Billy Joe Shaver Old Five & Dimers Like Me CD

Originally released on Monument (32293). Includes liner notes by Tom T. Hall.

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.

1973 was Billy Joe Shaver's year. He exploded onto the country music scene, helping to create the "outlaw country" movement with his debut album and Waylon Jennings' contemporaneous HONKY TONK HEROES, an album full of Shaver songs. Like Guy Clark, Shaver combined simple honky-tonk motifs with thoughtful, poetic verbiage and a badass attitude. In retrospect, it's easy to see why Nashville iconoclast Kris Kristofferson was at the production helm for the gritty, groundbreaking OLD FIVE AND DIMERS.

Many of the songs here are also found on Jennings' HONKY TONK HEROES, and Shaver's unschooled voice lends them a rougher quality, but the writer's own versions are no less convincing. "Black Rose" is a then-controversial tale of interracial romance. The title tune finds Shaver looking longingly back at his youth and gently lamenting his current rough and rowdy ways. "Low Down Freedom" details the price one must pay for a life free of emotional ties. Throughout, Shaver is backed by some of the best musicians early-'70s Nashville had to offer. Along with HONKY TONK HEROES, OLD FIVE AND DIMERS stands as one of the key recordings in outlaw country.

Reissue producer: Barry Feldman.

Personnel: Billy Joe Shaver (vocals, guitar).

Liner Note Author: Tom T. Hall.

Recording information: House Of Cash.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Danny Finlay; Mike Utley; Red Lane; Stephen Bruton; Tommy Cogbill; Kenny Malone; Jerry Shook; Booty Wood.

Personnel: Billy Joe Shaver, Tommy Cogbill, Bobby Wood, Mike Utley, Kenny Malone, Stephen Bruton, Jerry Shook, Danny Finley, Red Lane, Tommy Jackson.

Producer: Kris Kristofferson.