Archive for the ‘Billy Joe Shaver’ Category

Happy Birthday, Billy Joe Shaver

Monday, August 16th, 2010

 

“I’m Gonna Live Forever” – Billy Joe Shaver from Luck Films on Vimeo.

God Bless Billy Joe Shaver

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

 

www.theboot.com
by Stephen L. Betts

Singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver is recovering from minor heart surgery, including undergoing a stent procedure on Monday (July 12). The Austin American-Statesman reports that Billy Joe canceled three scheduled July shows due to chest pain, including an appearance at Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic last week.

The 71-year-old, who suffered a heart attack on stage in 2001 at the Gruene Hall while playing a New Year’s Eve show, is expected to make a full recovery and will resume performing in August, according to manager Greg Henry.

“He’s scheduled for a bunch of shows in August, and we’ll take stock but we don’t intend to cancel anything at this point,” Henry tells the newspaper. “He even thought he could do his show in Luckenbach on the 17th, but we decided it was better to have him rest for a while.”

In April, Billy Joe was found not guilty of aggravated assault stemming from a shooting outside a Texas bar in 2007. Last month he spent one night at the Heart Hospital of Austin after doctors placed a stent in a coronary artery supplying blood to the heart.

read the entire article, and see photos:

http://www.theboot.com/2010/07/15/billy-joe-shaver-heart-surgery/

Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic Lineup

Monday, June 7th, 2010

God Bless Billy Joe Shaver

Friday, May 14th, 2010

 

Send your love, prayers and best wishes to Billy Joe Shaver, who underwent heart surgery on Monday.   This was reported in the Waco paper, and confirmed by close friends.  He is is recovering from surgery in Austin and doing well.

Billy Joe Shaver, Honky Tonk Hero

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

“Willie and I were the top songwriters around Austin for most of the mid-1970s, which came with a lot of perks.  We became friends with great men like University of Texas football coach Darell Royal and Houston lawyer Joe Jamail, who I believe is the greatest lawyer in the world.  They would fly me down to Houston for a night and I would sit in a living room with my guitar and play my songs for senators and astronauts.  It was a crazy time.


Farm Aid, St. Louis, MO., 2010 (Photo by Rachel Fowler)

Willie and I ran around acting like fools together many nights.  I remember one night we were coming home in my truck as the sun was coming up and Willie, as usual, was wearing a bandana.  For some reason he was carrying an enormous opal with him, and he tied the bandana so that the opal was smack in the middle of his forehead.  While we were sitting at a traffic light, a carload of kids pulled up next to us and started laughing at the two crazy cowboys in the pickup.  Willie turned to them with a straight face and said, ‘Someday you’ll be old and crazy too.’  That was classic Willie.”

Honky Tonk Hero
by Billy Joe Shaver 

 

See Willie Nelson & Family, and Billy Joe Shaver at Riverbend Center (4/25/2010)

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

ticket info:  www.riverbendcentre.com or www.gettix.net

Willie Nelson and Family, and Billy Joe Shaver, Riverbend Center (4/25/2010)

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Thanks so much to Ron Cambio for sending this poster my way.  I appreciate it.

Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver, Riverbend Center, Austin (3/25/2010)

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver
Riverbend Center
April 25, 2010 

Tickets:  www.gettix.net

A Free Billy Joe Shaver performs in Houston for fans and friends

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Billy Joe Shaver performed at the Fire House Saloon in Houston, following his acquittal last Friday, in Waco, Texas. Billy Joe was found not guilty of aggravated assault.

He talks about the trial, and sings this great song he wrote.

Billy Joe Shaver Found Not Guilty (sometimes the system works)

Friday, April 9th, 2010


Photo: Rod Aydelotte

[Steven Kreytak reported live today from inside the Courthouse in Waco, relaying what was going on in the Courtroom.  It was fascinating, I couldn't stop reading.  What an amazing, instant reporting he was doing.  Anyway, thanks  to Steven Kreytak. -- LL]

by Steven Kreytak

WACO – A McLennan County jury has found country music songwriter Billy Joe Shaver not guilty of aggravated assault in the March 31, 2007, shooting of a man at a bar.

Shaver let out a big long exhale after state District Judge Matt Johnson read the jury’s verdict.

In court, Billy Coker, the man who Shaver shot, looked stunned. He said he was disappointed but would respect the justice system’s outcome. Prosecutor Mark Parker told Coker he was sorry.

Shaver, meanwhile, hugged supporters who numbered in the dozens. His band, his agent and other supporters waited at the McLennan County Courthouse for the verdict. Willie Nelson, who watched the day’s testimony from the courtroom gallery, had left.

To read the rest of the article, visit the Austin Statesman website at
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2010/04/09/shaver_supporters_not_there_to.html

Willie Nelson and Robert Duvall support Billy Joe Shaver

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

 

Photo:  Rod Aydelotte

By Michael Corcoran
www.statesman.com

Willie Nelson and Robert Duvall showed their deep friendship for Billy Joe Shaver, who is accused of aggravated assault for shooting Billy Coker in the face March 31, 2007, in Lorena, by sitting through about three hours of deadly dull proceedings Thursday in Waco.

“Hey, I want you to meet my bail bondsman,” Shaver said during one break, introducing Duvall to one of the people who packed the 90-capacity McLennan County courtroom. Photographers waited three deep outside the courtroom doors as the celebrities exited for lunch break.

Shaver, wearing a Texas flag tie and the same brown jacket he wore opening day, is expected to take the stand this afternoon after the prosecution calls its last witness.

There was a hold-up early in the day when prosecution asked to subpoena Nelson, whose appearance caused a stir, as a witness. Shaver’s attorney Dick DeGuerin argued that Nelson was free to come to the court and was only a character witness. The subpoena was eventually dropped and the parade of prosecution witnesses, doctors, policemen and forensic specialists, continued.

