David Allan Coe

At 84 years old, David Allan Coe has this physical status:

David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer.

His biggest hits were "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile", "The Ride", "You Never Even Called Me by My Name", "She Used to Love Me a Lot", and "Longhaired Redneck".

His most popular songs are the number-one hits "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)" and "Take This Job and Shove It".

The latter inspired the movie of the same name.

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Music career

Coe's debut album, Penitentiary Blues, was released in 1970, followed by a tour with Grand Funk Railroad. In October 1971, he joined Pete and Rose Drake's publishing company, Windows Publishing Company, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1977. Despite the fact that he spawned a following following through his appearances, some artists, including Billie Jo Spears' 1972 album "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). Coe became one of Nashville's top songwriters, and Coe himself has been signed by Columbia Records. For his second Columbia album, Once Upon a Rhyme, which was released in 1975, Coe produced his own version of the song. "The amazing thing is that both versions are definitive," AllMusic's Thom Jurek wrote about the album.

Unlike Coe's first two albums, his third showed a complete dedication to country music, and Coe will play a part in the development of what would be described as outlaw country. The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, Coe's third album, refers to the gimmick Coe's birth in a ten-year absence: dressing up in a rhinestone cowboy and wearing a Lone Ranger mask. "I guess I have to blame it on Mel Tillis," the singer later recalled to Michael Buffalo Smith in 2004. When I first went to Nashville, I discovered he had a Music Row office. 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 was just freaked out over it. "You like the shit, I don't even wear those if you want to take 'em!' These rhinestone jackets were given to me by him, and I wore them everywhere." Coe inherited the mask from his father: it was a joke.

Coe's sophomore album Once Upon a Rhyme features one of his most popular songs, "You Never Even Called Me by My Name," written by Steve Goodman and John Prine and released on Goodman's 1971 debut. Coe's version became the first country Top ten hit single, peaking at No. 1 for five weeks. Coe's correspondence with Goodman, who said the song he had written was the 'perfect country and western song,' was included in 8.8 in 1975, as well as a spoken epilogue in which Coe addresses a correspondence with the artist.' No song could be described as a laundry list of clichés, including "mama, or buses, or jail, or getting drunk," Coe wrote back. Goodman's similarly dismissive reaction was a new verse that met all five of Coe's requirements, and upon receiving it, Coe acknowledged that the completed product was indeed the 'perfect country and western song,' with a new verse on the record: 'Perfect country and western song.'

In Heartworn Highways, James Szalapski's 1975 documentary film, Coe was a featured performer. Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, Steve Young, Steve Earle, and the Charlie Daniels Band were among the performers on display. On the album that appeared on Cash's 1975 album John R. Cash, Coe wrote "Cocaine Carolina" for Johnny Cash and sang background vocals.

The outlaw country movement was in full swing by 1976, with musicians such as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson finally gaining burgeoning sales after years of trying to record their own way. Coe, on the other hand, was still a little outsider, almost to outlaw for the outlaws, a predicament that was well represented by AllMusic:

Longhaired Redneck was Coe's third album for Columbia in three years, and the first where he wrote or co-wrote all of the songs; the outlaw country zeitgeist stayed up high in the title track, which describes playing in a dive "where bikers are laughing at cowboys who are screaming at the hippies who are wishing they'll get out of here alive." Coe's superb imitations of Ernest Tubb, Bill Anderson, and Merle Haggard make it irretrievably country as well, exposing the misogyny of 'prosecute' country music, which has a distinct sense of urgency. "It was words that I'd made up at the time," Coe later explained. I was trying to tell people that not everybody with long hair was a hippie. Not everyone was the kind of person who expected you to punch them out, take their money, and then say, 'I won't do nothin' about it.'

