''Long in the Tooth'' is the 23rd and final

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer-songwriter

Billy Joe Shaver Billy Joe Shaver (August 16, 1939 – October 28, 2020) was an American outlaw country singer and songwriter, as well as an actor. Biography Shaver was born in Corsicana, Texas, and raised by his mother, Victory Watson Shaver. Until he was 12 ...

, released in 2014. With 10 newly-written songs, it followed Shaver's previous release after seven years. The album featured guest appearances by

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

, and

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ma ...

. The album was released to favorable reviews. It became Shaver's first album to chart on ''Billboard's'' Top Country Albums and the ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

'', peaking at 19 and 157 respectively.

Recording

Seven years after his previous album ''Everybody's Brother'' was released, singer

Todd Snider Todd Daniel Snider (born October 11, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter whose music incorporates elements of folk, rock, blues, alt country, and funk. Early career Todd Snider was born in Portland, Oregon, but was raised in nearby Beave ...

convinced Shaver to write new material and record a new album. Shaver called

Ray Kennedy Raymond Kennedy (28 July 1951 – 30 November 2021) was an English footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal and Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy played as a forward for Arsenal, and then played as a le ...

and Gary Nicholson to produce the release, consisting entirely of newly written material. Shaver co-wrote the title-track with actor

Paul Gleason Paul Xavier Gleason (May 4, 1939 – May 27, 2006) was an American film and television actor. He was known for his roles on television series such as ''All My Children'' and films such as ''The Breakfast Club'', ''Trading Places'', and ''Die ...

. Shaver defined the tracks and finished the writing while recording in the studio, completing previous ideas and selecting from his newly written work the ten tracks. Tracks of the album featured guest appearances.

contributed to background vocals in "Hard To Be An Outlaw", while his harmonicist,

Mickey Raphael Michael Siegfried "Mickey" Raphael (born November 7, 1951) is an American harmonica player, music producer and actor best known for his work with Willie Nelson, with whom he has toured as part of The Family since 1973. He has performed or reco ...

played throughout the album.

played piano in "Last Call For Alcohol" and

played guitar in the title-track. Before the release of ''Long In The Tooth'', Nelson recorded and released "The Git Go" and "Hard To Be An Outlaw" in his country chart topper '' Band of Brothers''.

Release

On May 22, 2014, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' premiered the single-duet with Willie Nelson "Hard To Be An Outlaw". The album was released on August 5, 2014 by Lightning Rod Records. After a 41-year career, ''Long in the Tooth'' became Billy Joe Shaver's first album to chart in ''

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

, entering the chart at 19. The album also entered the ''

'', peaking at 157.

Critical reception

According to the aggregate scores website ''

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

'', the album opened to "generally favorable reviews", based on eight reviews. ''

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' rated the album with four stars out of five, declaring: "Here's Shaver the irascible honky-tonk hero, older but no less ornery". ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' rated it with four stars out of five, noting that ''Long in the Tooth'' offers "a masterclass in redneck storytelling". ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' rated it with seven points out of ten. The review remarked the weakening of Shaver's voice, but called it "a wonderful, expressive instrument", stating that Shaver "delivers (the words) with pizzazz". Meanwhile, ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' declared Shaver's voice "perfectly suited for this material", while it called the album a "short but terrific ten track set", rating it with three-and-a-half stars out of five. ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' also commented on Shaver's voice, and stated that "(it) has worn to a deep, rough rasp". The review emphatizised his songwriting, calling it "strong and as vital and world-weary wise as ever". Rating it with three stars out of five, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' declared: "Sometimes ornery, sometimes tender, this is how honky-tonk heroes grow old". ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' opined that the release was "arguably (Shaver's) most fully realized album in a 50-plus-year career". Meanwhile, ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' rated it with eight points out of ten, calling it "a haunting, burning, world-weary tour de force on the ways of the world".

Track listing

Personnel

* Shawn Camp - background vocals * Chris Carmichael -

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying B ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

Stuart Duncan Stuart Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band. He ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

Larry Franklin The Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal involved Lawrence Franklin passing classified documents regarding United States policy towards Iran to Israel. Franklin, a former United States Department of Defense employee, pleaded guilty to several espi ...

- fiddle * Joel Guzman -

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

Jedd Hughes Jedd Hughes (born in Quorn, Australia) is an Australian singer, songwriter, session musician, and record producer. Early life Hughes grew up in Quorn, where he grew up listening to his father's country records. He won a local country music co ...

- acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

- tremolo guitar,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

Siobhan Kennedy Siobhan Maher Kennedy (born 11 January 1964) is an English singer and songwriter. She was the lead vocalist of the Liverpool-based band River City People during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band released two albums, '' Say Something Good'' ...

- background vocals *

- duet vocals on "Hard to Be an Outlaw" * Gary Nicholson - acoustic guitar *

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, jews harp *

Jon Randall Jon Randall Stewart (born February 17, 1969) is an American producer, songwriter, and musician. His career began as a guitarist for Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers with whom he won his first Grammy for their ''Live at the Ryman'' album in 1992. B ...

- background vocals * Michael Rhodes -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Hargus "Pig" Robbins Hargus Melvin Robbins (January 18, 1938 – January 30, 2022), known by his nickname "Pig," was an American session keyboard player. Having played on records for many artists, including John Stewart, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Patti Page, Lore ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

- piano on "Last Call for Alcohol" *

- lead vocals * Travis Toy -

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

- electric guitar and background vocals on "Long in the Tooth" * Lynn Williams -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Billy Joe Shaver albums Lightning Rod Records albums