The Bottom Line
Pros
- "Randall Knife"
- "Waco Moon"
- "You Asked Me To"
Cons
- None.
Description
- Fifteen selections from the live concert given in celebration of Billy Joe's 65th birthday.
- Featuring Guy Clark, Dale Watson, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jack Ingram, and more.
- Portions of the proceeds to benefit the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Guide Review - Various Artists - A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver: Live
I should have done anything humanly possible to get to the Paramount Theatre in Austin on August 16, 2004, for the celebration of Billy Joe Shaver's 65th birthday. I'd heard about it. Some of my favorite artists were going to be performing. But I really couldn't afford it, so I didn't think about it until I heard this disc. Frankly, this is just a wow of a live show.Sure, you've got Billy Joe Shaver's music, which is pretty much always the cream of the traditional country crop; but in addition to Shaver himself on that stage, he's got all his friends up there, performing his songs and some that he inspired from them, such as Joe Ely's "Honky Tonk Masquerade" and Jack Ingram's "Ava Adelle." Then there's Todd Snider performing the astonishingly poignant "Waco Moon" (a tribute to Billy Joe's son, who passed away in 2000), a song which, for personal reasons, never fails to make me cry. It's all good.
The disc starts out strong with Billy Joe performing "Georgia on a Fast Train" with Diamondback Texas, and never once slips or fails to impress from there, whether you have Robert Earl Keen telling the humorous story of how he met Shaver or Bruce Robison harmonizing with wife Kelly Willis on the familiar standard "Ride Me Down Easy"; plus, there are powerhouse performances from Dale Watson, Cory Morrow, Rodney Hayden, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and some humor from The Geezinslaws. There's also, for those with computers, an MP4 video of Snider's performance tucked onto the disc.