The outlaw movement was nearing its peak in 1977, with Willie Nelson's blockbuster album Red Headed Stranger and country music's first platinum selling album, Wanted! The Outlaws were enforcing. Coe regarded himself as integral in the development of the outlaw country style, and he began doing so in his music. "On Rides Again," Coe's review of the album "On Rides Again" by making a conscious outlaw record and aligning himself with the movement's two progenitors, "Willie, Waylon, and Me"...Coe has already set up self-parody unintentionally, something that has continued to chastise him. The songs on Rides Again cross-fade were without the usual silences between tracks, which was rare for country music, and Coe's heavily phased guitar. Coe was also allowed to use his own band on several tracks, a major departure for Columbia at the time. However, some of Coe's followers protested his membership in such prestigious company and believed he was exploiting his fellow outlaws. Coe was described as a "great, brilliant songwriter" by Jennings drummer Richie Albright. A great performer. But he could not tell the truth if it was better than a lie he'd made up. Waylon didn't make him comfortable enough to stick around. Willie did not get it right, but Willie did. I was around Willie a long time, and David Allan was with him eighty percent of the time. Willie permitted him to hang around." Despite Jennings and Nelson's chilly treatment of him at times, Coe managed to maintain friendships. Jennings quotes Coe once (in a chapter titled "The Outlaw Shit"), naming him "the most sincere of the bunch" of bandwagon jumpers, but insists "the worst thing he ever did was double-parking on Music Row" as outlawed."

Coe released a number of good records over the course of the decade, some of which, such as Human Emotions (1978) and Spectrum VII (1979), were concept albums on each side of the discs based on their own theme. Coe's 1978's Family Album features Coe's interpretation of "Take This Job and Shove It," a song he wrote and that had been released by Johnny Paycheck in October 1977, which has become a major hit. The album is a first person account of a man who has worked for fifteen years with no apparent appreciation, and it has sparked a lot of interest in the community, even inspired a 1981 film of the same name. Despite Coe's name, the assumption by many was that Paycheck, a well-known songwriter, produced the tune; this could contribute to Coe's increasing dissatisfaction with the industry as another one of his peers rose in success. Coe was further disenchanted when pop star Jimmy Buffett accused him of plagiarising his hit "Changes in Attitudes and Changes in Attitudes" for Coe's "Divers Do It Deeper" in Latitudes. (Coe's music was already incorporating Caribbean sounds, as shown on his 1979 album Compass Point.) Billy Sherrill and Coe began to reach a larger audience and bring Coe back to the top of the charts by inviting other singers and musicians to participate in the sessions for what would become "I've Got Something to Say," which would feature contributions from Guy Clark, Bill Anderson, Dickey Betts (from The Allman Brothers Band), Kris Kristofferson, Larry Jones, and George Jones. This process was carried out year on Invictus (Means) Unconquered, with Sherrill couching the songs in a lighthearted manner that placed the spotlight squarely on Coe's voice. Thom Jurek referred to it as "arguably the finest album of his career" in his AllMusic review.

The outlaw country movement faded by 1981, when the slicker 'urban cowboy' era of country music, typified by Johnny Lee's song "Lookin' for Love" was used as an example of 'watered-down cowboy music,' according to critic Kurt Wolff. Coe was a leading figure in the outlaw country genre, but the listener of his recordings from this time indicates he had no intention in the new urban cowboy movement. Coe stuck to what he knew and sharpened the edges, refusing to give into the flavor-of-the-month generic country that's 'talent.' Nonetheless, although scoring some minor hits, mainstream success remained elusive. "Get a Little Dirt on Your Hands," Coe's top-charging single during this period, debuted at No. 1 in a duet with Bill Anderson, which peaked at No. 141. The 45th anniversary of the United States' Independence was celebrated. Coe's 1982 album D.A.C. As if aware of the compromises he had made, he decided to put a halt to his 1982 opus, D.A.C. A short prologue was included in a series of three songs, including a short prologue.

