David Allan Coe’s Entire Columbia Collection Finally Sees Reissue
For the better part of 15 years, country music Outlaw David Allan Coe recorded for Columbia Records and worked with Hall of Fame producer Billy Sherrill on timeless recordings that have become treasured releases in country music. However obtaining these records had become difficult to impossible over the years as they subsequently went out-of-print, and fans were forced to purchase Greatest Hits collections to get their David Allan Coe fix. As buying patterns shifted to digital, many of Coe’s most iconic tracks were non-existent on download sites like iTunes and Amazon, and through streamers such as Spotify.
Now that is all changing as Sony’s Legacy imprint is releasing Coe’s entire Columbia discography in conjunction with his 75th birthday, celebrated on September 6th. To be released in four separate installments, all of David Allan Coe’s 20 Columbia releases will see the light of day once again, and be made available to a new generation of Coe fans. His first five albums were released on 9/02, starting with 1974’s The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, and Legacy will release five more on each Tuesday leading up to September 23rd when his last album, 1989’s Crazy Daddy, will be released.
Though the release of this material may help win Coe new fans who’ve never had easy access to his discography, Coe has stated numerous times that because of bad contracts and the forfeiture to creditors, he receives little to no royalties from his previous recorded music under Columbia. However, this massive release of music—over 200 songs—should help solidify and bolster David Allan Coe’s legacy in country music, which has been marred significantly over the years from things such as the release of his “X-rated” albums, to unsavory details of his personal life.
READ: 10 Badass David Allan Coe Moments (75th Birthday Special)
Released on 9/2/14
- The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy (1974)
- Once Upon a Rhyme (1975)
- Longhaired Redneck (1976)
- Rides Again (1977)
- Tattoo (1977)
Released on 9/9/14
- Family Album (1978)
- Human Emotions (1978)
- Compass Point (1979)
- Spectrum VII (1979)
- I’ve Got Something to Say (1980)
Released on 9/16/14
- Invictus (Means) Unconquered (1981)
- Tennessee Whiskey (1981)
- Castles in the Sand (1983)
- Hello in There (1983)
- Just Divorced (1984)
Released on 9/23/14
(not available yet for pre-order)
- Darlin’, Darlin’ (1985)
- Unchained (1985)
- Son of the South (1986)
- A Matter of Life”¦and Death (1987)
- Crazy Daddy (1989)
September 7, 2014 @ 11:11 am
Good deal!! Because all the CD’s of him I find are his greatest hits or something along those lines. With this we can listen to some of the album cuts, I am looking forward to having Punkin Center Barn Dance on CD! It would be cool if issued a box set of all of this!
September 8, 2014 @ 6:58 am
“Punkin Center Barn Dance” has already been available on cd since the early 90’s.
Longhaired Redneck / Rides Again https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000282U8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_LwBdub1A0BK35
September 9, 2014 @ 9:31 am
Sweet!!! Thank you!
September 7, 2014 @ 11:20 am
I guess his X-Rated albums aren’t gonna see the light of day anytime soon, huh?
September 7, 2014 @ 11:33 am
Well, they weren’t released through Columbia obviously, so they won’t be a part of this package. That would be up to Coe directly.
September 7, 2014 @ 3:59 pm
this is what i want with Johnny Paycheck’s whole Little Darlin’ catalog. Jukebox Charlie and Lovin’ Machine and the like. i have some of the vinyl, and i like that listening experience better in a lot of ways but its not exactly convenient. it just sucks that all we have digitally is a few underwelming compilations *sigh* pipe dreams.
September 7, 2014 @ 5:52 pm
Trigger,
I guess you don’t always do research before you write articles. Most, if not all of these albums are available on Bear Family Records, and have been since the 90’s.
September 7, 2014 @ 7:18 pm
Clint,
I guess you don’t always read my articles before commenting.
First off, Bear Family Records has released some of these titles, but not all of them. Also, they are available only as imports to consumers unless they live in Germany, so I would hardly call this accessible, especially for people in the United States. I love Bear Family Records and am glad they have kept many out-of-print titles alive over the years, but that is hardly a sufficient replacement for the type of wide distribution these reissues will be getting.
And secondly, and most importantly, these reissues are making the albums available for download on iTunes, Amazon, etc., and for streaming on Spotify, Rhapsody, etc. which is the way the vast majority of consumers listen to music these days, especially new consumers who could become David Allan Coe fans.
No offense to Bear Family Records, but that is a stop gap for hardcore, engaged fans. This reissue will reach significantly more people.
September 8, 2014 @ 4:51 am
Ok Trig, you got me. Only 19 out of the 20 you listed are available from Bear Family, so I guess people will have to turn to Sony for “Crazy Daddy”. And you’re right, Bear Family stuff isn’t really accessible, you know, because I’m sure nobody’s ever heard of Amazon, or The Ernest Tubb Record Shop………………
I’ll take the care and quality of Bear Family products over American Labels any day.
September 8, 2014 @ 10:09 am
Clint,
If your assertion is that this reissue basically doesn’t matter because these albums are available through Bear Family, then with all due respect, you don’t have enough of a handle on how Americans consume music to make an informed opinion. To say that I “don’t always do research” is insulting. If you do research, you will find that all of these titles are OUT-OF-PRINT in every single country on the planet except for Germany. And I’m hearing from some that Bear Family is out-of-stock on many of these DAC titles. These albums were NOT located on ANY digital format until this reissue. 99% of Americans have no idea what Bear Family Records is, while 70% of Americans ONLY consume music through digital formats. Just because Bear Family looms large for you, doesn’t mean this reissue is irrelevant, or that I didn’t do any research. This issue will make David Allan Coe’s music dramatically more accessible to the public, and if your opinion is otherwise, you are the one who needs to be better informed before speaking.
