Born 87 Years Ago Today to a Single Mom in Texas, the Hard-Living Outlaw Poet Willie Nelson Once Called the “Greatest Living Songwriter”

Artists like Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson heralded a new faction of country music committed first and foremost to authenticity—outlaw country. Consequently, each of those men owed a tremendous debt to Billy Joe Shaver, born in Corsicana, Texas, on this day (August 16) in 1939.

While he never quite reached the same stratosphere of fame as his peers, some of their greatest hits came straight from his pen. Shaver’s songwriting resume includes the aforementioned outlaw legends, along with Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. In fact, Nelson once dubbed him the greatest living songwriter.

Billy Joe Shaver died on October 28, 2020, after suffering a stroke at age 81. In honor of what would have been his 87th birthday, we’re taking a trip through his legacy

Billy Joe Shaver Was an Outlaw in the Truest Sense

While not every artist who found success in the outlaw-country space wrote from lived experience, Shaver absolutely did.

Shaver grew up primarily with his grandmother in Corsicana so that his mother could work long hours at a honky-tonk roughly 50 miles away in Waco.

As a child, he sometimes had to tag along on his mom’s shifts, which was also his earliest introduction to country music.

Shaver left school after eighth grade to help his uncles pick cotton. Joining the U.S. Navy at 17, he bounced around various career paths before getting married and having a son, Eddy, in 1962.

To make ends meet, he worked at a lumber mill—where he lost most of two fingers on his right hand in a workplace accident.

Overcoming Early Hardship

For Billy Joe Shaver, the tragedy fueled a burning desire to make music—starting with teaching himself to play guitar.

He attempted to hitchhike in Los Angeles, but ended up in Nashville. Eventually, he signed a publishing deal with Bobby Bare.

Making Inroads With the Outlaws

After recording one of Billy Joe Shaver’s songs for his debut album, singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson invited him to Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July picnic in the early 1970s.

There, he joined a guitar pull that included legendary outlaw singer Waylon Jennings. Jennings liked what he heard—so much so all that all but one of 10 tracks on his 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes were works by Shaver.

(Although, Jennings only agreed to record them after Shaver showed up to RCA Studios ready to “whip your a– right here in front of God and everybody” if he didn’t listen to the songs.

Reaching number 14 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, Honky Tonk Heroes became the blueprint for a burgeoning outlaw-country movement.

That same year, Shaver finally released his own debut album, Old Five And Dimers Like Me.

A Struggling Solo Career and Personal Troubles

Despite being produced by Kris Kristofferson, the album didn’t take off commercially. Monument Records folded shortly after its release.

(In response to the disappointing news, Billy Joe Shaver drove his car through the plate glass window of a car dealership.)

Although he never stopped recording his own material, Shaver’s songs were always more successful in the hands of other artists.

Still, he pressed on, pushing through still more unspeakable personal tragedy. First came the 1999 loss of his wife, Brenda, to cancer.

Then, on New Year’s Eve 2000, his 38-year-old son, Eddy, died from a h*roin overdose.

The following year, Shaver himself barely survived a heart attack onstage during an Independence Day 2001 show at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas.

Then, in 2007—the same year he released the Grammy-nominated album Everybody’s Brother—he shot a man in the face outside a tavern in Lorena, Texas.

[RELATED: On This Day in 2020, Country Music Lost the Outlaw Country Legend Who Was Covered by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash]

Charged with aggravated assault and possessing a firearm in a prohibited place, Shaver claimed self-defense and was acquitted of all charges.

Willie Nelson and Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall attended the Waco trial in support of Shaver.

Featured image by David Redfern/Redferns