Billy Joe Shaver will release his first studio album in six years on August 5, Long in the Tooth. The album, to be released on Lightning Rod Records, features the 74-year-old Shaver performing a duet with Willie Nelson on “Hard to Be an Outlaw.” Other folks appearing on what Shaver claims is his best album ever includes Leon Russell, Tony Joe White, Joel Guzman, Shawn Camp, and Jedd Hughes. Shaver promises the new album will also include a rap song.
Regarding the duet with Nelson, Shaver explained to Rolling Stone that he and Nelson bounced ideas back and forth over the telephone. Nelson included his solo effort on “Hard to Be an Outlaw” on his own new album Band of Brothers (2014), but below you can check out the Shaver-Nelson version of “Hard to Be an Outlaw,” which, not surprisingly, takes the side of Outlaw country music.
Album cover photo via Shaver’s Facebook page. What do you think of “Hard to Be an Outlaw”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Willie Nelson will release his first album since his duets CD To All The Girls. . . (2014) with Band of Brothers (2014). Legacy Records will release the new Nelson album that features fourteen tracks. Nine of the songs are new originals by Nelson, making Band of Brothers the first time in more than two decades that Nelson is releasing an album of predominantly new originals.
The video for one of the new songs, “The Wall,” has been released. The song recounts a number of recognizable events from Nelson’s life. Check out the video below.
The new album will also include a duet with Jamey Johnson on Billy Joe Shaver’s “The Git Go.” Band of Brothers hits stores June 17.
Happy Earth Day, which started in 1970 as a day to spread education about and support for our environment. Today, the day is celebrated around the world, reminding us of our common interest in the earth and the environment.
During the same month as Earth Day in 2001, Shaver released the album, The Earth Rolls On (2001). On first look, the album has nothing to do with Earth Day. Shaver was a collaboration between country legend Billy Joe Shaver and his son Eddy Shaver, who played some mean guitar. My favorite song on the album is the wonderful title track that closes the album, “The Earth Rolls On,” where Billy Joe Shaver sings “The earth rolls on/Even though you’re gone/The earth rolls on, and on, and on. . . .” So the song is really about loss.
The song carries a heavy weight for Billy Joe Shaver. He wrote the song about losing his wife Brenda, who passed away from a lenghty illness in 1999 (Shaver had divorced her twice but married her three times). His son Eddy, who plays guitar on the album, passed away suddenly from an accidental drug overdose in December 2000. Although that is Eddy’s guitar wailing at the end of “The Earth Rolls On,” one can almost hear in that incredible solo that he foresaw the pain his father felt not only of Brenda’s death but what a father would feel in losing his son.
So, in addition to the title, “The Earth Rolls On” is a perfect song for Earth Day. It is about how fragile life is and how we have to cherish and take care of what we have while we have it because everything is temporary. May you celebrate the earth and your loved ones today and every day this year.
What is your favorite song about the earth? Leave your two cents in the comments.
A conversation with Texas legendary troubadour Billy Joe Shaver.
Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift will perform at Grammy Awards on Feb. 12.
A proposed Indiana law sets performance standards (w/ fines) for the national anthem at public schools and colleges.
Turnstyled Junkpiled has a “tribute show” collection of videos of artists covering Townes Van Zandt songs.
John Fogerty made a guest appearance on the new Fox TV show The Finder, also singing the theme song. Van Halen just released its first David Lee Roth video since 1996.
(2014) with Band of Brothers (2014). Legacy Records will release the new Nelson album that features fourteen tracks. Nine of the songs are new originals by Nelson, making Band of Brothers the first time in more than two decades that Nelson is releasing an album of predominantly new originals.
hits stores June 17.