September 8, 2014 @ 9:23 pm
My only assertions are that you’re blowing the impact of this out of proportion, and that your article implies that these albums are unavailable, when the reality is that you can go on Amazon right now and have 19 of them delivered to your house in two days. Just admit that you’re wrong sometimes and quit arguing with me.
September 8, 2014 @ 11:23 pm
Clint,
If you’re assertion is that I am blowing this out of proportion, then that is an opinion. And opinions are not right and wrong, so I have nothing that I can admit being wrong about. If I were to admit to something, I would admit that you have a decent point and the Bear Family availability, and maybe this is something I could have mentioned in the article. But I don’t think it materially changes anything I said. The vast majority of consumers still consume their music digitally, and making these albums available in that format is a big plus, in my opinion. I understand you have a different opinion, and respect that. Your initial comment made a good point. The problem was you started off by criticizing my “research,” which I felt was unfair and unwarranted.
September 8, 2014 @ 11:54 pm
Cool Trig, insulting was not my intent, just informing. I appologize.
By the way, could you please call off your troll guard dog Dale? It hurts my ass all over to have to read anything he types, and would prefer he never addressed me. The fake hillbilly persona and the intentional phonetic spelling are obnoxious as heck. Can’t you scold him or something? I suspect he’s actually Bobby Bones in disguise.
September 9, 2014 @ 12:43 am
I did address Lil Dale in a comment earlier today (https://savingcountrymusic.com/garth-brooks-falls-on-stage-in-chicago#comment-621550), and I will be monitoring him more closely moving forward, though that doesn’t mean I won’t allow him to post.
September 8, 2014 @ 4:29 am
Deer clint, please stop talkin shit to trigger. No one thinks its funny and yer takes suck and trigger always puts you in yer place.
September 8, 2014 @ 4:52 am
Please don’t speak to me.
September 8, 2014 @ 5:54 am
dont speak to me. this started when you began telling me to quit writing in so dont start some thing you cant finish. and this is America so I’ll rite an say what ever I want. and all you ever do is start trouble in the comments so like I said no one thinks its funny so stop starting trouble with trigger. you dont even know what yer talkin bout. trigger took you to school.
September 7, 2014 @ 7:24 pm
If I had to have just ONE of these albums, which one would you recommend
September 8, 2014 @ 6:55 am
DAC Rides Again is one of the finest country albums ever made. Just my opinion…
September 8, 2014 @ 10:36 am
Hard to pick one, but Compass Point is one of my favorites. It is completely seamless. Very few albums fit together so perfectly.
September 8, 2014 @ 2:56 pm
Trigger, do you have any input?
September 8, 2014 @ 3:05 pm
Sorry, I keep meaning to get to this comment and get distracted.
While I don’t have all 20 of these albums, “Once Upon A Rhyme” is my favorite Coe album of all time, but is probably too sedated for many. “Longhaired Redneck” and “Rides Again” are two of my top favorites as well.
September 9, 2014 @ 12:27 am
Once upon a rhyme is great. I read somewhere that “another pretty country song” was played at Ronnie van zandts funeral.
January 18, 2021 @ 9:01 am
Almost all Coe’s albums from Hello In There onwards are total duds – including almost every album that followed these re-releases. Exceptions being the two ‘underground’ albums (one of these may have preceded Hello…, I forget) although they undoubtedly seriously step over the mark on many tracks (the sentiments on these are simply too unsavoury & delivered with such gusto that Coe’s later statements that they were a joke is very difficult to believe; and I am speaking about their sentiments about women in particular, as opposed to the usual ‘race issue’ that is discussed), Recommended For Airplay (1999), and his respectable later albums of covers of Hank Sr. and Merle Haggard. Even his albums prior to Hello In There show a gradual yet significant decline in quality. His live album from 1997 is pretty good. (I realise I am late replying to this thread!).
September 7, 2014 @ 7:37 pm
Damn. Are he and Toby Keith long lost cousins or what?
September 7, 2014 @ 11:54 pm
Glad to see these albums getting a wider market release. The younger crowd who only know Coe through Rebel Meets Rebel and the various compilations floating around will finally find out what they’re missing from an artist who’s become a mere shadow of his former self.
As far as I can see, the only one listed that wasn’t reissued by Bear Family is Crazy Daddy.
I think the Bear Family disks have gone out of print recently. I’m glad I picked them up when I did.
September 8, 2014 @ 12:56 pm
So mabye I misread, but are these being released as actual CD’s or are they only going to be digital downloads?
September 8, 2014 @ 1:00 pm
I believe there will be CD’s as well, but distribution may be limited. You may have to get them through Amazon and such. I’m still looking to get some clarification on this reissue as well. It wasn’t very well publicized at all, and info has been hard to come by.
September 9, 2014 @ 11:14 am
Actually Trig, unless they’re going to release them(cd’s) at a later date, it appears this is digital only. Also, either you accidentally left three albums off your list, or Sony is just choosing not to release them. Weren’t “Texas Moon”, “DAC”, and “Rough Rider” Columbia releases?
September 10, 2014 @ 9:01 am
I hope so… I refuse to buy digital downloads.
September 10, 2014 @ 3:05 pm
You can buy 22 David Allan Coe albums from Bear Family Records right now on Amazon. The only one they don’t have is “Crazy Daddy”.
September 22, 2014 @ 5:21 pm
Sigh. Much as I resent this man’s character I might just have to check these albums out. Hypocritical as the question might be, what happened to his “X-rated” albums, Trigger? I assume they weren’t released under the Columbia banner.
September 22, 2014 @ 5:40 pm
They were self-released and you can find them on many places on the internet. I believe they’re complete on YouTube if you so desire to take a listen.