Billy Joe Shaver

[DrNo]

This is sort of a bummer. But then again, this is the stuff country legends are made of...

 

Warrants issued for Billy Joe Shaver

 

Attorney: warrant out for country singer

 

AUSTIN (AP) -- Police have issued arrest warrants for country singer Billy Joe Shaver after he shot and wounded a man outside a Texas bar, the entertainer's attorney said.

 

After Shaver left a bar in Lorena on Saturday night, a drunk, aggressive stranger with a knife followed him into the parking lot, said attorney Joseph A. Turner of Austin. Shaver shot him in self-defense, he said.

 

Police in Lorena - about 80 miles north of Austin - issued arrest warrants late Monday on charges of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm in a prohibited place, Turner said.

 

Shaver attempted to surrender to Austin police Monday night but was not arrested because the police did not have a record of the warrants, said Turner, who accompanied Shaver.

 

Lorena authorities could not be reached for comment early Tuesday.

 

"We're working with the police to get this resolved," Turner told The Associated Press. "His priority is dealing with this issue."

 

The shooting occurred at 8:30 p.m. Saturday outside Papa Joe's Texas Saloon, according to Lorena police. The victim was shot in the cheek but was talking and alert afterward, police said. He was hospitalized.

 

Turner declined to elaborate or say whether anything occurred inside the bar between Shaver and the victim. He said Shaver did not know the man.

 

Shaver, who lives in Waco, about 15 miles from Lorena, rose to country music stardom in the 1970s. Shaver, who wrote "Georgia on a Fast Train" and "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)" has recorded more than 20 albums.

[Littlebear]

I'm a fan of Billy Joe Shaver, I have almost all his albums! I'm sure he was in self-defense, he's a deeply peaceful kind of guy, and still faithfull despite his life full of tragedies.

 

Now, as everyone can notice, he's also one of the real last cowboys.

[cryptique]

Police in Lorena - about 80 miles north of Austin - issued arrest warrants late Monday on charges of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm in a prohibited place' date=' Turner said.[/quote']

There are places in Texas where it's prohibited to possess a firearm?

[Littlebear]

By the way, I seem to remember some Wilco members played on one of his albums, but I can't remember which one right now.

[solace]

There are places in Texas where it's prohibited to possess a firearm?

i think just school cafeterias

[Lammycat]

Sounds like great fodder for a.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Country/Western song!!!!

 

I like Bill Joe's stuff, and yeah, he sounds like a pretty mellow cat. I'd guess either self-defense or too many Bourbon & Cokes. Or both.

 

Todd Snider looks up to this guy a lot and covered a tune of his a few weeks back when I saw him. True story.

[LouieB]

i think just school cafeterias

 

 

LouieB

[solace]

LouieB

oh, and Pottery Barn

[DrNo]

There are places in Texas where it's prohibited to possess a firearm?

 

Yeah, there are plenty of places. Like bars, for instance. Not all of us are gun nuts, either.

[cryptique]

Yeah, there are plenty of places. Like bars, for instance. Not all of us are gun nuts, either.

I learned something today.

[bedbug]

Seems like he's fallen on hard times. Rose to music stardom in the 70s, and now he can't even get arrested!

[LouieB]

Seems like he's fallen on hard times. Rose to music stardom in the 70s, and now he can't even get arrested!

Stardom?? Only if you consider Waylon Jennings covering a bunch of your songs on an album as stardom. His solo albums hardly sold I would guess. Admittedly others covered his songs as well, which should have kept him going through old age. This is a sad story.

 

LouieB

[DrNo]

Stardom?? Only if you consider Waylon Jennings covering a bunch of your songs on an album as stardom. His solo albums hardly sold I would guess. Admittedly others covered his songs as well, which should have kept him going through old age. This is a sad story.

 

LouieB

 

I bet he made a ton of money off Honky Tonk Heroes, though. He still tours regularly, so I assume he's at least breaking even. He lost his son, mother and wife all in the span of about two years in the early aughts, though. And he had a heart attack on stage I think. He's a survivor.

