Billy Joe Shaver Wasn’t Just a Legend. He Was a Hero.
Billy Joe Shaver wasn’t just a musical legend and icon, or an “Outlaw” as we like to call the artists who work outside of the Nashville system. He was a hero, in both music, and in life. What is a hero? A hero is someone who illustrates a level of bravery well beyond what most would be willing to. It’s someone who stands up and charges forward when the rest of us would sit down or fall back.
The stories of Billy Joe’s heroism are numerous. One of Billy Joe Shaver’s most famous acts of bravery is when he accosted Waylon Jennings in the hall of Hillbilly Central in Nashville—the recording studio and hangout of country music’s “Outlaws” back in the 70’s operated by Tompall Glaser. It’s where Waylon Jennings and others recorded.
After Waylon Jennings spent days dodging Billy Joe and his pleas to record some of his songs, Billy Joe finally stared down Waylon in a long hallway, like two gunfighters in the middle of town. Shaver threatened, “If you don’t listen to these songs, at least listen to them, I’m going to whip your ass right here in front of God and everybody.”
Note, this was Waylon Jennings he was talking to—the most ornery and notorious of the Outlaws at the time. But Billy Joe Shaver’s pluck is what ultimately won Waylon’s ear, and eventually made stars out of both of them when Waylon recorded an entire album of Billy Joe Shaver’s songs. It was only fitting that the title track of that 1973 record was called “Honky Tonk Heroes.” Because that’s exactly what Billy Joe Shaver was.
When Waylon was recording the album, Billy Joe Shaver wouldn’t quit butting into the sessions, complaining about what Waylon was doing with his songs. He was especially perturbed with the way he put a half time breakdown at the end of “Honky Tonk Heroes.” Waylon gave Hillbilly Central henchman Captain Midnight a $100 bill and said, “Give this to Billy Joe, and tell him to get the fuck out of here and stay away.” Billy Joe promptly threw the $100 bill back at Captain Midnight, and said, “You tell Waylon to stick this up his ass.”
Billy Joe Shaver’s life story unfolds more like folklore than a real life biography—losing multiple fingers in a sawmill accident, growing up in a honky-tonk his mother operated, with spittoons in the corner, and sawdust on the floor. Eventually Billy Joe ended up in Nashville when he meant to relocate to L.A., but got tired of waiting for a trip west from Texas, and took a cantaloupe truck east instead.
But Billy Joe Shaver almost didn’t make it into country music history at all. Broke and desperate after moving to Nashville in 1966, on a whim Shaver decided to spend the last bit of money he and his wife Brenda had on a ragged old truck he saw for sale. Shaver worked on the old truck all day, but couldn’t get it to start, let alone run. So his wife left him with the old truck.
Out of luck, love, and money, Billy Joe Shaver decided to end it all. “Don’t ever play Russian roulette with an automatic,” Billy Joe warns. But he tried in this instance by pointing the gun at his head and pulling the trigger, lifting the gun up over his head just before the first shot rang out, and then unloading the rest of the bullets into the wall. He recounted the incident in his song “Ragged Old Truck.”
This wasn’t the only incident of gun play and Billy Joe Shaver. In 2007 he was sitting in a saloon called Papa Joe’s just outside of Waco, TX when a man named Billy Bryant Coker came up to Shaver and stirred his drink with a knife, threatening him. After some words were exchanged, Shaver decided it was time to leave before the scene got nasty, but Billy Coker followed him out the door. In the parking lot, Billy Coker kept coming after him with his knife, so Billy Joe Shaver pulled a small caliber pistol out of his boot, and was overheard asking Coker, “Where do you want it?” Shaver later testified in court he actually said, “Why do you want to do this?” to Coker before shooting the man in the face.
The news made it down to Austin where Dale Watson decided to write a song about the incident called “Where Do You Want It?” The song ended up on a Whitey Morgan album, and eventually on one from Dale too. Billy Joe Shaver was acquitted of all charges after proving self-defense to a jury of his peers, and calling upon Willie Nelson and Robert Duvall as character witnesses.
