Yeah yeah, we get these tribute albums to nation legends coming down the pipeline each few weeks or so it appears. However when you will get “King” George Strait to point out up and take part in one in every of them, now you’re making some critical information.
Dwell Eternally: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver is gearing as much as be launched through New West Information on November eleventh with participation from Willie Nelson, Ryan Bingham, Rodney Crowell, Miranda Lambert, Steve Earle, Allison Russell and extra. However maybe the observe many have been anticipating essentially the most has already arrived within the type of George Strait masking Billy Joe Shaver’s “Willy The Wandering Gypsy.”
This music was actually the linchpin to Billy Joe Shaver’s whole profession. Whereas hanging out again stage earlier than Willie Nelson’s legendary Dripping Springs Reunion in 1972—aka the Hillbilly Woodstock—Billy Joe Shaver was selecting on “Willy The Wandering Gypsy” when Waylon Jennings obtained a whiff of it. Jennings then invited Billy Joe Shaver to Nashville to assist write songs for his subsequent album.
Maybe to Waylon, it was a kind of “cease by should you’re ever on the town” form of invites that you simply by no means count on somebody to take you up on, as a result of when Shaver arrived in Nashville, Waylon spent the subsequent few months dodging ol’ Shaver. It was a showdown within the hallway of Tompall Glaser’s renegade “Hillbilly Central” studio when Billy Joe Shaver lastly obtained Waylon to concentrate. Shaver threatened to kick Waylon’s ass “in entrance of God and all people.” No ass kicking occurred although. Waylon listened, and recorded a complete album of Billy Joe Shaver songs, now often known as the immortal Honky Tonk Heroes.
One other tie into nation historical past is that “Willy and the Wandering Gypsy” is definitely about Willie Nelson, regardless of how the title is spelled within the music’s title. Since they have been each from close to the Waco space, Willie and Billy have been buddies, and Shaver at all times regarded as much as Nelson. “Willy, you’re wild as a Texas blue norther, prepared rolled from the identical making as me…” Willie would return the gesture by chopping a couple of songs in tribute to Billy Joe Shaver, together with “Wacko from Waco” and “Hero.”
George Strait can also be from Texas after all, however he comes from the next era of nation performers, and infrequently interacted with of us like Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver for many of his profession. However now that Strait is generally retired, he’s extra open to those sorts of collaborations. It’s cool to see somebody of the stature of George Strait take the time to pay tribute to Billy Joe Shaver.
SCM Reader Acca Dacca additionally only recently cleaned up Billy Joe Shaver’s discography on Wikipedia.
