Later that year, or maybe the next, McNalley and I drove to Atlanta to see him perform at smiths old bar. First we had a bite at Ansley shopping mall, across the street, during which we were slow to pick up on that neighborhood's peculiar demographic. It wasn't until Brian got up to throw away some trash, and I watched the other guys watch him that we realized that, statistically at least, we were on a date. Later we walked upstairs to see the show, but were not allowed entry because we were not 21. We pleaded that we already bought the tickets, and that we had drove all the way from Athens, but made no headway.
One of us remembered that when we had first driven in we had seen a van unloading equipment, and one of us had the idea to canvas the area for that van. We figured that the driver would be Billy and his son, and that we could plead our case with them. Ridiculous? Yes. But we did it anyway, and without too much difficulty found the van parked at a motel on Cheshire Bridge. We walked into the lobby, and through some subterfuge confirmed that the Shaver's were in fact at the hotel. Though spying, we derived their room number. And so we walked over and knocked on the door.
Billy answered it, and we could see Eddie relaxing on one of the beds inside. We explained our plight, telling him we were big fans. Billy said "well hell, tell them you're kin". On further conversation he wrote on the back of a card, "these boys are kin" or something to that effect. We carried the card back to Smiths, and were still not granted admittance. We lurked around the back of the building, perhaps hoping to intercept Billy again, but for reasons I don't recall, gave up early and drove back to Athens.
The Concert was recorded and released as "unshaven. Shaver live at smiths".
A year or two later I went to Eddies attic to see a few musicians who were said to be Outlaw Country, along the lines of Billy. Sometime before or after the show I fell into talking with one of them, David Olney I believe, who started telling me Shaver Stories. Or rather, he was telling me other people's stories and when I mentioned Shaver, he laughed, and said a few things that made me think that all these guys had some combination of respect , awe, and fear of the man. If Texas singers were hockey players, Billy was the enforcer. That, at least, was the impression I walked away with.
Sometime Later, or maybe around that time, Billy's son Eddie past away, and Billy showed remarkable strength released new albums that were brutally honest about the loss, and, well, hard life in general.
Many years later I found out that the Owner of the company I worked for was not only friend with Billy, but also the late Townes Van Zandt. Though he has sold the company, he still owes me many stories about both....
Last night I was reading Stomp And Stammer, which, under the issue number had the tag "Pussy Loves Us", a reference I completely didn't get but found funny (yes, I am out of touch). Later inside the concert hall at smiths, I saw another sticker that said "I collect records because pussy hates me". Apprantly there is a whole meme I have missed. Anyhow, the magazine featured the band Smoke Faires who opened for the band I was going to see (Laura Marling. Llinks posted a couple posts back), and an editorial that skewered Obama's divisive rhetoric. Anyhow, none of this is important except I love Stomp and Stammer, and their News Leak page had this blurb, which was news to me.
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/28575479.html
Some of the good stuff
In a packed, sweltering courtroom, Shaver, 70, admitted to shooting Billy Bryant Coker on the back porch of Papa Joe’s Saloon, a beer joint outside Shaver’s Waco hometown. The singer pleaded self-defense, claiming Coker stirred his drink with a pocket blade, wiped it on Shaver’s shirt and asked him to come outside. “I felt he was gonna kill me,” Shaver testified. “He was a big bully, the worst I ever seen — a big bad one. And I been all around the world.”
State prosecutors argued Shaver could have left in his truck before shooting Coker. “I’m from Texas,” Shaver responded in his honky-tonk Texas drawl. “If I was a chicken shit I would have left.”
The shooting occurred March 31, 2007, after Shaver stopped into the smoky bar for a beer with his former wife, Wanda. Shaver testified Coker was rude to Wanda and told Shaver to “Shut the fuck up.” After the two went outside, witnesses testified Shaver asked Coker, “Where do you want it?” then pointed a .22 pistol at Coker’s cheek, pulled the trigger and fled in his truck. When Shaver was asked on the stand if he shot Coker because Shaver was jealous the victim was talking Shaver’s wife, Shaver laughed. “I get more woman than a passenger train can haul,” he said.
This is all so very much like the new Olyphant TV Show Justified, which I incorrectly fretted might be a bit unrealistic. I mean, people don't go around shooting people like we're all living in deadwood. Well, yep, they do actually.
To recap.
Things I love: Stomp and Stammer, Timothy Olyphant, Billy Joe Shaver, Laura Marling, Smoke Fairies, and of course, Deadwood, Townes Van Zandt, and Robert Duval.
Things that love me: Pussy.
(did I do that right?)