In 2017, Billy Joe Shaver was scheduled to headline the Long Beach Folk Revival Festival when he ended up in the hospital after falling as he walked into a nearby restaurant, smashing his face on the ground. Shaver stepped into a hole, which caused his knee to buckle sideways, and his forehead was split open and his nose was broken. Being 78 years old at the time, the first fear was if Shaver would even survive the fall. But despite the numerous injuries Shaver sustained at about 3:30 in the afternoon, he still made it to the stage later that evening, playing a full set for shocked attendees.
Billy Joe Shaver’s acts of heroism were not exactly saving a baby from a burning building. But this isn’t Hollywood, this is country music. And there were many acts that also didn’t involve bluster and violence. Billy Joe was a hero for being one of those artists who waits by the merch table after every show to meet everyone, giving a big bear hug and photo op to any fan who wanted one. He was a hero in the way he was so outspoken about the overdose death of his son and stellar guitar player Eddy. You could consider Shaver a hero for putting a black guy in his band in the form of Waco legend Tony Calhoun for many years.
It was these kinds of acts of heroism throughout his career that had many labeling Billy Joe Shaver a “hero,” including his long-time friend Willie Nelson. While most of the music industry had forgotten or abandoned Billy Joe Shaver just like so many legends of the past, Willie Nelson did his level best to make sure the world remembered. Willie regularly featured Billy Joe Shaver music on his albums, and collaborated with Shaver often.
Billy Joe Shaver and Willie Nelson recorded the song “Wacko From Waco” about Billy Joe’s incident at Papa Joe’s in Waco as a duet in 2011. Willie Nelson appeared on the song “Hard To Be an Outlaw” off of Billy Joe Shaver’s 2014 album, Long in the Tooth. Willie Nelson’s most recent album First Rose of Spring released in July includes the Billy Joe Shaver-written song, “We Are The Cowboys.”
But it’s Willie Nelson’s song “Hero” off his 2012 record called Heroes where Willie paid tribute to Billy Joe Shaver directly. Featuring an appearance from Jamey Johnson and Billy Joe Shaver himself, the song laments the loss of honky tonk heroes over time, with Shaver as the centerpiece.
He used to be king of the bars
He’s opened and closed them from Waco to Mars
Now he sings on the streets and he sleeps in his car
But he used to be king of the bars.
Where is our hero tonight?
He left here a-sailing, he was high as a kite
Feeling kinda sorry, and looking for a fight
Where is our hero tonight?
Where is our hero today?
Can we just tag along, we’ll stay out his way.
Does he still write the sad songs and can he still play
Where is our hero today?
Unfortunately, our hero is gone now, just like so many of them that made country music the proud institution it is today. But thanks to Billy Joe Shaver’s music, he won’t be forgotten, like he says in one of his signature songs.
Nobody here will ever find me
But I will always be around
Just like the songs I leave behind me
I’m gonna live forever now.
Charlie
October 29, 2020 @ 9:12 am
Streaming his songs all day today. What is very cool is how so many of them speak to this very moment.
I streamed Jerry Jeff all day yesterday; maybe I’ll cheer up tomorrow.
Ben D.
October 29, 2020 @ 9:16 am
Wonderful piece Sir. Mr. Shaver showed me it can be done. Despite everybody sayin’ that you can’t or you shouldn’t, he truly knew what he had & the Power he possessed. I would not be who I am today if he’d taken the advice that the Nashville “establishment” foolishly gave him when he got to town…
Thomas
October 29, 2020 @ 9:25 am
Wow, what a moving tribute. Very well said, Trigger.
DJ
October 29, 2020 @ 10:29 am
Trigger, as usual your writing is above reproach- so, in the context (song writing) only difference between you and Billy Joe is, (as much as I despise the word), genre- that said, can an old man call you a hero? I’d give about anything to be as eloquent as you….
or Billy Joe, or any writer who can put pen to paper and touch people-
However, I’ve read that a hero is an ordinary person doing extraordinary things- very few reach that status, or even a good writer, or performer or athletes. That’s not to take away from the extraordinary talent, btw, …. ordinary is not what a talented person is. Ordinary is people such as myself (outside the fact I’m somewhat of an anomaly) are.
