David Allan Coe
David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter.[2] Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly in the blues style, before transitioning to country music, becoming a major part of the 1970s outlaw country scene. His biggest hits include "You Never Even Called Me by My Name", "Longhaired Redneck", "The Ride", "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile", and "She Used to Love Me a Lot".
David Allan Coe
September 6, 1939 (age 84)
Akron, Ohio, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
- musician
- Vocals
- electric guitar
- acoustic guitar
1967–present
- Columbia
- Plantation
- Top Dog[1]
His most popular songs performed by others are the number-one hits "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)" sung by Tanya Tucker and Johnny Paycheck's rendition of "Take This Job and Shove It". The latter inspired the movie of the same name. Coe's rebellious attitude, wild image, and unconventional lifestyle set him apart from other country performers, both winning him legions of fans and hindering his mainstream success by alienating the music industry establishment. Coe continues to be a popular performer on the country music circuit.
Biography[edit]
Coe was born in Akron, Ohio,[3] on September 6, 1939.[4] His favorite singer as a child was Johnny Ace.[5] After being sent to the Starr Commonwealth For Boys reform school at the age of nine, he spent much of the next two decades in correctional facilities, including three years at the Ohio Penitentiary. Coe said he received encouragement to begin writing songs from Screamin' Jay Hawkins, with whom he had spent time in prison.[6]
After concluding another prison term in 1967, Coe embarked on a music career in Nashville, living in a hearse which he parked in front of the Ryman Auditorium while he performed on the street. He caught the attention of Shelby Singleton, owner of the independent record label Plantation Records and signed a contract with his label.[3] Coe is a retired member of the Louisville, Kentucky, chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.[7][8]
He is the father of Tyler Mahan Coe, the creator of the Cocaine & Rhinestones podcast, which chronicles the history of country music.[9]
According to news sources, he owes over $300,000 in child support.[10]
Music career[edit]
Early career (1970–1975)[edit]
Early in 1970, Coe released his debut album, Penitentiary Blues, followed by a tour with Grand Funk Railroad.[3] In October 1971, he signed as an exclusive writer with Pete and Rose Drake's publishing company Windows Publishing Company, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1977. Although he developed a cult following with his performances, he was not able to develop any mainstream success, but other performers achieved charting success by recording songs Coe had written, including Billie Jo Spears' 1972 recordings "Souvenirs & California Mem'rys" and Tanya Tucker's 1973 single "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)", which was a No. 1 hit and responsible for Coe becoming one of Nashville's hottest songwriters and Coe himself being signed by Columbia Records.[3] Coe recorded his own version of the song for his second Columbia album, Once Upon a Rhyme, released in 1975.[11] AllMusic writer Thom Jurek said of the song, "The amazing thing is that both versions are definitive."[11]
Unlike Coe's first two albums, his third showed full commitment to country music, and Coe would play a part in the evolution of what would become known as outlaw country. The title of Coe's third album, The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, refers to the gimmick Coe adopted several years before Glen Campbell had a hit with the song "Rhinestone Cowboy": dressing up in a rhinestone suit and wearing a Lone Ranger mask. The singer later recalled to Michael Buffalo Smith in 2004, "I guess I have to blame it on Mel Tillis. I met him when I first went to Nashville and he had an office down on Music Row. I was over there talking to him in his office, and he opened up the closet to get something and he had a whole closet full of rhinestone suits. I just freaked out on that. He looked at me and said 'You like that shit, I don't even wear those, if you want 'em take 'em!' He gave me those rhinestone suits and I wore them everywhere."[12] Coe maintained the idea for the mask came from his father:
Musical style[edit]
Coe's musical style derives from blues, rock, and country music traditions.[3][37] His vocal style is described as a 'throaty baritone'.[37] His lyrical content is often humorous or comedic, with William Ruhlmann describing him as a 'near-parody of a country singer'.[38] Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes Coe as "a great, unashamed country singer, singing the purest honky-tonk and hardest country of his era […] he may not be the most original outlaw, but there is none more outlaw than him".[39]
Coe's lyrics frequently include references to alcohol and drug use, and are often boisterous and cocky.[28] Coe's debut album Penitentiary Blues was described as "voodoo blues" and "redneck music" by Allmusic's Thom Jurek.[40] It focused on themes such as working for the first time, blood tests from veins used to inject heroin, prison time, hoodoo imagery, and death.[40] The album's influences included Charlie Rich, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Tony Joe White.[40] Coe later explained to Kristofer Engelhardt of Review: "I didn't really care for some of the country music until people like Kris Kristofferson and some of those people started writing songs. They had a little more to say than just, 'Oh baby I miss you', or whatever. I don't do anything halfway. Once I got into country music, I went back and researched it, and learned everything there was to know about it. I could do impersonations of Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Marty Robbins, just about anybody. I knew just about all there was to know about country music."[14]
Coe's first country album, The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, has been described as alt-country, 'pre-punk' and "a hillbilly version of Marc Bolan's glitz and glitter".[13] Credited influences on the album include Merle Haggard.[13] In his early career, Coe was known for his unpredictable live performances, in which he would ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle onto the stage and curse at his audience.[3] Coe has also performed in a rhinestone suit and a mask which resembled that of the Lone Ranger, calling himself the 'Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy'.[3]
Despite accusations of racism for the content of some of his song lyrics, Coe's psychedelic concept album Requiem for a Harlequin (1970), saw Coe "honoring the birth of soul music, ranting against the KKK, and commiserating with other children of the 'concrete jungle'" in what Phoenix New Times described as "Coe's Black Panther audition tape" and a "stab at radical chic",[41] and his later album Rebel Meets Rebel featured a song, "Cherokee Cry", which criticizes the United States government's treatment of Native Americans.[28] When asked why he did not write more political songs, Coe replied, "I live in my own world, not thee world. I just write songs about what affects me in everyday life. At one point I wrote a song that was sort of a protest about when they were talking about drafting women into the military. It was about my son making it past the draft, but my daughter didn't. And I've done Farm Aid."[14]
In his review of Coe's 1987 album A Matter of Life...and Death, Allmusic's Thom Jurek wrote, "Coe may have had some hits, but it is records like this that make one wonder if there was not a conspiracy to marginalize him and make him fail. Coe is a brilliant songwriter well into the 21st century, and deserves to be lauded along with the likes of [Willie] Nelson and [Waylon] Jennings and Kristofferson and Newbury – and even Cash."[13]
