While Bear Family, the famous German reissue label, had issued a 25-track collection of Billy Joe Shaver in 1994 called Honky Tonk Heroes, domestic independent Razor & Tie have released an 18-cut retrospective covering virtually all of Billy Joe Shaver's career until his re-emergence in the 1990s. The Razor & Tie set is (far) less-expensive, its notes are just as comprehensive and well-written, and despite what's not here, it may indeed be a better bargain. At the very least this serves as a fine introduction to Billy Joe ...
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While Bear Family, the famous German reissue label, had issued a 25-track collection of Billy Joe Shaver in 1994 called Honky Tonk Heroes, domestic independent Razor & Tie have released an 18-cut retrospective covering virtually all of Billy Joe Shaver's career until his re-emergence in the 1990s. The Razor & Tie set is (far) less-expensive, its notes are just as comprehensive and well-written, and despite what's not here, it may indeed be a better bargain. At the very least this serves as a fine introduction to Billy Joe Shaver the man, myth, and magical songwriting storyteller. Beginning with a pair of tracks from his 1973 debut, Old Five and Dimers Like Me, this collection takes you through the various stages of a career marked by virtual anonymity among the record-buying public, and yet revered by his peers and would-be followers. Chances are, if you've listened to country music at all in the 1970s or 1980s, you've heard some of these songs, such as "I've Been to Georgia on a Fast Train," "Ride Me Down Easy" (covered by Carlene Carter on her Musical Shapes album), "When I Get My Wings," "Sweet Mama" (covered by the Allman Brothers), "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal," "Low Down Freedom," "Fit to Kill and Goin' out in Style," "Restless Wind," "Ragged Old Truck," "Amtrak (Ain't Comin' Back)," and "You Asked Me To," written with Waylon Jennings. Given the difficulty in coming across most of Shaver's catalog from this period, this collection is a good bet. Musically, it's as good as it gets. If you want the original outlaw singer/songwriter model, put your Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Guy Clark records away and give this cat a listen. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi
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