Billy Joe Shaver Tribute Album Announced Amid Estate Dispute
August 16th, 2022 would have been Billy Joe Shaver’s 83rd birthday, but unfortunately, he passed away on October 28th, 2020 at the age of 81, leaving a legacy of songwriting that set the very foundation for Outlaw country music that is still just as influential and resonant today. All the more reason that artists from the past and present are coming together to tribute the “Wacko From Waco” in Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver to be released via New West Records on November 11th.
Featuring contributors such as close friend Willie Nelson, fellow Texan George Strait, mainstream stalwart Miranda Lambert, as well as numerous names from the Americana world such as Ryan Bingham, Amanda Shires, Margo Price, and Allison Russell, the release tries to cover all bases. Willie Nelson has already paid tribute to Billy Joe Shaver numerous times before with songs such as “Hero,” but he leads off the tribute by covering Shaver’s song “Live Forever” with help from Lucinda Williams (listen below).
But this tribute will come with not a little drama. Producing the effort are Texas stalwart and Bob Dylan guitar player Charlie Sexton, as well as Willie Nelson nephew, drummer, producer, and Billy Joe Shaver collaborator Freddy Fletcher. Though these two guys are totally appropriate for handling Billy Joe Shaver material, Freddy Fletcher is currently in a legal dispute with the family and heirs of Billy Joe Shaver over the rights to the late songwriter’s royalties and estate.
Freddy Fletcher is the son of Willie Nelson’s sister Bobbie and musician Bud Fletcher. Freddy was one of three children born before the couple divorced in 1955. In 1984, Freddy Fletcher opened the famous Aryln Studios in Austin, and in 1999, Fletcher also co-founded Pedernales Records with his uncle Willie. Freddy played drums on Billy Joe Shaver’s album Everybody’s Brother from 2007. It was the next year—on October 2nd, 2008—that Billy Joe Shaver reportedly hand wrote a last will and testament, leaving all his worldly possessions, a.k.a. “anything of value,” including his song royalties and his house in Waco, TX, to Freddy Fletcher.
However, Freddy Fletcher ultimately lost the note, and now only has a copy, while at the same time the note was written, Billy Joe Shaver already had a last will and testament written and on the books, and done in a more traditional manner through a lawyer, initially naming Shaver’s older sister Patricia as the executor of his estate in 2000, then refiling the will in 2003 naming Patricia’s son and Billy Joe Shaver’s blood nephew Terry Dwayne Rogers as the heir. To read more about the ongoing estate dispute, CLICK HERE.
Currently, the rights to Billy Joe Shaver’s estate remain under dispute in a McLennan County probate court in Waco. Saving Country Music contacted the court to confirm that the case is still pending. Though anyone can record anyone’s songs, where the performance royalties for the songs on this tribute album will end up remains to be seen.
Some hardcore country fans may also question why some artists such as Edie Brickell and Nathaniel Rateliff were picked to perform on this tribute, while more “Outlaw” artists from the here and now were left off. That’s the ultimate question with many tributes, and more and more these tributes seem to be centered around the same small scene of “Americana” performers as opposed to a more global search for the best or most appropriate collaborators.
But one name that is hard to question is Amanda Shires. She actually played with Billy Joe Shaver, and when she heard about the tribute from Willie’s harmonica player Mickey Raphael, reached out and wanted to make sure she was a part of it.
Billy Joe Shaver was considered one of the last real deal artists in country music. When he stared down Waylon Jennings at Tompall Glaser’s Hillbilly Central in Nashville and told him he’d kick his ass “in front of God and everybody” if he didn’t listen to his songs, it resulted in the 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes, which sparked off the Outlaw movement in earnest.
Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver is now available for pre-order.
