Lightning Rod Records

“We are all simply trying our best to be something more. But Billy Joe came that way,” gushes Steve Earle on the inside cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s 23rd studio album Long in the Tooth. The 76-year-old is one of the great unsung heroes of outlaw country, revered by such fellow statesmen as Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and the aforementioned Mr. Earle for the unfiltered purity in his approach to their shared craft. And on the excellent Long in the Tooth, Shaver continues to emulate the life that made him a hero amongst his fellow icons of country music in spite of pondering the notion that “it’s hard to be an outlaw when you’re not wanted anymore”. Its a line from Tooth’s opening salvo “Hard to Be an Outlaw”, as appropriate a duet for him to sing with his old pal Willie as any either man has penned in recent memory. What’s more is that Nelson has been playing another exceptional number from this album on the road, “The Git-Go”, though to hear Shaver himself recite it is an altogether different trip entirely. A couple of other high profile pals grace this 10-track LP as well. Namely Leon Russell, whose rolling piano imbues “Last Call for Alcohol”, a song that turns an old bar cliche into a defiant anthem of sobriety, not to mention Tony Joe White, who lends his signature swamp guitar to the title track. For anyone new to the name Billy Joe Shaver, Long in the Tooth is an excellent late introduction. And for those who have been listening to him since the git-go, prepare to dig into your new favorite.