Various Artists – A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver — Live
Billy Joe Shaver closed out his 65th birthday celebration last August at Austin’s Paramount Theater himself, with three of his all-time favorites — “You Wouldn’t Know Love”, “Try And Try Again” and “Tramp On Your Street” — and the guest artists were happy to let the honoree perform.
A typical list of Texas music suspects is here, performing and giving brief testimonials: Guy Clark (who recounts how he’s mistaken in public for Shaver), Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Bruce Robinson, Kelly Willis, Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, Jack Ingram, Dale Watson, Cory Morrow, Rodney Hayden, the Geezinslaws.
Gilmore, accompanied by son Colin, turns in the most touching tune, “Hearts-a-Bustin'”, a love song Shaver never sang to his late wife Brenda. Snider makes the only mention of Shaver’s late son Eddy before playing his own “Waco Moon”, a touching remembrance.
Not surprisingly, Robert Earl Keen has the best anecdote, about first meeting Shaver on the street; Billy Joe warned him, “I’m a mean son of a bitch.” He’s not, at least not anymore, and the love his friends have for him is evident on this disc.