bjsbash

It's not often that regular run-of-the-mill OKOM fans get the chance to celebrate a birthday with a living legend like Billy Joe Shaver. But on August 17, 2001, one day after Billy Joe's 62nd birthday, die-hard Billy Joe fans from many regions of the United States made the trek to Dallas to do just that.

The fans of Billy Joe Shaver that belong to his Yahoo Group listserve decided some months ago that they wanted to make Billy Joe's birthday a special one this year. They put their creative heads together and planned a birthday bash. The idea of creating a scrapbook with memorabilia donated by his fans was born, and Dana Jones graciously offered to do the legwork of getting the books and materials and putting them together.

Since Billy Joe was scheduled to play Poor David's Pub in Dallas the day after his birthday, the group started planning the party for August 17th. Dana coordinated the entire event sourcing hotels close to the pub, helping others with their travel itineraries, ordering a huge and really cool birthday cake for BJ (with a picture of him on the top). Freddie Oakley sprung for a hospitality suite to use for a gathering place and people started planning their trip to Dallas. For months they mailed pictures, letters, CD covers, posters, and all kinds of Shaver mementos to Dana for the book.

One book suddenly evolved into two, and the first one had a complete section from Australia and other parts of the world. Dana used stickers and various background pages in creating the pages, and she did a beautiful job. Everyone enjoyed looking through them at the suite, and many pictures of the books were taken. Unfortunately, I didn't take any but I do have lots of pictures on another page.

Friday afternoon during the lunch hour, Billy Joe did a live show for KERA Radio at Half Price Books. He sang to a packed house. He told stories of what his inspirations were behind some of the songs he sang, joked with the band, joked with Abby of KERA and stayed long after the one hour show to visit with fans and sign autographs. After the show, people began trickling into the hotel that would soon become the BJS Fan Headquarters for the rest of the weekend. After the hotel staff finally gave us the room key to the suite, we all converged upstairs to meet and greet each other. Appetizers and beer/soft drinks were served as everyone visited, looked at the books (all the while cameras are going off everywhere) and planned their evening with BJS. We were all getting very excited that it was finally here, and we were all together to enjoy an awesome night of music and birthday celebration.

I don't think anyone was disappointed with the outcome. Poor David's was standing room only (and barely that if you ask me) and people were getting anxious for the great Billy Joe Shaver to be on stage. Christine Albert and Chris Gage opened, and I couldn't have been happier because I think they're great! They put on a great set, and I hope to get their new CD that is coming out soon.

Finally it was time for Billy Joe to take the stage. I didn't keep any notes, I didn't write down the set list; I wasn't even planning on doing a review of the show at the time. But because I had such an awesome time, I just felt like writing about it, dammit! Suffice it to say that Billy Joe performed enough of his songs that I can't think of a really popular one he missed.

I don't think I've ever seen him smile so much. I think he was as excited as we were! He sang and sang and sang one song after another without taking a break. He did every song the audience requested and more. He would ask the band if they wanted to take a break and he jokingly said he would sing "Alcupulco", meaning acapella. But the band never left him except to grab another drink, then they were back on stage waiting to see what Billy Joe's next move would be. He was all over the stage making eye contact with different fans in the crowd, talking to some every now and then and just seemed to be having a wonderful time up there on stage, as we were out in the audience. His band was awesome.

Of course, everyone already knows about Jesse "Guitar" Taylor, but Bob Brown was the big surprise of the night. Is there an instrument that man can't play? He played the guitar, mandolin, harmonica, keyboard and fiddle that night. It was only the drummer's second night to play with them, and he did a great job. Before we knew it, the show was ending, but not without a couple of encore songs. I don't think there was a disappointed person in the club that night. I know our group had the time of their lives!

The next day we all gathered in the hospitality suite to visit and eat and drink. My seven layer dip was such a hit the first day that I decided to make another one on Saturday. As I was preparing this dish, in walks Billy Joe Shaver and some of his friends. Now that created some commotion, let me tell you! Billy Joe sat and visited with every one of us, signed whatever we wanted signed, took pictures with us and treated us like old friends. He is truly one of the most down-to-earth people I think I've ever met. He acted like he was really interested in what we had to say and that he was really glad to have so many fans that cared that much about him. I think his words were something like, "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." That was a highlight! But the highlight of the weekend for me was getting my five minutes with Billy Joe one-on-one. And I was able to share a very, very special weekend with old and new friends. I'll never forget it as long as I live.

Thanks, Dana & Andy, Freddie, Sully & Christene, Cathy & Steve, Pat, Pearl, Bevy, Linda, Barbara, Jim & Peggy, Rhonda, Tina, Don, and all who were there to help us make Billy Joe's birthday a memorable one for all.

Happy Trails,

Miss Lana

August 22, 2001