[LouieB]

I bet he made a ton of money off Honky Tonk Heroes, though. He still tours regularly, so I assume he's at least breaking even. He lost his son, mother and wife all in the span of about two years in the early aughts, though. And he had a heart attack on stage I think. He's a survivor.

Exactly. Actually from the sound of it, he had cause so he will probably come through this okay. He has had a very difficult life to be sure.

 

LouieB

[owl]

There are places in Texas where it's prohibited to possess a firearm?

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

This, coming from a state that just passed a law to make it more legal to shoot someone.

[owl]

Not all of us are gun nuts, either.

 

Does that mean that your arsenal is comparatively smaller than other people's arsenals?

 

[Littlebear]

Stardom?? Only if you consider Waylon Jennings covering a bunch of your songs on an album as stardom. His solo albums hardly sold I would guess. Admittedly others covered his songs as well, which should have kept him going through old age. This is a sad story.

 

LouieB

 

I don't get what you mean exactly. It feels like you consider him as a loser. But one can only be proud of such a body of work (more than twenty albums for his posterity). Billy has his hard followers. I don't find that sad.

[LouieB]

I don't get what you mean exactly. It feels like you consider him as a loser. But one can only be proud of such a body of work (more than twenty albums for his posterity). Billy has his hard followers. I don't find that sad.

You are mixing up the sentences...Bedbug said he was a star in the 70s.....I don't think of him as a star (heck Townes Van Zandt wasn't a star either and he was and is far more famous...), but you are correct that he has an important body of work. That doesn't make one a star. What is sad is that he shot someone who was threatening him. Aren't both those things sad? He has had a difficult life on many levels and for him to be hassled and now facing legal problems seems sad to me at his advancing age.

 

LouieB

[KNevitt]

 

I love Billy Joe and was feeling kind of bad for him till I read this article. Sounds to me like Billy Joe screwed up. He is supposed to play about a mile from my house Friday night. I think I am going to have to go.

Article

 

Here are some highlights:

 

Shaver and the man police say he shot, 50-year-old Billy Bryant Coker, had been visiting in the bar for about an hour to 1 1/2 hours before the shooting, according to the affidavits. The two men had not known each other before but were introduced that night by the bar

[phish907]

Shaver Fing Rules. He has lived a hard life, no wonder he doesn't mind shooting someone in the face. Someone posted earlier about Wilco playing with him at some point. I don't think they have but if it is true I would love to hear it.

[LouieB]

This is a sad story..apparently he figures he has nothing left to lose. What a song this will make.

 

LouieB

I shot a man in Reno...just to watch him die...

[Littlebear]

Jay Bennett and Ken Coomer played on many songs of his album The Earth Rolls On (2001).

[LouieB]

Jay Bennett and Ken Coomer played on many songs of his album The Earth Rolls On (2001).

The Wilco alumni band....

 

LouieB

[phish907]

Cool side fact about Jay and Ken. I do not own a copy of Earth Rolls On, I have heard some of the music on it and never knew it was them. I will have to buy a copy for myself. Personally, for me there has been something missing in Shaver since the death of his son and guitar player Eddie.

[Littlebear]

Cool side fact about Jay and Ken. I do not own a copy of Earth Rolls On, I have heard some of the music on it and never knew it was them. I will have to buy a copy for myself. Personally, for me there has been something missing in Shaver since the death of his son and guitar player Eddie.

 

I may agree (The Real Deal, for example, is rather mediocre for a BJ Shaver record), but will make an exception of the immediate follow up to Earth Rolls On (on which Eddy plays all over, as sessions were recorded before his death on 2000's new year's eve), which is called Freedom's Child (2002) and is, to me, one of the very best records of his discography (and the first without his son in years). Will Kimbrough plays on this one (along with great other players I've never heard of).