Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Amanda Shires, and More Contribute to New Billy Joe Shaver Tribute Album
Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Amanda Shires, Miranda Lambert, and more are featured on a new compilation that honors the work of outlaw country singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver. Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver also features contributions from Margo Price, George Strait, Steve Earle, Allison Russell, and others. It’s out November 11, and today’s announcement coincides with what would have been Shaver’s 83rd birthday. See the full tracklist below.
The new 12-song album features covers of Shaver’s compositions, and it was co-produced by Charlie Sexton and Freddy Fletcher. Hear Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams’ version of “Live Forever” below.
Shaver, an esteemed presence in country music, died in October of 2020 at the age of 81. He was revered for his illustrative style, getting a major break through when Waylon Jennings recorded several of Shaver’s songs for 1973’s Honky Tonk Heroes. In subsequent years, Shaver became a cult-hit figure even without a chart-topper under his own name, celebrated by the likes of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Kris Kristofferson. His final album was 2014’s Long in the Tooth.
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Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver:
01 Willie Nelson / Lucinda Williams: “Live Forever”
02 Ryan Bingham / Nikki Lane: “Ride Me Down Easy”
03 Rodney Crowell: “Old Five and Dimers Like Me”
04 Miranda Lambert: “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)”
05 Edie Brickell: “I Couldn’t Be Me Without You”
06 Nathaniel Rateliff: “You Asked Me To”
07 George Strait: “Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me”
08 Amanda Shires: “Honky Tonk Heroes”
09 Steve Earle: “Ain’t No God in Mexico”
10 Margo Price / Joshua Hedley: “Ragged Old Truck”
11 Willie Nelson: “Georgia on a Fast Train”
12 Allison Russell: “Tramp on Your Street”