Billy & The Kid

Billy Joe Shaver | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Compadre Records
• ASIN: B0002LNGXU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,845 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Billy Joe Shaver has endured a chain of traumas that would have sunk lesser beings. First, he lost his mother and wife. Then, in 2000, his son, guitarist, and principal collaborator Eddy died of a drug overdose. Billy Joe himself endured heart surgery. Nowhere is his resiliency more apparent than on this adaptation of tapes from Eddy's never-completed 1996 solo album. Using music already recorded and retaining Eddy's own solo vocals, Billy Joe adds new songs and vocals to instrumental tracks. Awash in Eddy's visceral, eerie guitar, the new lyrics reflect love, mysticism, and spirituality. Billy Joe reflects on the recent past in "Eagle on the Ground," ruminates on celebrity in "Fame," and seemingly channels the Hereafter in the otherworldly "Window Rock." Eddy's edgy vocals dominate "Baptism of Fire" and the oddly prescient "If It Don't Kill You." His solo performance on "Necessary Evil," vocally and instrumentally, has the riveting feel of an early Muddy Waters 78. Painful as it is, this stands as a magnificent, even uplifting coda to the Shavers' tragically abbreviated musical collaboration. --Rich Kienzle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Tribute to Eddy Shaver, October 2, 2004

By 

D. K Mcgraw (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Billy & The Kid (Audio CD)

Those already familiar with Billy Joe Shaver's music and the tragic tale of how he lost his mother, his wife, and his only son in the same year will not be surprised that Billy Joe has returned to pay tribute to his son and collaboarator, Eddy Shaver. As a tribute, this is a fascinating project. Much of the CD consists of guitar tracks recorded by Eddy before his death, retrieved from the vaults and fleshed out by the addition of Billy Joe's vocals and other instruments.

However, the result is somewhat unsatisfying. To be sure, it has its moments, but much of the material is weaker than we've come to expect from Shaver's recent projects.

The bottom line is, if you're not familiar with Shaver, I'd suggest starting with one of his truly brilliant projects, such as "Unshaven: Live at Smith's Olde Bar," the 1998 masterpiece "Victory," or 2001's "Earth Rolls On." On the other hand, if you have those CDs and love them, then it would be worth your while to follow Billy Joe with his latest release.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw!, October 28, 2004

By 

B. Osborne "BWO" (Georgetown, KY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Billy & The Kid (Audio CD)

This music is a baring of Billy Joe Shaver's soul. This whole CD is so powerfully raw, real and beautiful that words cannot express the emotions drawn from it. If you have the chance to buy it, do yourself a favor - hurry and get it! I love everything that Billy Joe has put out, but the music, the life story told on this album reached me in depths and places I didn't even know. This man constantly puts into words things that most of us only wish we knew how to express. With that, he allows us to feel and express emotions just waiting to be set free. Listen, cry, and know that life does continue. Then listen to Freedom's child for some good laughs, too! This album is a comforting hug to be enjoyed by all, with your good friend, Billy Joe!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fame!, January 15, 2005

By 

Josef Mayer (Austria) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Billy & The Kid (Audio CD)

O my God! The first track is easily worth the entire album! It's true that the other songs are a somewhat mixed bag of work still in progress, a progress towards a maturity which we will now never come to witness. However, Billy Joe Shavers' song "Fame" alone is so stunningly beautiful that I rate this CD as an absolute must have!