David Allan Coe

From ArticleWorld

David Allan Coe is an American country music singer and songwriter that is known for his outlaw persona. Coe is often left out when the big stars of country music are named, but he was very popular in the 1970’s and had a large influence and impact on country music.

Coe was born on September 6, 1939 in Akron, Ohio. He was a rebel as a youth and spent most of his time in and out of various prisons before releasing his first album, Penitentiary Blues, in 1968. He became known as a wild man of sorts, and his concerts were always unpredictable and crazy. He would ride in on a motorcycle wearing a mask and rhinestone suit, calling himself the "Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy".

Coe had a very small fan base and was not able to branch out, and artists like Tanya Tucker, Tammy Wynette, and Willie Nelson had more success with his songs than he did. Coe’s first top ten hit, "You Never Even Call Me By My Name," came along in 1975 and was coined as "the perfect country and western song." Coe explains in this song that the perfect country song has to have five things in it: "Mama, trucks, trains, prison, or getting drunk." He closes the song with:

Well, I was drunk the day my Mom go out of prison

And I went to pick her up in the rain,

Bur before I could get to the station my pickup truck

She got ran over by a damned old train

Coe is known for many hilariously offensive, X-rated songs he wrote in the 70’s like "Finger Fucking Sally" and "I’d Like to Fuck the Shit Out of You."

Coe is a known racist to critics and listeners alike, and songs such as "Nigger Fucker" are proof of that. He, however, claims he is not racist and that the song was made jokingly with a black drummer who was married to a white woman. He has had other supposedly racial songs and these types of things, along with his wild side, have caused much controversy and given him a rebel image.