Congratulations AGAIN on an extraordinary talent!
Trigger
October 29, 2020 @ 10:38 am
Thanks DJ.
Daniele
October 29, 2020 @ 11:26 am
For me Billy Joe is the definition of country music. Whenever i might feel confused about it i turn to his music for some lessons. R.I.P.
hoptowntiger94
October 29, 2020 @ 12:48 pm
Thanks, Trig. That was beautiful.
I went back last night and read your “10 Bad Ass Billy Joe Shaver Moments,” but this article is what I needed.
So many amazing tributes being posted on social media. Did you see the picture on Gruene Hall FB page with a teenaged Ryan Bingham?
Ed S.
October 29, 2020 @ 1:14 pm
I was at a Ward Davis show last night in Bucks Bar & Grill which is the definition of a dirty old honkytonk. Josh Morningstar was there too and Ward said how Josh was taking this loss pretty badly because like Mr. Shaver, he didn’t consider himself a picker or singer. The two are poets writing country songs. Ward was holding back some tears and then sang Honkytonk Heroes after telling the story.
DJ
October 29, 2020 @ 3:20 pm
I’d love to hear Ward Davis do Honky Tonk Heroes- that alone would be worth the price of admission.
618creekrat
October 29, 2020 @ 1:14 pm
Been touring his catalog on Apple, and thoroughly enjoying it.
I only got to see him perform once, at the 2017 Tumbleweed Fest. It was pretty damn hot that afternoon, and you could tell it was wearing on him, but he toughed it out. Am glad I got to see him that once.
Rest in God’s peace, Billy Joe.
ddymac
October 29, 2020 @ 1:44 pm
Damn Trigger, sitting here in front of my laptop about to cry…One great thing about music, we will always have his songs even though he is gone.
DJ
October 29, 2020 @ 3:18 pm
all the stuff left behind won’t matter anyway, what counts is backing up what you say- and he said a lot.
Doug
October 29, 2020 @ 1:45 pm
By coincidence a friend sent me a link today to a 2012 Texas Monthly cover story on the Outlaw Country movement, documenting the Austin scene in the 1970s. It’s a long piece with quotes from a lot of people who were there, including Billy Joe, who, naturally, told a story. Here’s what he said:
“I had a borrowed motorcycle that I ran up on [legendary Nashville songwriter] Harlan Howard’s porch. I was a little bit inebriated. So I kinda knocked on his door with my front wheel, and he comes to the door, and I said, “God dang, are you Harlan
Howard?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Well, I am Billy Joe Shaver, and I’m the greatest songwriter that ever lived.”
As I say, there are quotes from lots of people in the piece — Willie, Jerry Jeff, Steve Earle, Ray Benson, Gary P. Nunn, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Bobby Bare, Michael Murphy, etc., etc. — and a few more from Billy Joe, including the Waylon Honky Tonk Heroes story and another one about a roll of acid-drenched toilet paper he got from the Grateful Dead. Here’s a link: https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/that-70s-show/ God bless Billy Joe. As Trigger said, a true hero.
DJ
October 29, 2020 @ 4:39 pm
Excellent article at that link. Thanks!
Corncaster
October 29, 2020 @ 3:08 pm
Shaver’s voice was a tough sell when I was a kid. Now I think he was like our own Roy Acuff, all wood and wire and gone to shit like an old fence post that’s still standing.
Sure is fun though cranking “Georgia On A Fast Train” and hearing all the stories.
Another Texan gone to glory. He will be missed.
Kent
October 29, 2020 @ 3:56 pm
Thanks for the article Trigger.
He was truly GREAT one of my favorite songwriter since I first heard him on “Honky Tonk Heroes” over 40 years ago. And i have played that album regularly for over 40 years now.
