The Real Deal (CD - 2005)

Personnel: Nanci Griffith, Big Kenny (vocals); Max Baca (bass voice, bajo sexto, bass guitar, background vocals); Jerry Hollingsworth (guitar); John Ilewelyn Evans, Roger Rabbit (electric guitar); Lloyd Maines (lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar, dobro); Flaco Jiménez (accordion); David Carroll , Ethan Pilzer (bass guitar); Sean Raiford, Sean Raiford (drums); David Carroll , Raul "Nunie" Rubio (background vocals); John Rich (vocals); Gabe Rhodes (guitar, pump organ); Joe Gracey (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Paul Worley, Adam Shoenfeld (electric guitar); Mickey Raphael (harp); Richard Bowden (mandolin); Jonathan Yudkin, Warren Hood (fiddle); Michael Rojas (keyboards); Mark Patterson , Brian Barnett (drums); John Gardner (percussion); Kimmie Rhodes (background vocals); Kevin Fowler.

Audio Mixers: Chris Stone; John Ilewelyn Evans.

Liner Note Author: Kinky Friedman.

Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Commerce Street Studios, Houston, TX; House Of David, Nashville, TN; Sunbird Studios, Spicewood, TX.

Photographer: Cynthia S. Kinney.

If any album will bring Texas legend Billy Joe Shaver the widespread acclaim and commercial success he has deserved for 30 years, The Real Deal is it. Recorded for Compadre Records, it features 14 new songs and a redo of his and his late son Eddy's classic "Live Forever" with Nashville hotshots Big & Rich. The tune's been duded up some and doesn't have the stark power the original does, but as an anthem it works like a charm. In fact, the words still shine through the mix here because at age 66, Shaver's become one hell of a singer. There are other duets here as well. Nanci Griffith makes an appearance on "Valentine," a spare, acoustically driven ballad. Kimmie Rhodes -- another Austin songwriter who deserves far more than she's received -- duets with him on his "West Texas Waltz." The new version is elegant, deep, and soulful. And Kevin Fowler shows up on the honky tonk strutter "Slim Chance and the Can't Hardly Playboys" with the fine lyric "They've got a new song out on Polish Records/It'll be a Polish hit real soon." Country gospel makes its appearance on "Jesus Christ Is Still the King." "You Ought to Be with Me When I'm Alone" is one of Shaver's great broken love songs. The shuffling title track lays out the truth of Shaver's own story, and it's as down-home, dirt-filled, and dusty as the West Texas landscape. The Real Deal boasts nothing it can't deliver, and it is the album Billy Joe Shaver's been waiting to make all his life. It is full of heart, blood, grit, and poetry. ~ Thom Jurek

Although new Billy Joe Shaver studio albums proved to be rarities in the early 2000s, THE REAL DEAL (2005) makes up for lost time with a solid set of the Outlaw Country performer's originals (and a bonus holiday tune). With a little help from Big & Rich, Nanci Griffith, and others, the ever-charming Shaver eases into his laid-back, often-humorous songs, reinforcing exactly why he's such a revered country artist. minimize