I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal...But I'm Gonna Be A Diamond Someday
Billy Joe Shaver was making "outlaw country" before they had a name for the stuff; knocking out tough-as-nails Texas tunes and singing them in a voice like rough-hewn timber. He's never garnered the fame of pals like Waylon and Willie, but he's certainly earned their respect (Jennings, in fact, recorded a 1973 album full of his songs,Honky-Tonk Heroes). This 1981 outing features some of Shaver's best known, and hardest rocking, tunes--including the title track, "Fit to Kill and Going Out in Style" and the rollicking "Ragged Old Truck"--as well as the debut of his guitar-wielding son, Eddy. Shaver also scores with the ballads "Blue Texas Waltz" and "It Ain't Nothing New Babe."--Michael Ruby