Congratulations to the great
Texan singer and songwriter who this afternoon in Waco, Tex, was
acquitted on a charge of aggravated assault stemming from a 2007
incident at a roadhouse outside Waco. The facts were that
Shaver, then 67, shot Billy Coker in the face. Shaver said Coker
was coming at him with a knife, and acted in self-defence. (And
for what it's worth, the offending weapon was a "tiny" gun, and
fired in Billy Joe's right hand which is missing most of it's
first three fingers!)
Shaver, recognized by most in
the country music field as one of its greatest writers, has had
more struggles in his life and career than most people would
want to deal with. After finally achieving a small measure of
long-deserved success in the 1990's he had to endure in a very
few years the deaths of his grandmother (who had raised him),
his mother, his wife (while on their third marriage), and
finally his lead guitarist and only child, Eddy, of a heroin
overdose.
Without trying to address the
issues in the trial, it's clear that Billy is a man with a very
good and warm heart, although he's also someone -- he's the
first to admit -- to having had a rough and wild time earlier in
his life, a fact that the prosecution used in the courtroom,
citing passages from his autobiography, Honky Tonk Hero
that recounted some of his rough and tumble youthful years.
After the prosecutor used one more incident, Shaver told her "I
wish I had a book on you, I tell you that", prompting an
outburst of laughter in the courtroom, and the judge to expel
one man from the audience. "I am sorry I said that," Shaver
said, and the exiled spectator echoed, "I'm sorry I laughed"
The trial certainly had its
moments, and those of us who are passionate followers of Billy
Joe were able to follow most of the proceedings in almost-real
time on a reporter's
Twitter feed.
In the summation, Shaver's lawyer claimed
that, "The defense to aggravated assault is self defense. It’s a
God given right that is recognized by our law since time began.”
And the prosecutor characterized Shaver in
words that ring very false:
"Who has a history of being violent and mean and
wanting to be an outlaw and writing a book about it? The
defendant."
Shaver's lawyer
countered with some Billy Joe's lyrics from "Live Forever".
These lines were actually written by his late son Eddy, and were
the ones quoted twice by Robert Duvall in the film Crazy
Heart, (Duvall and Willie Nelson both attended to show their
support for Billy Joe)
You fathers and you mothers
Be kind to one another
Raise your children right
Don’t let the darkness take them
Don’t let them be forsaken
Just lead them gently to the light."
Much publicity
about the case centred on claims that shortly before shooting
Coker, Billy Joe asked him "Where do you want it?" (That wasn't
quite what he said, Shaver claimed). Inevitably,
a song
was written with that title, by Billy Joe's friend, Dale Watson.
From the twitter feed:
I actually asked him ‘Why do you want
to do this.’ For one reason or another someone turned it
into ‘Where do you want it,’ ” he said.
“You’re still gonna write the song
but,” with different lyrics, Toben [prosecutor] asked.
That comment caused an objection by
Shaver and his lawyer and verbal outbursts by some of those
in state District Judge Matt Johnson’s courtroom. One man
was escorted from court for yelling “come on, woman.”
At one point, in discussing the bar where the
shooting happened, Shaver recounted his knowledge of the places:
"My mother was 18
years old. She was a honky tonk girl, sure enough. I know honky
tonks".
In fact, Billy's early song, "Honky Tonk Heroes"
(the title song of a 1975 Waylon Jennings made up of songs by
the then-unknown Shaver) was inspired by the honky tonk his
mother worked in. These lines from the song came back to me
today:
Woe is me, why can't I see
I'd best be leavin' well enough alone
Aw, them neon light nights, couldn't stay out of fights
They keep a hauntin' me in memories
There's one in every crowd for crying out loud
Why was it always turnin' out to be me?"
Some more on the trial and Billy Joe:
KEEPING
RADIO & COMMUNITY GOING: CIUT Fundraising this week
BILLY
JOE SHAVER TRIAL: Not guilty