Dr. Scott Peterson, the trauma specialist who treated Billy Coker after he was shot outside Papa Joe’s bar in Lorena, 15 miles south of Waco, was a somewhat feisty witness when questioned by Billy Joe Shaver’s attorney Dick DeGuerin, who hammered away at Coker’s admission to Hillcrest Hospital staff that he “drinks quite a bit of alcohol every day.”

Asked if Coker seemed drunk the night of the March 31, 2007 shooting, Peterson said “everybody I see is on drugs and alcohol,” then adjusted the total to 85% of the people he treats.

When DeGuerin tried to establish a bullet path that suggested Coker was crouched and charging Shaver when he was shot, Peterson said he wasn’t a bullet specialist. “You know about powder burns, don’t you?” DeGuerin asked, to which Peterson replied, “yeah, from ‘CSI.’”

Coker spent just a day in the hospital before being discharged.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2010/04/08/third_day_tedium_at_shaver_tri.html

Willie Nelson, Robert Duvall at Billy Joe Shaver Trial in Waco

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Photo:  Rod Aydelotte

Country singer Willie Nelson leaves the McLennan Country courthouse Thursday, April 8, 2010 in Waco Texas. Nelson was subpoenaed to appear in court where Billy Joe Shaver is on trial for a shooting incident in Lorena Texas on April 1, 2007.

Photo: Rod Aydelotte

Actor Robert Duvall, left, shakes hands with Billy Joe Shaver during a break in his trial Thursday, April 8, 2010 in Waco Texas.

Shaver, 70, is charged with shooting Billy Bryant Coker outside Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in Lorena, Texas on April 1, 2007.

More photos at:
http://galleries.statesman.com/gallery/billy-joe-shaver-trial-040610/#73735

Jury Selected in Billy Joe Shaver Case today

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010


Billy Joe Shaver in Waco today
Photo by:  Rod Aydelotte

by Louise Ojeda, Jr.
www.kxxv.com

WACO – Jury selection is underway Tuesday for the aggravated assault trial of country singer and songwriter Billy Joe Shaver.

In March 2007, Shaver allegedly shot 51-year-old Billy Coker in the face, injuring his cheek, at Papa Joe’s Saloon in Lorena, about 15 miles south of Waco.

The 70-year-old was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a 2nd degree felony.  

The jury in the trial is made up of eight men and four women, and was picked just minutes after 5 p.m.

Shaver, who wrote songs for Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, could get anywhere from two to 20 years, plus a $5,000 fine if found guilty.

In their jury, the prosecution and defense, who is led by Dick DeGuerin, wanted the same thing, jurors who will see Shaver as a regular guy and not celebrity, people who will not hold him to a high standard or persecute him more for his fame.

Dick DeGuerin, Shaver’s attorney, has previously represented David Koresh and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Coker, who will testify in this case, received only minor injuries from the gun shot, and Shaver fled the scene that night of the incident.

Opening statements and testimony begins Wednesday at 8:30.

Jury selection begins today for Billy Joe Shaver trial

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

by Tommy Witherspoon
www.wacotrib.com

Jury selection is set to begin this morning in the aggravated assault trial of country crooner Billy Joe Shaver, the self-styled “Honky Tonk Hero” charged with shooting a man outside a bar in Lorena three years ago.

The 70-year-old singer-songwriter is on trial in Waco’s 54th State District Court in the April 1, 2007, shooting of Billy Bryant Coker outside Papa Joe’s Saloon on Interstate 35 in Lorena.

Shaver’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, of Houston, said Monday that Shaver is looking forward to putting the case behind him.

It was unfortunate and something he couldn’t avoid,” said DeGuerin, who also has represented such notables as Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. “He was defending himself. He was responding to a threat. Billy Coker had a knife, no question about that.”

Details of the incident are in dispute, but Shaver and Coker argued inside the tavern and ended up outside, according to records filed in the case.

Shaver reportedly asked Coker, “Where do you want it?” then shot him in the cheek and drove away, according to reports.

Shaver has denied asking Coker, “Where do you want it?” But prosecutors say they expect Coker and other witnesses to testify that they heard Shaver ask the question, which has inspired at least two country songs, including one called “Where Do You Want It?”

Prosecutors Mark Parker and Beth Toben said Monday they could call up to 24 witnesses. They said Shaver’s self-defense claim will be disputed.

“Based on the evidence we have gleaned and discovered, it doesn’t appear to be a case of self-defense,” Parker said.

Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Shaver also is charged with unlawfully carrying a handgun by a license holder on licensed premises, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Shaver, who lives in Waco, is mentioned in the recent box-office hit “Crazy Heart,” which also featured one of his songs, “Live Forever.”

Waylon Jennings filled most of his album “Honky Tonk Heroes” with Shaver’s songs, and many other artists, including Elvis Presley and Kris Kristofferson, have recorded Shaver’s music through the years.

Court officials expect the trial to last three or four days.

Billy Joe Shaver trial (4/5/2010)

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

 

www.Austin360.com
By Michael Corcoran

Singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver will face charges of aggravated assault and unlawful carrying of a weapon April 5 at the 54th District Court in Waco.

Shaver is accused of shooting Billy Coker in the cheek outside Papa Joe’s nightclub in Lorena the night of March 31, 2007. Here’s more on the case.

Shaver will be represented by superstar Houston attorney Dick Deguerin, who made a national name when he represented another Waco native, David Koresh, during a 1993 standoff with federal agents.

Here’s a copy of the arrest warrant from 2007.

http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2010/03/02/billy_joe_shaver_trial_date_se.html?cxntfid=blogs_austin_music_source