Rest. In. Peace. Billy
Here i a few of my favorite lines/verses. From his songs
“Jammin’ our heads full of figures and angles
And tellin’ us stuff that we already know…”
“Like them big wheels, i’ll be rolling
Like them rivers, gonna flow to sea
‘Cause i’d rather leave here knowing
That i made a fool of love before it made a fool of me…”
“Hey ride me down easy Lord, ride me on down
Leave word in the dust where I lay
Say “I’m easy come, easy go and easy to love when I stay…”
“Well, the devil made me do it the first time
The second time I done it on my own…”
“When the devil made that woman
Lord, he threw the pattern away
She was built for speed
With the tools she need
To make a new fool every day…”
Doug
October 29, 2020 @ 8:32 pm
There’s a lot of lines of Billy Joe’s that I love, but several from “If I Give My Soul” make my hair stand on end: “If I give my soul/will He stop my hands from shakin’? /If I give my soul, will my son love me again?” That’s as close to the bone as it gets.
Daniel Cooper
October 29, 2020 @ 5:34 pm
Sad week for country music. In addition to Shaver, while not as prominent, Nashville session guitar virtuoso J.T. Corenflos passed too. May not know the name, but he played electric guitar on a LOT of albums for a lot of the best artists in the business.
Doug
November 1, 2020 @ 7:46 am
Thanks for posting this. Here’s a link to a list of J.T.’s credits, from his web site: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jt-corenflos-mn0000194800/credits
Chris
October 29, 2020 @ 6:12 pm
Thanks for a great follow-up article, Trig.
This and the first article are eloquent, fitting tributes to another wordsmith like BJS.
This is particularly tough coming so closely on the heels of losing JJW.
All of his albums resonate in my heart and hit me in the gut.
There were no B sides on his albums.
Every song was a gem.
I also like his unabashed defense of his faith.
I’ll miss him terribly.
Luckyoldsun
October 29, 2020 @ 7:06 pm
My favorite Shaver line–at least the one that comes to mind–is “”The devil made me do it the first time, the second time I done it on my own,” from “Black Rose.” I don’t know if he actually coined that. It sounds like a phrase that might have been around forever, and he just put it in a song. But unless I hear otherwise, I’ll credit it to Billy Joe.
MichaelA
October 30, 2020 @ 7:14 am
Another of my favorites is “If I never felt the sunshine hell I would not cuss the rain” from Ain’t No God in Mexico.
Hank Charles
October 30, 2020 @ 5:56 am
Awesome write up, Trig.
My first real introduction to Shaver was a buddy of mine playing Georgia on a Fast Train for me, and I immediately loved it. I knew nothing of the man’s place in history at that point, but the more I learned about him, the more I was blown away by his talent and authenticity.
Austin
October 30, 2020 @ 7:46 am
For a lot of folks (and Folkies ironically) it was Prine. For me it was always Shaver.
paddy
October 30, 2020 @ 7:52 am
Your definition of a hero leaves a lot to be desired. Basically what you are saying is behave like an idiot and sometime in the future someone will call you a hero.
Matsfan/Jatsfan
October 30, 2020 @ 8:41 am
Paddy, You have proven previously that you don’t know how to read or at least comprehend beyond a third grade level. Here is what Trigger wrote: “Billy Joe Shaver’s acts of heroism were not exactly saving a baby from a burning building. But this isn’t Hollywood, this is country music. And there were many acts that also didn’t involve bluster and violence. Billy Joe was a hero for being one of those artists who waits by the merch table after every show to meet everyone, giving a big bear hug and photo op to any fan who wanted one. He was a hero in the way he was so outspoken about the overdose death of his son and stellar guitar player Eddy. You could consider Shaver a hero for putting a black guy in his band in the form of Waco legend Tony Calhoun for many years.”
Paddy
October 30, 2020 @ 8:48 am
Very good. Again your definition of a hero sucks. Waiting after a show to sign merchandise is really heroic, putting a black guy in your band heroic. Outspoken, okay. Hero, balls.
Trigger
October 30, 2020 @ 9:04 am
Willie Nelson wrote a tribute song to Billy Joe Shaver. He titled it “Hero.” I think that says it all.
