Billy Joe Shaver, The Real Deal

Tracks & Durations

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Review

Rough-hewn Texas treasure Billy Joe Shaver is something like that old chunk of coal he once wrote about--except his "diamond" already shines through. On this self-produced effort, his first new studio release in three years, he strips things down to the basics in mostly acoustic arrangements that sometimes recall Hank Williams Sr. at his starkest and most vulnerable. The material--alternately heartbreaking ("Livin' a Lovin' Lie") and outrageously earthy ("If the Trailer's Rockin' Don't Come Knockin'")--cuts a wide path, including two reworked numbers: a hot-wired version of "Live Forever" with Big & Rich, who, led by Big Kenny, sail into an evangelistic romp near the end; and an invigorated solo rendition of "Jesus Christ Is Still the King." Shaver has been to hell and back on a pack horse in the last six years--his wife died after a long bout with cancer; his blazingly talented guitarist son, Eddy, died of a drug overdose; and his own health was threatened. But what a comeback, steeped in his faith in the Almighty and his own power of resurrection. The evidence is here in abundance. "Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys," a vocal collaboration with Kevin Fowler, showcases Shaver's renewed sense of humor, while "Valentine," an affecting duet with Nanci Griffith, does as much as his recent wedding to spotlight his belief in romance as redemption. There's not much to quibble with here, unless you're a grinch who wants to gripe about Shaver's meandering sense of pitch, his way of sometimes circling around a note before he finally lands. But if you are, there's a bonus track here for you--a sprightly accordion-laced version of "Feliz Navidad" with Flaco Jimenez. This is "The Real Deal," all right. And then some. --Alanna NashIt seems like Billy Joe Shaver's experienced everything a musician can--except that he has never self-produced an album. So Shaver hunkered down in a Pedernales, Texas, studio to record 14 out of 16 new tracks for The Real Deal. He explains, "It was great to be able to sing the way I want to sing. I could set up the arrangements how I wanted rather than having to fit someone else's." He was also joined by old and new friends, including the country superstar duo Big & Rich, who co-produced their duet with Shaver on his inspirational masterpiece "Live Forever." According to Big Kenny from the duo, "Shaver is a classic poet and a songsmith...the kind of person you can listen to for hours, with a spirit and soul that grabs your attention." The duet marks the first time the double platinum duo has recorded an outside song. Others who joined Shaver included Nancy Griffith (who sang on the song "Valentine"), Kimmie Rhodes ("West Texas Waltz"), Flaco Jimenez ("Feliz Navidad"), and Kevin Fowler ("Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys"). The album also contains Shaver's fervent reminder about the power of persistence, "Try and Try Again."

The Real Deal follows the well-received Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver: Live, which featured such friends as Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Guy Clark, Todd Snider, Cory Morrow, Bruce Robison, and Kelly Willis, among others. Shaver is truly one of the most respected living figures in American music today. Johnny Cash called him "my favorite songwriter." (He has written for Cash as well as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, the Allman Brothers, and Bobby Bare.) The Washington Post noted that "when the country outlaws were collecting their holy writings, Billy Joe Shaver was carving out Exodus."

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