 adv and $25.00 dos and can be purchased here.
