Outlaw country singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, whose songs included “Honky Tonk Heroes,” “I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train” and “Old Five and Dimers Like Me,” has died. He was 81. His friend Connie Nelson said Shaver died Wednesday in Texas following a stroke. “Another great Texas music icon is gone,” Dan Rather tweeted. Earlier this week, country music legend Jerry Jeff Walker passed away. “Billy Joe Shaver was a bona fide, certified, Lone Star original – a throwback to a far different time,” Rather continued. - story continues below Born in Corsicana, Texas, Shaver was among the original group of outlaw country artists in the early ’70s, penning songs for Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall and Willie Nelson. Shaver’s lyrics reflected his hardscrabble upbringing in Texas, where he lost part of two fingers while working at a lumber mill. He came to Nashville in 1968 and was signed as a writer to Bare’s publishing company. - story continues ...
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