Shaver was raised by his mother, Victory Watson Shaver, his father Virgil having left the family before Shaver was born. Until he was 12, he spent a great deal of time with his grandmother in Corsicana so that his mother could work in Waco. He sometimes accompanied his mother to her job at a local nightclub, where he began to be exposed to country music.
Shaver's mother remarried about the time that his grandmother died, so he and his older sister Patricia moved in with their mother and new stepfather. Shaver left school after the eighth grade to help his uncles pick cotton, but occasionally returned to school to play sports.
Shaver joined the U.S. Navy on his seventeenth birthday. Upon his discharge, he worked a series of dead-end jobs, including trying to be a rodeo cowboy. About this time, he met and married Brenda Joyce Tindell. They had one son, John Edwin, known as Eddy, who was born in 1962. The two divorced and remarried several times.
Shaver took a job at a lumber mill to make ends meet. One day his right hand (his dominant hand) became caught in the machinery, and he lost the better part of two fingers and contracted a serious infection. He eventually recovered, and taught himself to play the guitar without those missing fingers.
Shaver lost two fingers in a sawmill accident when he was young.
Shaver set out to hitchhike to Los Angeles, California. He could not get a ride west, so he went to the other side of the highway and headed east, accompanying a man who dropped him off just outside Memphis, Tennessee. The next ride brought him to Nashville, where he found a job as a songwriter for $50 per week.[2] His work came to the attention of Waylon Jennings, who filled most of his album Honky Tonk Heroes with Shaver's songs. Other artists, including Elvis Presley and Kris Kristofferson, began to record Shaver's music. This led to his own record deal.
The first few recording companies he signed with soon folded. He was never able to gain widespread recognition as a singer, although he never stopped recording his own music. On his records, he has been accompanied by other major rock and country music musicians like Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith, Chuck Leavell and Dickey Betts (of the Allman Brothers), Charlie Daniels, Flaco Jiménez, and Al Kooper.
After losing his wife, Brenda, and his mother to cancer in 1999, Shaver lost his son and longtime guitarist Eddy, who died at age 38 of a heroin overdose on December 31, 2000. Folk country artist Todd Snider wrote and dedicated his song Waco Moon to Eddy. Shaver nearly died himself the following year when he had a heart attack on stage during an Independence Day show at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas. After successful heart surgery, Shaver came back to release Freedom's Child in 2002.
In 1999, Shaver performed at the Grand Ole Opry. In November 2005, he performed on the CMT Outlaws 2005. In 2006, Shaver was inducted in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. He later served as spiritual advisor to Texas independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman. For his efforts, the Americana Music Convention awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting. He currently lives in Waco, Texas.
Bob Dylan mentioned Shaver in his song "I Feel a Change Comin' On" (Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter) on the album, Together Through Life (2009) - "I'm listening to Billy Joe Shaver, And I'm reading James Joyce". Shaver is also the "hero" of the song, "Wish I Could Write Like Billy Joe" on the album "Stormy Love" by Bugs Henderson.
Shaver sang the themes to the Adult Swim Television show, Squidbillies. The opening themes, collectively called "Warrior Man", are only a stanza long and end with a sotto voce spoken word portion.
Shaver's debut album, Old Five and Dimers Like Me (1973), contained many songs noted for being performed by other artists such as David Allan Coe and Waylon Jennings. When I Get My Wings (1976) included "Aint No God In Mexico" (also a hit for Waylon Jennings). Gypsy Boy (1977) included "Honky Tonk Heroes" and "You Asked Me To".
Shaver is also remembered for his hit "Live Forever", co-written by his son Eddy, Robert Duvall performs it in the movie Crazy Heart and it is included in the soundtrack. The song was also performed by The Highwaymen and Joe Ely. Shaver also wrote numerous songs for artists such as Patty Loveless and Willie Nelson.
Shaver continued to release records throughout the 1980s and 1990s; the most notable was the critically acclaimed Tramp On Your Street, released in 1993, which prominently featured the guitar playing of Eddy Shaver.
Shaver's 2007 album country gospel style Everybody's Brother was Grammy-nominated. Many of the songs are duets with artists such as Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Tanya Tucker. Musicians playing on the album included Randy Scruggs, Laura Cash and Marty Stuart.
