Billy Joe Shaver
A rough-hewn poet of the honky-tonk whose brutally honest songwriting became the backbone of outlaw country music.
1939–2020 (age 81)·American country singer·Birthday: August 16·The Silent Generation
Biography
Billy Joe Shaver's life read like one of his own hard-luck songs. He lost fingers in a sawmill accident, endured the tragic death of his son and wife, and spent years laboring in obscurity. His salvation was a notebook, where he penned stark, spiritually searching lyrics drawn directly from his experiences. Waylon Jennings famously recorded an entire album of Shaver's songs, 1973's 'Honky Tonk Heroes,' which effectively launched the outlaw country movement by rejecting Nashville's polished sound for something grittier and more real. Shaver never became a consistent chart-topper himself, but his influence was immense; artists from Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan revered his writing. He performed with a raw, unvarnished intensity into his old age, a living testament to the power of truth in art.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Billy was born in 1939, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Billy Was Born
The biggest hits of 1939
#1 Movie
Gone with the Wind
Best Picture
Gone with the Wind
Billy's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1939Born
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1944Started school
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1952Became a teenager
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1955Could drive
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1957Could vote
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1960Turned 21
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1969Turned 30
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 40
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 50
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 60
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 70
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 80
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2020Died at 81
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
Key Achievements
- Wrote the songs for Waylon Jennings' landmark album 'Honky Tonk Heroes,' a cornerstone of the outlaw country genre.
- Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.
- His song 'Georgia on a Fast Train' is considered a classic of Americana songwriting.
- Released the critically acclaimed album 'Tramp on Your Street' in 1993, produced by his son Eddy.
Did You Know?
He famously won a duel of words with a music critic by challenging him to a fistfight and knocking him out.
The line "I'm just an old chunk of coal, but I'm gonna be a diamond someday" is from his song of the same name.
He served in the United States Navy as a young man.
“I’ve been to Georgia on a fast train, honey, I wasn’t born no yesterday.”