TRACK LIST:
1. Willie Nelson (w/ Lucinda Williams) – Live Forever
2. Ryan Bingham (w/ Nikki Lane) – Ride Me Down Easy
3. Rodney Crowell – Old Five And Dimers Like Me
4. Miranda Lambert – I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be A Diamond Someday)
5. Edie Brickell – I Couldn’t Be Me Without You
6. Nathaniel Rateliff – You Asked Me To
7. George Strait – Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me
8. Amanda Shires – Honky Tonk Heroes
9. Steve Earle – Ain’t No God In Mexico
10. Margo Price – Ragged Old Truck
11. Willie Nelson – Georgia On A Fast Train
12. Allison Russell – Tramp On Your Street
August 16, 2022 @ 2:31 pm
It’ll be a good-un!
August 16, 2022 @ 3:10 pm
They already made a tribute album to Shaver. It came out in 1994, to little fanfare, but its certainly gonna be way better than this thing. Its called Honky-Tonk Heroes, and it featured Willie, Waylon, Kris, Eddy and Billy himself. Every song on it was written by Shaver, so it is a true tribute, made with his peers. I heavily recommend giving a spin to it. You will like it. And I found copies of it on Amazon. Its been re-released.
August 16, 2022 @ 6:21 pm
Thanks for the info. When Waylon passed, there was the Red River Tribute recorded live at Saengerhalle. Shaver was also apart of that with many of his songs recorded on the album by mostly Red Dirt/TX artist.
August 16, 2022 @ 9:43 pm
That album is amazing. Eddie absolutely slayed it on every track! But I would not call it a tribute, just a fantastic album front to back!
August 19, 2022 @ 10:23 pm
With regard to Willie Nelsons’ nephew, Freddy Fletcher litigating against Billy Shavers’ only living relatives~ Sister and her Son…. the zenith of poor taste, greed and desperation! Perhaps he should ask himself, “What would Willie do?”. ????
September 5, 2022 @ 6:46 am
I hate to be that guy, but just for clarification I will be: the Honky Tonk Heroes album with Billy Joe, Willie, Waylon and Kris came out in 1999 on Willie’s Pedernale’s Records. It consisted of re-recorded Billy Joe tracks that were primarily cut around 1989 or shortly thereafter. The Honky Tonk Heroes album from 1994 was put out on Bear Family and is a compilation of Billy’s albums When I Get My Wings and Gypsy Boy (on one disc), with three non-album singles tacked on at the end. Those two albums were originally put out on Capricorn records in the 1970s and had long been out of print.
I’m being a bit anal, but merely for the benefit of anybody that might be interested in buying these CDs. Endless compilations, redundant titles and sparse info about recordings is a big reason why collecting classic country albums is a difficult process. Most of the time, the only way to figure out what a album is and isn’t is to just buy it and hope you don’t own all of the tracks already.
August 16, 2022 @ 3:37 pm
He will live forever.
August 16, 2022 @ 3:50 pm
Amanda Shires? Margo Price. Hard pass.
August 16, 2022 @ 4:47 pm
I’m with you, W.G. Amanda Shires doing “Honky Tonk Heroes?” Dear Lord! Ashley McBryde maybe. Waymore and Billy Joe are spinnin’ in their graves.
August 16, 2022 @ 5:34 pm
And I’m with Delbert.
Amanda Shires performed and toured with Billy Joe. Maybe he’s spinning her records in his grave.
August 16, 2022 @ 8:10 pm
A lot of people only know Amanda Shires via Jason Isbell, and that’s a shame. She was a fiddle prodigy that was an official member of the Texas Playboys, and played with all kinds of Texas music legends coming up. When I saw Jason Isbell play in 2010 as a promising new solo artist, I was just as excited to see Amanda Shires as his accompaniment. I don’t have a problem with her being a part of this. She fits better than others.
August 18, 2022 @ 5:35 am
I found out about her in 2011 when you reviewed her song Ghost Bird from the Carrying Lightning album. I don’t think she and Isbell were an item yet. I bought that album and have followed her solo career since. I’ve seen her a couple of times, with the last being in 2018. It was a full band show and I have to say that I enjoyed it more than the Isbell show I saw a couple of months earlier. Not that I haven’t seen some great Isbell shows. They just got to be a bit samey after a while. And I do think she’s more musically adventurous than he is.
