Billy Joe Shaver, Conroe, Texas (June 3, 2006) — Image by kenne
I was listening to NPR this morning and there was a segment on one of my favorite country singer/songwriters, Billy Joe Shaver. His songs are probably better known than he is — Billy Joe Shaver Writes Country Songs — And Lives Them, Too. If you didn’t hear the segment, click on the segment title — he’s real country!
If you want to get even more of a feel for who is Billy Joe Shaver, watch the following video:
Somedays, the hillbilly in me just comes out — like I can’t help it.
When George Jones passed away in late April of this year, I made a note to share one of my favorite songs of his, “Bartender Blues.” Actually it’s a James Taylor song written in 1977.
“It’s hard to describe but it’s so tight and so sculpted. It was just remarkable to hear someone make that sound with a human voice. And it sounded like someone singing who had listened to a lot of steel guitar, the way he bends notes and phrases. To me it sounds like a steel guitar in a human voice.” — James Taylor in Billboard, April 27, 2013
Now, two months out I’m posting my note to share with my music friends. Click here to read a very thoughtful article in The New Republic, “Why George Jones Ranks With Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday.”
Bartender Blues by James Taylor
Now I’m just a bartender And I don’t like my work But I don’t mind the money at all I see lots of sad faces And lots of bad cases Of folks with their backs to the wall
Chorus: But I need four walls around me to hold my life To keep me from going a-stray And a honky-tonk angel to hold me tight To keep me from slipping away
I can light up your smokes I can laugh at your jokes I can watch you fall down on your knees I can close down this bar I can gas up my car I can pack up and mail in my key
Chorus:
Now, the smoke fills the air In this honky-tonk bar And I’m thinking ’bout where I’d rather be But I burned all my bridges I sank all my ships And I’m stranded at the edge of the sea
Billy Joe Shaver, Conroe, Texas (June 3, 2006) — Image by kenne
When George Jones passed away in late April of this year, I made a note to share one of my favorite songs of his, “Bartender Blues.” Actually it’s a James Taylor song written in 1977.
