David Allan Coe leaves behind a complex legacy crowded by his abrasive, colorful and controversial personality.
He was a formative player in the outlaw country movement in the 1970s, though he often butted heads with some of its largest-looming figures. Waylon Jennings wrote in his autobiography, Waylon, that Coe implied in interviews that he, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson had “sold out” their outlaw image. Coe and Jennings even had a near-physical confrontation over the matter.
Still, Jennings wrote, “He could drive me crazy, but there was something about David that pulled at my heartstrings.”
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No wonder. In songs like “Long Haired Redneck” and “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” Coe deftly critiqued both Nashville’s power structure and the sociopolitical divide between the “rednecks” and “hippies” often pictured on opposite sides of barrooms and honky tonks in the ’70s. Few other artists criticized country music’s hypocrisies more aptly or consistently (or harshly) in their career.
David Allan Coe’s racism and homophobia was undeniable and inexcusable. Both came out especially starkly in lyrics off his 1978 Nothing Sacred and 1982 Underground Album projects. He brushed it off as “bike humor” and tried to refute the racism accusations by stating that he worked with a Black drummer, but Coe never came to terms with the harmful rhetoric he espoused in his songs.
At the same time, it’s impossible to overlook Coe’s imprint in country music. He wrote Tanya Tucker‘s 1973 hit “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” and Johnny Paycheck‘s 1977 worker’s anthem “Take This Job and Shove It.” He also conjured up an enduring piece of country music mythology in his ghost story song about Hank Williams, “The Ride.”
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And his legacy continues to inspire a new generation of country music artists who seek to subvert country music’s traditions and institutions.
For better and for worse, David Allan Coe’s career is an undeniable piece of the country music story. Keep reading as Taste of Country counts down his 10 best songs.
No. 10: “Tennessee Whiskey”
Did you know that David Allan Coe was the first artist to cut the now-classic country song written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove? That’s right: In the early ’80s, Coe recorded a version for his album of the same title. That’s three and a half decades before Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake famously sang “Tennessee Whiskey” at the CMA Awards, relaunching the song’s popularity and Stapleton’s stardom in the process.
No. 9: “If That Ain’t Country”
This song, like much of David Allan Coe’s catalog, is a complicated mix of tender and prickly. It’s an ode to his father, whom Coe remembers in the lyrics with some fondness and nostalgia. But more than that, it’s about a tough, hardscrabble childhood: Growing up desperately poor, with a dad who “got drunk and mean as a rattlesnake” and a mother who got “old far beyond her time” as she watched her oldest daughter get kicked out of the house and her oldest son get shipped off to war. It’s a starkly painted picture of poverty and pain. But more than anything, as Coe sings, “If that ain’t country, I’ll kiss your a–.“
No. 8: “Time Off For Bad Behavior”
David Allan Coe’s “Time Off For Bad Behavior” is a standard of his live set and a rollicking fan-favorite. It also includes what Coe describes in the live recording as “one of the coolest lines I ever wrote in my life”: “I’ve been sayin’ ‘Yes sir’ all day at work / I’ve been sayin’ ‘Yes, ma’am’ at home / I’ve been storin’ up the ‘f–k you’s, keepin’ ’em under my tongue.”
No. 7: “Take This Job and Shove It”
David Allan Coe was the sole writer on “Take This Job and Shove It,” and he released it in 1977, months before Johnny Paycheck released his version and brought the song to popularity as a classic country worker’s anthem.
No. 6: “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile”
This Texas-flavored heartbreak song was one of David Allan Coe’s biggest hits: It peaked at No. 2 following its release to country radio in 1984. With lush strings, art metaphors and open-hearted message of heartbreak, it’s one of the least acerbic of Coe’s best-known songs.
No. 5: “Willie, Waylon and Me”
One of several songs in which David Allan Coe refers to himself in the third person, “Willie, Waylon and Me” was particularly autobiographical. It describes the exciting, multi-genre evolution of music that was taking place in the 1970s, where longtime norms were being broken and everything seemed possible. The outlaws were right there in the mix: Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and David Allan Coe.
No. 4: “Please Come To Boston”
For people mostly familiar with Coe’s rugged outlaw reputation, an easy listening pop chart-topper might seem like a strange choice for him to record. But David Allan Coe’s 1974 cover of Kenny Loggins’ “Please Come to Boston” became one of the most notable renditions of the original, and is a reminder that Coe’s artistry consistently delivers surprising twists and turns.
No. 3: “Longhaired Redneck”
In the mid-’70s, rural and conservative rednecks emerged in opposition to their counterculture counterparts, the hippies. The two groups’ political divides often put them at odds, and several country songs of the time painted a picture of contentious run-ins at bars and concerts. But David Allan Coe’s “Longhaired Redneck,” co-written with Texas DJ Jimmy Rabbitt, muddies up those divides and flashes Coe’s expertise at singing classic country a la Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard.
No. 2: “The Ride”
David Allan Coe’s 1983 story song, about a chilling road trip with the ghost of Hank Williams, is cemented as one of country music’s all-time great legends. Legend has it there have been some spooky, ghost-like happenings during performances of the song, too.
1. “You Never Even Called Me By My Name”
What song could possibly top this list other than “The Perfect Country & Western Song”? David Allan Coe’s dry country music parody from 1975 wound up becoming a karaoke and sing-a-long standard for fans of all generations. This song was written by Steve Goodman and John Prine, though Prine requested to be uncredited, as he didn’t want to offend anyone in the country music community.
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Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
