When John Edwin (Eddy) Shaver was born thirty-eight years ago, on June 20, 1962, his father -- famed Texas singer/songwriter Billy Joe Shaver -- wanted to name him "Electric." Thankfully, Billy Joe's father-in-law adamantly refused to let it happen.
"If he had done that," Eddy Shaver told RollingStone.com in a 1999 interview, "I'd probably be an accountant or something."
Instead, Shaver became a guitarist and followed in his father's musical footsteps, though he took a different path -- eschewing his father's country idols in favor of rock & roll guitar gods like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix. Blood ties brought them back together in the late Eig
hties when the father and son united under the family name Shaver and forged a unique, powerful hybrid of roadhouse rock and hardcore honky-tonk. Billy Joe's gruff voice and songs o
f outlaws and redemption brought soul to the mix; Eddy's fiery, bluesy riffs provided the muscle and at least half of the heart.
On New Year's Eve, however, when Billy Joe took the stage of Poodie's Hilltop Bar & Grill in Austin, Tex., soul had to carry the show. Eddy Shaver died in his sleep shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday morning in Waco, Tex. The cause of death has not been disclos
ed by the family, but authorities have attributed it to an accidental heroin overdose.
Shaver's death came at the dawn of what looked to be a rewarding and intensely busy year for the guitarist. In addition to being newly married (he wed Irene Triola Shaver in mid-October), Eddy and his father had recently completed their sixth Shaver album
, The Earth Rolls On, which is set for release on March 20 on New West Records. He was also scheduled to begin recording his debut solo album this week in Austin with help from former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts, the man who gave him his first guitar when he was twelve years old.
In an interview with RollingStone.com promoting their 1999 Shaver album, Electric Shaver, Billy Joe recalled the first time he became aware of his son's guitar skills.
"I always had trouble tuning, mostly because I'd done took too much shit, and I'd be a little tone deaf," said the elder Shaver. "And I got real disturbed with it one day, threw the guitar down on the couch, and I went into the kitchen for something. And
I was in there for just a little bit, and I heard somebody playing the guitar, Du-lu-lu-du-lu-lu-du, just going up and down the neck and everything. I said, 'Damn, who is that?' And I went in there and it was Eddy. I said, 'Hey, you play guitar?' He said,
'Yeah I play guitar.' I said, 'Well can you tune it?' He said, 'Yeah, I can tune it -- you gotta tune it to be able to play it.' I said, 'Yeah well, golly, tune it for me, you're gonna be my tuner.'"
Within a year, Eddy was playing in his father's band. He left for a while to play with others, including Dwight Yoakam, Guy Clark, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, but he soon returned to his father's side, and together they forged a comeback beginning with 1993's acclaimed Tra
mp on Your Street. On that and throughout subsequent Shaver albums, most notably on the blistering 1995 live set Unshaven: Shaver Live at Smith's Olde Bar, Eddy's guitar work -- favorably compared to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan -- often threatened to steal the spotlight from his old man, but it was the way his riffs added power to his father's lyrical punch that made the combo so potent. "It's like Cream with a gr
eat songwriter singing," Eddy aptly explained to RollingStone.com. "It's not supposed to work, but it does."
The forthcoming Shaver album The Earth Rolls On features Eddy and Billy Joe's first vocal duet together on album. The bittersweet track, titled "Blood is Thicker Than Water," features father and son trading verbal blows in the verses ("I've seen yo
u pukin' out your guts and running with sluts when you was married to my mother") and singing together on the chorus. It is currently available as an MP3 on www.billyjoeshaver.com.
Eddy is the third loved one Billy Joe Shaver has lost in the last two years. The summer of 1999 saw the passing of both his mother, Victory, and his wife and Eddy's mother, Brenda Shaver.
According to New West Records president Cameron Strang, Billy Joe Shaver was accompanied at his Sunday night performance in Austin by longtime friend Willie Nelson. Nelson joined Sh
aver for a handful of songs and then took over at about the half-way point.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Waco.
RICHARD SKANSE
(January 3, 2001)
