Watch VoirFilms. Billy Joe Shaver is the quintessential country songwriter, but that s just a big word that doesn't do justice to the honest, raw intensity and outpouring of heart and soul in his lyrics. Over 50 artists have recorded his songs, but nobody does it better than Billy Joe, and that s why this show is so important. Recorded on August 14, 1984, Billy Joe holds back nothing. There s the grit, there s the attitude, there s the defiance. But there s also the intimacy, the poetry, the stories.