The Professional Work of David Allan Coe
The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy
Born Sept. 6, 1939, in Akron,Ohio, David Allan Coe was in and out of reform schools, correction centers and prisons since the age of 9. One of the most fascinating -- and, some would say, dangerous -- figures in the entire history of country music, Coe's unrestrained ego is evident throughout his work. After all, he was not shy in listing himself alongside two undisputed icons when he wrote and recorded the 1976 single, Willie, Waylon and Me.
While some of the circumstances of Coe's outlaw life are easily substantiated, it's often impossible to unravel all of the stories that have led to his larger myth. According to his publicity campaigns, he spent time on Death Row for killing a fellow inmate who demanded oral sex. After receiving a conflicting account from prison officials, a Rolling Stone magazine reporter questioned Coe about the alleged murder. His musical response was the song, I'd Like to Kick the Shit out of You.
Whatever the truth of the matter, Coe was paroled in 1967 and took his songs about prison life to record executive Shelby Singleton, who released two albums on his SSS label. Coe wrote Tanya Tucker's 1974 No. 1 single, "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone), and took to calling himself Davey Coe, the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy. performing in a mask and driving a hearse.
Coe satirized the themes of country music with hilarious additions to Steve Goodman's You Never Even Called Me by My Name, but has often used the clichés himself. His defiant stance and love of motorcycles, multiple tattoos and ultra-long hair made him a naturalNashvilleoutlaw, which he wrote about in the self-glorifying Longhaired Redneck and Willie, Waylon and Me.
In 1978, Johnny Paycheck had a No. 1 country hit with Coe's, Take This Job and Shove It, which inspired a film of the same title in 1981. Coe's own successes included the witty Divers Do it Deeper (1978), Jack Daniels if You Please (1979), Now I Lay Me Down to Cheat (1982) and The Ride (No. 4, 1983) a song which conjures up a meeting between Coe and Hank Williams. In 1984, Coe reached No. 2 on the country charts with Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile (No. 2, 1984) to mark his highest chart position as a performer