Paddy
October 30, 2020 @ 12:11 pm
Trigger, you may think so but I disagree. He was certainly a legend. He lived a full life and would appear to have liked it. That I can appreciate.
Chris
October 30, 2020 @ 8:34 am
I forgot about BJS’s barroom/parking lot shooting incident.
It’s reminiscent of Johnny Paycheck’s, although he served some time and BJS walked.
For you non-lawyers, Texas courts apply an unwritten “he needed shooting” standard, and the guy following BJS out into the parking lot certainly found the trouble he was looking for.
Losing people like him, Jerry Jeff, Tompall Glaser a few years back and others of that ilk is very tough.
Luckyoldsun
October 30, 2020 @ 10:09 am
It’s not what Texas courts do. Prosecutors try cases and juries decide them.
Robert Durst. A New York-raised heir to a real estate fortune, who became something of a drifter–chopped up an elderly neighbor of his in Galveston Texas, and dumped the body parts in the bay…and skipped town for New Orleans. After some parts were found, Durst was extradited back to Texas and tried for murder. He claimed self-defense and was acquitted by a jury. Does it mean Texans or soft on crime or Texans like drifting rich guys from NYC? No, it just means that Durst was really lucky to get those particular 12 people on his jury.
Paddy
October 30, 2020 @ 12:14 pm
But was he a hero.
Oysterboy
October 30, 2020 @ 1:59 pm
He was one of the heros of my life.
Jim Cornelius
October 30, 2020 @ 2:08 pm
Indeed he was.
Mike Honcho
October 31, 2020 @ 8:50 am
Fuck off, Paddy. Go dance a jig.
Paddy
October 31, 2020 @ 8:51 am
Such a well educated person.
Mike Honcho
October 31, 2020 @ 9:13 am
Sure, Paddy. You want to compare CVs?
Paddy
October 31, 2020 @ 10:24 am
What. Are you looking for a job.
Mike Honcho
October 31, 2020 @ 11:49 am
I sign the front of paychecks, not the back. Potato eater.
Trigger
October 31, 2020 @ 12:27 pm
Okay guys.
Kevin Smith
October 31, 2020 @ 1:42 pm
Uh…stating the obvious which is sometimes overlooked…but remember one of Billy’s most famous songs in which he called himself a Honky-Tonk hero. From the album and the song Honky-Tonk Heroes:
“Piany rolled blues…danced holes in my shoes..there weren’t another other way to be…oh them lovable losers and no account boozers…and Honky-Tonk HEROES like me”
Just what is a Honky-Tonk Hero you ask? Answer: Billy Joe Shaver…Duh
Your Welcome.
olds
November 4, 2020 @ 8:43 am
Love Billy Joe…..although i think the story would be more intense if Billy Joe was “shooting” the dude in the ninth paragraph instead of “shooing” ….i think shooting is a bit more outlaw…haha…
great wrtiing Trig…keep on doing the good work.
Evan
November 5, 2020 @ 1:38 pm
Thank you – Lots of good stories in here. I am thankful for my chance meeting with the guy that made that Texas country sound I grew up with.
Al M
September 24, 2021 @ 11:56 am
A day of country music would not be complete without at three or four of Billie Joe’s songs. He tells a great story in his music, it reminds me of the Irish music that I love so well. He will be sorely missed but thankfully we still have his music. Quite a guy, quite a story. God speed Billy Joe.
Richard Fox
January 1, 2022 @ 10:51 pm
I have always been a fan of Billy Joe Shaver, I feel he’s one of the greatest songwriters ever. He should have been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame years ago. If the CMHF can put Dean Dillion in there then why not Billy? Billy Joe was also a great entertainer and performer, he did more than Dillion did, it’s just ain’t fair.
Billy Joe was not only a hero, he was a true warrior. I’m from Canada and Blackfoot, it was interesting to learn that Billy Joe was part Blackfoot, so he is a true hero and warrior. I continue to miss him, there will never be another like the great Billy Joe.