Advertisement

Billy Joe Shaver, outlaw country great, dies at 81

Billy Joe Shaver performs at the CMHOF's "Outlaws and Armadillos" opening concert.
Friday May 25, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn.
Billy Joe Shaver performs at the CMHOF's "Outlaws and Armadillos" opening concert. Friday May 25, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn.

Billy Joe Shaver, a masterful songwriter and near-mythic character in outlaw country, died Wednesday at age 81.

Shaver, a Texas country songwriter, died after complications from a stroke in Waco, Texas, according to a Rolling Stone report. Conqueroo, a PR firm that represented Shaver, confirmed in a statement that Shaver "died following an illness."

Shaver lived a life of outlaw country legend, penning songs for Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Elvis Presley.

He co-wrote essential songs to the movement, including 10 tracks heard on Waylon Jennings' 1973 "Honkey Tonk Heroes" record — a vital addition to the outlaw country canon.

His songwriting legacy extends to 1971 Kristofferson number "Good Christian Solider," Bobby Bare's "Ride Me Down Easy," the Allman Brothers' "Sweet Mama" and Tom T. Hall's "Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me."

"I think maybe I was born to be a songwriter," Shaver told The Tennessean in 2014. "It's quite a comfort. I wrote most of my songs to stay alive, the rest to get back in the house."

Outlaw stories similar to what he sang played out in Shaver's life. He married the same woman, Brenda Tindell Shaver, three times. In 2001, Shaver suffered a heart attack on stage at the Gruene Hall in Texas that "nearly killed him," according to local reports.

And, in 2010, a jury found Shaver not guilty of aggravated assault following a three-day trial where he argued self-defense after shooting a man in the face outside a bar near Waco. The trial drew friends drew friends Willie Nelson and Robert Duvall to the courtroom, Rolling Stone reported.

In song, Shaver captured an outlaw experience now fabled by generations of storytellers to follow. His 17 studio records never crossed into mainstream country success, but songs such as “Georgia on a Fast Train,” “Old Five and Dimers Like Me” "You Asked Me To" and "Ain't No God In Mexico" solidified Shaver's legacy among dedicated audiences and in songwriting circles.

"Billy Joe Shaver might’ve been the only true outlaw who ever made his living writing about the inner workings of his heart," Jason Isbell shared online after Shaver's death. "The realest of them all."

Born Aug. 16, 1939 in Coriscana, Texas, Shaver came to Nashville on a cantaloupe truck around 1966, he told The Tennessean.

"I got a job writing songs for Bobby Bare, for $50 a week," Shaver said. "Kris Kristofferson was a bartender then, at the Tally Ho Tavern, where they had a guitar hanging on a nail in the bar. First night I met [Bobby] Bare, he puked in my truck and I tried to get him out of the truck and he went sliding down a hill into a ditch.

"I was thinking, 'I have got myself into a mess,' but it was the best thing that could have happened, being around Bobby Bare.'"

He first crossed paths with Jennings back in Texas, where he played his song “Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me” for the country star.

“’You got any more of them cowboy songs?” Shaver recalled Jennings asking. “He said, 'You come up to Nashville and I'll record all them songs.' Little bit of crazy talk, but I took it serious. I'm a serious guy, and hungry, too."

"I made it back to Nashville and come in the back door at the RCA Recording Studio A. Waylon got wind I was there, and he comes out and says, 'What in the hell are you doing here?' I said, "You told me you's a-gonna listen to these songs. If you don't listen, I'm gonna whip your (posterior) in front of everybody.' Boy, did he get mad."

Still, Jennings listened. In the end, all but one song on his next album, “Honky Tonk Heroes,” was written by Shaver.

"I'd have the biggest fusses with Waylon,” Shaver said. “Thumping a free watermelon, you see. But he turned out to be one of my best friends. All I know is I had to go through hell to get him to do those songs."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Billy Joe Shaver, a country outlaw legend, dies at 81