The Texan troubadour is celebrated more enthusiastically by his country contemporaries and those who followed than the wider public but, as he approaches his 75th birthday, Shaver continues to produce vital and inspiring Americana. Long In The Tooth, his first new album for six years, offers a masterclass in redneck storytelling that comes pretty close to such high-water mark sets as Old Five And Dimers Like Me and I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal. <\/p>\n
Yet it was another singer’s album, Waylon Jennings’ 1973 classic Honky Tonk Heroes, that heralded Shaver’s arrival on the scene (he had a hand in writing all but one of its 12 tracks), and an illustration of his continued standing within the country rebel community comes early here: Willie Nelson saddling up for the opening Hard To Be An Outlaw. Sweeter hues take the spotlight on the gentle waltz of I’ll Love You As Much As I Can, wry saloon humour takes over on the laconic Checkers And Chess, while Sunbeam Special is a grin-inducing breakneck hillbilly hoedown. <\/p>\n
The arrangements may never veer too far from recognisable country templates, but Shaver imbues everything with great charm and wit. He gleefully pokes fun at his own advancing years on the title track, and the poor boy wannabe superstar anthem Music City USA is surely at least partly autobiographical. <\/p>\n
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The Texan troubadour is celebrated more enthusiastically by his country contemporaries and those who followed than the wider public but, as he approaches his 75th birthday, Shaver continues to produce vital and inspiring Americana. Long In The Tooth, his first new album for six years, offers a masterclass in redneck storytelling that comes pretty c\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8023,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16],"tags":[],"issue":[10038],"class_list":["post-182971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album","category-reviews","issue-september-2014"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n