Shaver :: Shaver’s Jewels (The Best Of Shaver) New West/ Warner Music

Shaver, the band of legendary songwriter Billy Joe Shaver and his guitar-slinging son, Eddy made five studio albums of sizzling country rock, gut-wrenching ballads and acoustic spiritual songs between 1993 and 2000 when Eddy tragically passed away. Shaver’s Jewels (The Best Of Shaver), out November 19 on New West Records, collects tracks from their prolific partnership and represents some of the father and son’s best work. The album features liner notes from author and musician .

The 17-track collection kicks off with the rollicking boot stomper that began Shaver’s debut record, Tramp On Your Street, Billy Joe’s classic and heavily covered “Georgia On A Fast Train,” remade and amped up with Eddy’s blazing guitar playing. The album spans the Shaver’s impressive catalog and includes cuts from all five records including Tramp On Your Street and Highway Of Life released on Volcano Records and Justice Records respectively and their three New West Records releases, Victory, Electric Shaver, and The Earth Rolls On, recorded with Eddy but released after his untimely death.

The album is filled with songs of love and loss, sin and salvation, hell raising and redemption, bursting with Billy Joe’s introspective, hard living and nakedly honest lyrics and Eddy’s spirited and versatile guitar playing. The somber stripped down “Highway Of Life,” a cappella “Son of Calvary,” tender “My Mother’s Name Is Victory” show off Shaver’s softer side while the bluesy rock shuffle of “You Wouldn’t Know Love (If You Fell In It),” the honky tonk of “Blood Is Thicker Than Water,” and the charged up kiss-off “Leavin’ Amarillo” show off the band’s rowdier and often times humorous side.

The album ends with “The Earth Rolls On,” from the album of the same name, which was produced by Ray Kennedy and included backup from the E Street Band’s Garry Tallent and Wilco’s Jay Bennett and Ken Coomer as well as guitarists Doug Lancio and Kenny Vaughan. The track, featuring skyscraping guitar work from Eddy, was written by Billy Joe about the passing of his beloved wife Brenda and also plays out as a fitting eulogy for Eddy who died just before its release.

Called the “greatest songwriter alive today” by , Billy Joe Shaver’s songs have been prolifically recorded by Nelson himself, , , , Jerry Lee Lewis, The Allman Brothers, , George Jones, and especially . Shaver wrote 10 out of the 11 songs on Jennings' pioneering 1973 album, , the important and influential touchstone of the outlaw country movement. A beloved musical icon, mentioned Shaver in his song “I Feel A Change Coming on,” and author John Steinbeck cited Shaver’s “Old Five and Dimers” as his favorite song. Shaver’s Jewels chronicles a remarkable chapter of Billy Joe’s musical career and serves as a fitting tribute to Eddy, another one gone too soon.

SHAVER’S JEWELS – THE BEST OF SHAVER Tracks: 1. Georgia On A Fast Train (Tramp On Your Street) 2. Tramp On Your Street (Tramp On Your Street) 3. Highway Of Live (Highway Of Life) 4. Son Of Calvary (Victory) 5. You Can’t Beat Jesus Christ (Victory) 6. Cowboy Who Started The Fight (Victory) 7. Live Forever (Victory) 8. My Mother’s Name Is Victory (Victory) 9. Thunderbird (Electric Shaver) 10. You Wouldn’t Know Love If You Fell In It (Electric Shaver) 11. Heart To Heart (Electric Shaver) 12. Love Is So Sweet (The Earth Rolls On) 13. Restless Wind (The Earth Rolls On) 14. You’re Too Much For Me (The Earth Rolls On) 15. Blood Is Thicker Than Water (The Earth Rolls On) 16. Leavin’ Amarillo (The Earth Rolls On) 17. The Earth Rolls On (The Earth Rolls On)