Castles in the Sand would be a big comeback for Coe, peaking at No. 10. His best showing since When Upon a Rhyme reached the same level eight years ago, he ranked 8 on the country albums chart. "The Ride" was the lead single from the album and debuted at No. 1, prompting its success. On the June 4 Cashbox Country Singles Chart, 1 is No. 1 on the Cashbox Country Singles Chart. It took 19 weeks on the Billboard country singles charts to reach a record of No. 82. When it comes to No. 4, we are in the No. 1st. 2 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. The ballad relates to a ride from Montgomery, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, as the narrator's encounter with Hank Williams, Sr.'s ghost. The narrator wonders whether he has the musical ability and dedication to become a celebrity in the country music market, and he looks like 1950, half sober, and hollow.' The songs on the album's lyrics place the events on Route 31 or the largely parallel Interstate 65. Castles in the Sand, which had been boost by the single, became the mainstream breakthrough that Coe and producer Billy Sherrill had been waiting for since the decade began. "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile," Coe's second biggest chart hit, debuts on the radio in 1984, debuts at No. 2. The Billboard country singles chart and No. 2 are the two most popular charts on the Billboard. 3 on Cashbox. It reaches No. 1 in Canada. On the RPM Country Tracks charts, one of the top 100 dated back to June 30, 1984. The album is a mid-tempo ballad about a teenage blonde girl, with allusions to the legendary Da Vinci painting. The song features one of producer Billy Sherrill's most complex creations, with one commentator remarking, 'The layered strings and organ work are slick, but they add so much warmth and texture to Coe's voice that it's aweful.' A father in another track, "Missin' the Kid," finds a father mourning the death of his daughter, who now lives with his estranged ex-wife. Coe's performance is a dazzling vocal that reveals a sense of numbrance, shame, and profound sadness that comes with a broken family. "I can't believe, even after all these years I still miss you," the narrator wonders what his wife will tell their daughter when she asks about him, and then confirms: "I still can't believe."

Writer Thom Jurek writes about the album's AllMusic review:

"She Used to Love Me a Lot" was first published in December 1984 and peaked at No. 1 in the United States. Both the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart are ranked 11. (A Johnny Cash version was released in the early 1980s, but it wasn't released until 2014.) The song suggests a chance meeting between two former lovers at 'the Silver Spoon Café,' but the woman dismisses him in the same cavalier way she did years. Dennis Morgan, Charles Quillen, and Kye Fleming wrote the book as Coe, although he continued to write of excellent quality, but it was dependent on outside writers to get it into the charts. Nelson, Jennings, and Jessie Colter's contributions to Son of the South were included in the 1986 edition Son of the South. In 1987, his final recording for Columbia, The Concept Album A Matter of Life...and Death, was released.

Coe reissued his solo albums Nothing Sacred and Underground on compact disc, as well as the compilation of 18 X-Rated Hits in 1990. Coe made a name for herself as a concert performer in the United States and Europe during the 1990s. Coe met Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell in Fort Worth, Texas, and the two musicians, struck by the similarity of the two styles, decided to collaborate together and started recording on an album. In 2000, Coe appeared as the opening act for Kid Rock, and The New York Times published an essay by journalist Neil Strauss, who characterized the Nothing Sacred and Underground Album as "among the most racist, misogynist, homophobic, and obscene songs recorded by a popular songwriter." Coe claims he wrote to Strauss at the time of the essay, but the journalist did not mention that the two people existed, but only said that Coe's boss refused to talk on the record.

Coe wrote "Single Father," a kid rock song, which debuted on Kid Rock's self-titled album, in 2003, when it debuted as a single on Billboard's Billboard Country Singles chart, peaking at number one on the Billboard Country Singles chart. Rebel Meets Rebel, with Dimebag Darrell, Vinnie Paul, and Rex Brown, who were active between 1999 and 2003, was released in 2006, two years after Darrell's assassination. It was described as a "groundbreaking" country metal album by AllMusic.

Johnny Cash is introduced as the Man in Black in Coe's 2006 film "God's Gonna Cut You Down." The video, directed by Tony Kaye, was released in connection with Cash's promotion of the song in American V: A Hundred Highways.