On May 22, 2014, Rolling Stone premiered the single-duet with Willie Nelson "Hard To Be An Outlaw". The album, Long In The Tooth was released on August 5, 2014 by Lightning Rod Records. After a 41-year career, Long in the Tooth became Billy Joe Shaver's first album to chart in Billboard's Top Country Albums, entering the chart at 19. The album also entered the Billboard 200, peaking at 157.
Comedian Norm Macdonald, an avid Shaver fan, occasionally praised his songwriting on his podcast Norm Macdonald Live. In 2018, Shaver appeared as a guest on Macdonald's Netflix program Norm Macdonald Has a Show.
Bottom Dollar
Billy Joe Shaver Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, how I hate to get old.
Bottom dollars breath in the face of friends.
We must have counted on each other a hundred times or more.
Oh when I, oh my, how those Eagles fly good bye bottom dollar good bye.
Bottom dollars all your friends have gone they have gone on on?
Bottom dollars now the truth be known you have been the best friend I've ever had.
Oh, when I,?
Good bye bottom dollars good bye.
Oh,
how I hate to get old. Bottom dollars, the bills we pay and the money we earn, are a constant reminder of the passing of time and the fleeting nature of life. The singer seems to be reflecting on the value of friendship and the people who have come and gone in his life. The phrase "breath in the face of friends" suggests a closeness and intimacy between friends, and the line "We must have counted on each other a hundred times or more" underscores the importance of reliability and dependability among friends.
The chorus, which is repeated several times throughout the song, is a bittersweet farewell to these friends and their bottom dollars, which are a reminder of the financial struggles and challenges that they have faced together. The repetition of "good bye bottom dollars" underscores the finality of these losses, and the fact that they may never be truly replaced.
Overall, the song seems to capture a sense of nostalgia for the past, and a recognition of the ways that time and money can affect our friendships and relationships with others. It suggests that even in the face of loss and change, we can hold onto the memories and connections that we have shared with others, and cherish them for the rest of our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Bottom dollars you look glad to me
You seem happy to me, but I am skeptical of the genuineness of your happiness because you may be hiding your true emotions.
Oh, how I hate to get old.
I dread growing old and losing my youth, as it brings the inevitability of death.
Bottom dollars breath in the face of friends.
Friends may be deceitful and betray those who trust them.
We must have counted on each other a hundred times or more.
Repeatedly relying on one another solidifies the strength of a friendship.
Oh when I, oh my, how those Eagles fly good bye bottom dollar good bye.
The departure of a friend is like watching eagles soar away, creating a feeling of sorrow and loss.
Bottom dollars all your friends have gone they have gone on on?
Have all your friends abandoned you, leaving you alone?
Bottom dollars now the truth be known you have been the best friend I've ever had.
Even with the possibility of betrayal, you have proven to be my most loyal and valued friend.
Oh, when I,?
The artist is interrupted before being able to finish their thought.
Good bye bottom dollars good bye bye.
The artist is saying farewell to their friend.
Good bye bottom dollars good bye.
The artist is saying a final goodbye to their friend, acknowledging the ending of their friendship.
Writer(s): D. Finley, B. J. Shaver
Contributed by David Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Miguel Batista
The best version of this music I seen so far. Flawless song and flawless execution
R Y
God I love his voice.
MAGA MAN PATRIOT
Billy Joe Shaver and Townes Van Zandt both told it like it is from life experiences.
buel Roberts
Both from North Texas
Bob Dant
been there,done that. Billy Joe writes stuff people can idendify with. PURE down home good!
Claude Hopper
Eddie shaver was one of the best country guitarist i ever heard . On that Fender stratocaster he always played "right in the pocket " never overplayed ...just a great style . On that big box Martin equally as good .
JB Y
Este cantante y su tema es extraordinario. Lo descubrí en 1973. Formó parte de una referencia en uno de mis libros. Fue mi homenaje. Thanks Billy Joe desde Buenos Aires (Argentina).
Quinton Kennedy
As much as I worship--Waylon ,who single-handed brought to light the pure genius of Billy Joe's songwriting by recording --1 song a whole album of his compositions I must say nary a soul can do BJS songs better than the man what writ 'em!
Yomondo
Is that Billy's son on guitar?
And nice backups from bass man!
Georgia Drone Footage
Not a nary one. 🤠