Willie Nelson Album: “Honky Tonk Heroes”

Willie Nelson,Waylon Jennings,Kris Kristofferson, no Johnny Cash but in his stead Billy Joe Shaver,of whom I had known very little, and his compositions.Could work as a fourth "Highwayman" album and with justification. The opening track"Honky Tonk Heroes" does not disappoint although I preferred the original "Outlaws" version. I disagree with the reviewer who thought Kris Kristofferson,s voice had gone I enjoy his distinctive gritty, earthy vocals....as do the individuality of all the "Heroes"and especiallyWillie Nelsons rendition of "I,m Just An Old Lump Of Coal" which was just superb and top drawer Nelson as was the "Heroes" version of "Willie The Wandering Gypsy And Me " For me the entire album is enjoyable,the beginning to the epic "Oklahoma Wind" ; the romantic yet humourous "I Could,nt Be Me Without You " to the finale of "We Are The Cowboys" which would definately not have been out of place on any " Highwaymen "set from start to finish. Fans of any of these performers will know what they expect and like me I,m sure thet will not be disappointed,not a bad track and a few that could compare with most.

I have to disagree with those who found this CD lacking. I think it's a blast to listen to, from first track to last. It has quickly become a standard item in my car's CD changer. Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson are, obviously, two first-rate, gold-plated country stars...Billy Joe Shaver is absolutely fantastic in both singing and songwriting...and I gotta say I dig Kris Kristofferson's froggy voice. If I could, I'd give this CD more than just 5 stars!!!

This is such a disappointment! I eagerly await new material from Billy Joe Shaver, and so jumped all over this without listening to the clips. My mistake! This CD lacks energy--occassionally lacks listenability. I'll bet they had great fun making the record, but it sure doesn't show. Shaver captures a Texas state of mind, live and usually on CD--check out "Highway of Life" for the real Shaver, or even "Victory." This is, sadly, weighted down with sloppy vocals and uninteresting interpretations and not worth the trouble.

Great Largly unknown CD which includes Billy Joe Shaver. (all titles written by him,) Joined by Willie Nelson,Kris Kristoferson and Waylon Jennings. Issued on Willie Nelson`s own record lable.A geeat memory of good times.Well worth buying . Tony Houlton.

I discovered Billy Joe Shaver back in the 80's and I've loved him ever since. His early recordings are classic and his current recordings maintain a consistently high quality. He is the original "Honky Tonk Hero", a Texas legend and rightly praised as one of the finest folk poets of the 20th Century.

Yeah, he is that good.

That said, these recordings should never have been resurrected. They were made for Capricorn Records in the 80's just before the company went belly up. This CD comprises the two albums Billy Joe recorded for the company plus both sides of a single and one unreleased recording. In the first album, he takes on the persona of the 80's sensitive singer/songwriter (it doesn't fit and it shows). He sounds as if he is dozing off while recording the album. On the second album, his performances are better but the recording is torpedoed by Billy Joe singing songs by other people. How ridiculous that sounds today! The songs from the single, "Lately I've Been Leaning Toward the Blues" and "I Couldn't Be Me Without You", are a notch or two above the two albums. The unreleased recording "Music City USA" is on a par with the songs from the single.

This is an embarassing CD. It would have been better if these recordings were never unearthed. As historical document, perhaps they are worthwhile to the completist. For me, the only interesting thing about the CD, other than the three songs at the end, was the booklet. It has a couple of photographs of Billy Joe with his then 12-year old son Eddie, who played guitar on some of the songs recorded. At 12, Eddie looked like a miniature version of himself as he looked in his 30's--black jacket, long hair and a permanent pout.