Comments on Setting The Woods On Fire: The Original Honky Tonk Hero

my vote for best version of old five and dimers go...

2008-06-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

my vote for best version of old five and dimers goes to jerry jeff. i still love billy joe shaver, he wrote the theme to the cartoon squidbillies which can be seen on the cartoon network late at night.

thanks so much for posting this. i'm sold...

2008-06-24T09:57:00.000-04:00

thanks so much for posting this. i'm sold...

You mean I could've looked at the liner notes this...

2008-06-20T13:34:00.000-04:00

You mean I could've looked at the liner notes this whole time?!?! Sheesh. I'll join you in the doofus line.

Schutt is the guy standing behind the bar. Says s...

2008-06-20T12:58:00.000-04:00

Schutt is the guy standing behind the bar. Says so in the original liner notes. So you're right.

I feel like a doofus. When I went back and looked at the picture I got the feeling I had the wrong guy all along.

I stand slightly corrected. One of the guys on th...

2008-06-20T12:12:00.000-04:00

I stand slightly corrected. One of the guys on the cover is Roger "Captain Midnight" Schutt, famed late-night country DJ on Nashville's WKDA. Unfortunately, I can't locate a picture of him, so I can't confirm which one of these dudes is him. Since Waylon is surrounded by other bandmates ... including the great Ralph Mooney, his steel player, to our far right ... I suspect that Captain Midnight is the squirrelly lookin dude in the back. But that's just a guess.

Billy Joe is second from left, in the cowboy hat a...

2008-06-20T11:46:00.000-04:00

Billy Joe is second from left, in the cowboy hat and to Waylon's immediate right. Not sure who the other guys are by name, but they're obviously The Waylors. To the intertubes!

You know Bob, to tell you the truth I really don't...

2008-06-19T23:11:00.000-04:00

You know Bob, to tell you the truth I really don't know for sure. When I first bought the album a long time ago I just assumed it was Billy Joe Shaver (based on the way they're all looking at him), so in my head that circled guy has always been Billy Joe Shaver.

But I'm definitely not a detail guy and I make a TON of assumptions (two things that have gotten me into trouble on the blog and at work), so who the hell knows? Maybe I've been wrong all these years? That would be kind of embarassing.

It's not like I ever took a close look. And as I mentioned before I don't have a fact-checker here.

A little help...?

Who is the guy circled in orange?

2008-06-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

Who is the guy circled in orange?

HA! No. But some dude in a Waco honky-tonk found...

2008-06-19T15:12:00.000-04:00

HA! No. But some dude in a Waco honky-tonk found out the hard way a few years ago. Here's a site that talks about the Billy Joe Shaver shooting.

LD do you speak from experience?

2008-06-19T15:08:00.000-04:00

LD do you speak from experience?

Great stuff. Having had the pleasure to meet Bill...

2008-06-19T10:56:00.000-04:00

Great stuff. Having had the pleasure to meet Billy Joe on several occasions, I can say with authority that you'll rarely meet a nicer, more accommodating personality. Just don't piss him off while you or he are drunk. He'll get outlaw country on your ass in a heartbeat. HA!

You just made my world a better place....thank you...

2008-06-18T18:43:00.000-04:00

You just made my world a better place....thank you.

Great post Paul and, like the comparison with Elvi...

2008-06-18T10:42:00.000-04:00

Great post Paul and, like the comparison with Elvis Costello's Almost Blue with the originals I have never before tried a Billy Joe Shaver original 'Honky Tonk Heroes' before. I've always previously compared 'Honky Tonk Heroes' with 'Old Five And Dimers' and have always found it a very tough call as I love both versions of these great songs. If I was pushed I'd say I probably prefer Billy Joe Shaver's 'Willy The Wandering Gipsy' over Waylon's.
I love his grit and sawdust delivery and think it really suits this affectionate ode to Willie. Not that Waylon puts a foot wrong of course and 'Honky Tonk Heroes' has one of the top 10 country songs of all time in 'We Had It All' so it's a high scoring draw for me overall. And that's coming from someone who had Billy Joe number 1 in my recent top 10. So it's no surprise that I will second your advice to go out now and buy all Billy Joe Shaver has offer. Would probably, like you say, start with 'Old Five And Dimers' or 'Tramp On Your Street' but recently I've been really enjoying 'Freedom's Child', which has really grown on me. Great stuff.