Billy Joe Shaver
Grizzled and gruff-voiced, Billy Joe Shaver for years has been one of those you-gotta-be-there acts, a renowned country honky-tonker and songwriter who kills live but sometimes dies on disc. Not this time. Thanks to coproducer Brendan O'Brien, who has previously captured the rawness of Pearl Jam and Matthew Sweet, you listen to this live album mentally ducking flying beer bottles. Elvis, the All-man Brothers and Waylon Jennings, among others, have found Shaver's songs compelling enough to record, and on this album—recorded in Atlanta last January—the 54-year-old Texan shows that papa still knows best how to put them over. Raucous and raunchy, the songs bubble with the blues, tales of desire and enough raspy guitar heroics to burn down any lumber-pile roadhouse. Shaver's secret weapon here is his son Eddy, 33, whose maniacal energy makes Unshaven almost as good as being there—maybe better, since you're less likely to get into a fistfight or slip in a puddle of beer. (Praxis/Zoo Entertainment)
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