I’ve read interviews where she says that she thought she might be done with being a recording artist after some negative studio experiences prior to her recent effort. She hasn’t mentioned anyone specifically, but Cobb had produced her previous two. And of course, Isbell has been working with him for about a decade.
August 17, 2022 @ 7:05 am
“Before touring with Billy Joe Shaver, I was only a side person,” Shires avers. “I wasn’t a songwriter. I was observing. Then I made a couple of demo songs so people would know I could sing, and he said, ‘These are good songs. You should go be a songwriter in Nashville.’ I thought he was firing me, and I said, ‘No! I really like my job playing the fiddle. It’s my favorite thing to do.’ Then a year later, I decided he was right.”
That’s Amanda on Billy Joe Shaver. Your comment couldn’t be more ignorant if you had tried.
August 16, 2022 @ 7:55 pm
That’s what’s his name that did the artwork. Real help, I know. That guy kills it!!
August 16, 2022 @ 8:12 pm
Really surprised there’s not more discussion about how the co-producer of this album is currently suing the heirs of Billy Joe Shaver. For all I know, Freddy Fletcher has a rightful claim. But it would have been nice if they had resolved that matter before releasing this.
August 16, 2022 @ 9:07 pm
It does seem a bit bizarre.
But I’m guessing that Shaver’s heirs have authorized this project.
That’s simply because if Billy Joe’s children were opposed to it, I can’t see Fletcher getting prominent artists–like George Strait, in particular–to participate in it. I think they would steer clear of it.
August 17, 2022 @ 7:18 am
Ok, i’ll bite on that fishing line you cast.
Going to quote Sam Cody, from your June 4th, 2022, article, dealing with this subject.
JUNE 4, 2022 @ 8:30 PM
“I have a legally binding crayon drawing that clearly states he wanted to leave everything to Sam Cody…”
Thought what Sam said was right on point. Let alone, hilarious.
i think a lot of us do not want to get down in the dirt and say what we really think, on this issue.
However, this “tribute” album speaks for itself. A wolf dressed up in mediocrity, at best
August 17, 2022 @ 8:42 am
I just assumed Shires would be offended with Shaver lyrics or something he said in the 1970s. Same for Price. Like someone else said,pass.
August 17, 2022 @ 1:33 pm
And yet you’re the one offended by their inclusion. Oh the irony…
August 17, 2022 @ 1:39 pm
i just assumed that certain commenters would be offended by something they only *think* shires/price would be offended by.
August 17, 2022 @ 11:22 am
Willie kind of mailed that version in.
August 17, 2022 @ 12:38 pm
always loved Edie Brickell
August 17, 2022 @ 3:05 pm
Nathaniel Rateliff, Margo Price, Eric Church and Brandi Carlile- It seems at least one of these four are on everyone of these tribute albums.
August 17, 2022 @ 3:29 pm
Yes, there is definitely a Groundhog Day effect happening with a lot of these tributes. No offense to any of these names specifically, just that it seems like the same people in the same Nashville circles as opposed to really broadening perspectives to find folks with close ties to the artist, or the best to pay tribute to them.
August 17, 2022 @ 4:35 pm
Yes, and these “artists” are making “tribute” records for the money grab.
August 17, 2022 @ 8:31 pm
Bless your heart.
August 17, 2022 @ 4:55 pm
No Sheryl Crow though!
August 18, 2022 @ 7:19 am
This will be good and all but I bet there’ll a better tribute out by the likes of The Next Waltz down the line that will have the modern artists who really should be on a Billy Joe tribute.
August 19, 2022 @ 4:12 pm
how do I get Billy Joe Shaver CD
August 19, 2022 @ 9:54 pm
With regard to Willie Nelsons’ nephew, Freddy Fletcher litigating against Billy Shavers’ only living relatives~ Sister and her Son…. the zenith of poor taste, greed and desperation! Perhaps he should ask himself, “What would Willie do?”. ????
November 6, 2022 @ 4:57 pm
Been spinning this one all week. The Margo Price “Ragged Old Truck” is terrific. Overall enjoying the whole album.