Outlaw Country Legend David Allan Coe Has Died

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One of the most brilliant, most controversial, most mercurial, most wild and wildly influential artists, songwriters, and performers in country music history has done something that almost seemed impossible from this old stump of hickory who survived prison stints, motorcycle gang fights, horrific automobile accidents, run-ins with the law, and a major bout with COVID that put him in the hospital at 82—he’s succumb to mortality and passed on to that honky tonk in the sky.

David Allan Coe was always just as much myth as he was man. That is the reason his music, and his legacy is often grossly misunderstood. That’s not to say he wasn’t prone to hyperbole about his own past. That’s not to excuse his bouts of racy language or wild behavior. But he was also someone who played a pivotal role in culture, often revered by the worst of society for the wrong reasons, and reviled by the best of society who misunderstood his iconoclastic role.

Before talking about the man, you first must talk about the music. Though David Allan Coe was never a hit parade in his time, his music was ahead of his time in so many respects. He broke through with the Steve Goodman/John Prine-penned “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” in 1975. The cheeky song only reached #8 in the charts, but it has since become one of the signature songs in all of country music.

David Allan Coe sent chills down the spine of listeners when he recorded “The Ride” in 1983, recalling an encounter with the ghost of Hank Williams. Though it was his rowdy songs and moments that would go on to define his career, it was the genteel and string-laden “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile” that minted his greatest chart hit, making it to #2 in 1984.

But it was songs Coe would be a part of that others would make famous that would also bolster his legacy. “Take This Job and Shove It” became the signature song of Johnny Paycheck, and another signature song for country music in 1977, originally penned by David Allan Coe.

Though George Jones, and then most notably Chris Stapleton would have a major hit with the song “Tennessee Whiskey” written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove, it was David Allan Coe who first recognized the song’s importance and recorded it. “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” was a #1 hit for Tanya Tucker in 1974, but it was David Allan Coe who wrote it.

Yet just as much as it was these songs and moments that would go on to define the career of David Allan Coe, so too did the controversy that surrounded his career. Though much of the revulsion happened mostly in retrospect, the dropping of an N-bomb in his 1977 song “If That Ain’t Country” on his album Rides Again is regularly cited as an indictment of his character. But this was child’s play compared to his Underground Album.

Never stocked on the shelves of any reputable music sellers, one had to order the album out of biker magazines and such to obtain a copy, though in subsequent years it became one of the most bootlegged albums in history. In it, David Allan Coe participated in all manner of obscene language and debauchery. The Song “Ni–er Fu–ker” was the track that drew the most ire, though Coe insisted he was no racist.

“Anyone that hears this album and says I’m a racist is full of shit,” he famously said in response, and pointed out that his drummer at the time was a Black man named Kerry Brown. Nonetheless, the accusations, and the songs, would follow Coe for the rest of his career and life, at times aided by his proud display of the Confederate Flag both in cover art, and as the painted image of his electric guitar.

But paradoxically, David Allan Coe also at times spoke out against racism, tore down conventional barriers in music, and was on the cutting edge of inclusion, including employing drummer Kerry Brown, and having the distinction of being the first country artist to field an all-female band. Similar to Johnny Cash, Coe took up the plight of the incarcerated, playing numerous prison concerts. Coe also showed strong support for the Native American community.

On his other “underground” album called Nothing’s Sacred also full of raunchy songs, David Allan Coe directly targeted anti-gay activist Anita Bryan with his song “F-ck Aneta Briant” (purposely misspelled), calling her a hypocrite for criticizing gay lifestyles.

There were also many things attributed to David Allan Coe that may be true, or may not. What’s for sure is that after being born in Akron, Ohio on September 6th, 1939, he lived a hard and wild life. He was first sent to a correctional facility for adolescents when he was only nine years old. He would then spend the better part of the next 20 years in institutions, including a three year stint in the Ohio State Penitentiary. His claims that he killed a man in prison, and even spent time on death row have always been hard to verify.

In 1967 when he was let out of prison for good, David Allan Coe moved to Nashville to start a career in country music. The story that he lived in a hearse, and would park it in front of the Ryman Auditorium right before the Grand Ole Opry and busk on the street are true. Fearless, Coe made a racket for himself, and people started paying attention, including Plantation Records, who signed him and released his 1970 debut album Penitentiary Blues.

Then after penning the #1 “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” for Tanya Tucker, Coe got the attention of Columbia Records, where he would spend years working with Hall of Fame producer Billy Sherrill. Coe got his nickname “The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy” when Mel Tillis unloaded his entire Rhinestone wardrobe on Coe as the fashion was going out-of-style. Coe kept it around for a few more years.

David Allan Coe was also famous for his super long hair to go with his Top 20 hit “Longhaired Redneck,” though later in life, it was clearly a wig he was sporting. Coe also was introduced to a new generation through the collaboration with the Texas-based heavy metal band Pantera called “Rebel Meets Rebel” in 2006. David Allan Coe in many respects was considered the heavy metal version of country, even if many of his songs were Countrypolitan-style love songs from the Billy Sherrill studio.

David Allan Coe’s death will surely stoke some criticisms of his behavior, his language, and the pock marked nature of his legacy. Among other dalliances, at one point Coe claimed to be a polygamist, and used Mormonism as his excuse.

It’s not that some of those criticism aren’t valid, and even were at the time, let alone in retrospect. But David Allan Coe was not any one thing, and can’t be defined by any particular song or action. After leaving prison in 1967, he never again was accused of committing any serious crime. Though his music has certainly been adopted by racist elements tied to White supremacists and motorcycle gangs, Coe himself never seemed to endorse this, and at times, actively tried to distance from it.

David Allan Coe started life as a victim of the American experience, and ultimately came out victorious, even if battered, scarred, marred by controversy, leaving a mixed legacy that is hard to define, even if it isn’t hard to measure in impact and influence—and to many people, justify a Hall of Fame induction.

In the wake of David Allan Coe’s passing, many discussions will be had. But ultimately, it’s the songs and the albums that will go on to mark his legacy as one of the most wild, entertaining, sometimes confounding, but ultimately infinitely unique in the entire history of country music.

David Allan Coe was here. And he leaves behind an indelible mark on planet Earth.

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Saving Country Music has confirmed through numerous sources that David Allan Coe passed away about 5:00 pm on Wednesday, April 29th. He was 86 years old. His son Tyler Mahan Coe is a podcaster, author, and guitar player. His daughter Tanya Coe is also a country singer. David Allan Coe is also survived by his wife Kimberly Hastings Coe.

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