On the album Baptized in Bourbon by the Moonshine Bandits, he was featured singing "Take This Job" in 2017. In the video, he also sings.

Coe's reputation was put into doubt after he said he had spent time on death row for killing an inmate who attempted to murder him, but not murder. Despite criticisms such as these, Coe maintained that he was integral to the outlaw country movement's name, despite the fact that it was first published in 2003.

Also though it kept him off country playlists and award shows, Coe was uncompromising when it came to his lifestyle and language. For example, "The Home We've Been Calling Home" from the 1977 album Rides Again explores polygamy ('me and my wives have been living in a house we've been calling "(I'll Kiss Your Ass)), while Coe's final cut on the album, "If That Ain't Country (I'll Kiss Your Ass), explores the word 'workin' like a nigger for my room and board). The song depicts a picture of a Texas family that verges on caricature, with the narrator referring to his tattooed father as'veteran proud' and naming his oldest sister as a "first-rate whore." Coe was further alienated from the country mainstream and triggered allegations that he was a bigote, a charge he denied vehemently.

In 2004 he remarked:

The 1984 cover of Son of the South, which featured Coe holding a baby with a Confederate flag draped over his shoulders, angered many business insiders, although Coe did print a note on the back of the album to discourage any potential backlash:

In another interview, Coe said, "anyone who would look at me and say I was a bigote would have to be out of their mind." I have dreadlocks down to my waist in both ears, and my beard is down to my waist and braided...I was in jail with 87% black people, I hung around with black people, and I learned to sing with black people. In prison, the white guys called me a "nigger lover," and now I write the word 'nigger" in a poem, and I am now a racist. It's kind of ironic."

Shel Silverstein performed his comedy album Freakin' at the Freakers Ball for Coe, triggering him to perform his own comedic songs for Silverstein, which culminated in the development of Nothing Sacred, a privately released thing. "I would have sued him but I didn't want to give Coe the pleasure of having his name in the paper," Jimmy Buffett accused Coe of plagiarizing "Divers Do It Deeper" from Buffett's "Changes in Attitudes." Coe wrote a song insulting Buffett's career, but it appeared on Nothing Sacred in reaction. The album was released by mail order in 1978 by mail order, as shown by the bicycle magazine Easyriders' back pages.

"Jimmy Buffett does not live in Key West anymore," a lyric from a Coe song Spectrum VII contained a note. The album's songs are profane, often sexually explicit, and they include an orgy in Centennial Park and sex with pornographic film actress Linda Lovelace. Anita Bryant, a singer known for her strong opposition to LGBT rights, appears on the album, as well as her attempt to repeal a gay discrimination ban in Miami-Dade County. Coe calls out Bryant for her anti-gay lifestyles [sic] in the song, arguing that "In fact, Anita Bryant, some act just like you."

"Unigger Fucker," Coe's second independent album, was released in 1982. The sexually explicit song, written from the perspective of a man whose lover left him for an African American man, has led to Coe being accused of bigotry in Coe. Primarily because of this album, the material attributed to Coe by singer and white supremacist Johnny Rebel has also been incorrectly assigned to Coe. (Rebel, whose true name is Clifford Joseph Trahan, died in 2016.) AllMusic, which did not review Underground Album, gave it three out of five stars. "Anyone who listens this album and says they'm a bigote," Coe replied to the allegations. Kerry Brown, Coe's drummer, is black and married to a white woman. Brown, the son of legendary blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, is the son of renowned blues musician Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. When asked about Coe's X-rated albums, Brown said, "David Allan Coe was controversial." Some of the songs are actually out of place. But it's mine. You will be tense as you live in the David Allan Coe world.

Coe has fought the IRS for his publishing rights to his books, including "Take This Job and Shove It," like Willie Nelson and Jerry Lee Lewis.

He stated in 2003:

"All the songs on the X-rated albums were sold," Coe said in another interview. I no longer own that stuff. I have nothing to do with this stuff. They have to give me credit as the songwriter, but I don't make a single penny."

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