Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music
COE, David Allan
(b 6 September 1939, Akron OH) Country singer and songwriter. He spent nearly 20 years in and out of reform schools and prisons, and his continuing iconoclasm made him part of the 'outlaw' movement in country music. Released from Ohio State Correctional Facility in 1967 (allegedly a murderer), he went to Nashville and signed with Shelby Singleton; his first album was Penitentiary Blues '69 on Singleton's SSS label. He signed with Columbia and began a career as the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy '74 and made a breakthrough as a writer of modern Country classics: 'Would You Lay With Me In A Field Of Stone' was a hit for Tanya Tucker; 'Take This Job And Shove It' for Johnny Paycheck. He has released over 40 albums, many of them good sellers, and had a few hit singles of his own. His cover of Steve Goodman's 'You Didn't Even Call Me By My Name' was a top ten Country hit in 1975, and his own 'Willie, Waylon And Me' a top 30 the next year; 'The Ride' (about a ghostly meeting with Hank Williams) and 'Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile' were top 5 hits in 1983-4.
He was highly rated by the likes of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson; his work was more rewarding for some fans than that of most hitmakers, but his albums and his shows were erratic: on stage he might come roaring out on a big Harley, or you might have got conjuring, lengthy blues jams, or superb contemporary country music. He clearly didn't give a damn: fans were thrilled to see him opening unbilled for Emmylou Harris at a weekend afternoon concert at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England, in the mid-1980s, but he played so absurdly loud in the beautiful old building that he frightened the children. Among the most notable albums on CBS/Columbia were Once Upon A Rhyme (1975), Human Emotions (1978, about his divorce), Tennessee Whiskey (1982), Castles In The Sand (1983, dedicated to Bob Dylan), Son Of The South (1986, with guests Willie, Waylon, Jessi Colter and others), A Matter Of Life And Death (1987), Crazy Daddy (1989), and Songs For Sale (1991). His output slowed down in later years, but albums and compilations appeared on various labels. In 2005 Penitentiary Blues was reissued on Hacktone, and Columbia tracks by the German Bear Family label as Unchained/Son Of The South: Plus.
He published a novel, Psychopath, and a revealing autobiography, Just For The Record. He acted in a few films, including the TV movie The Last Days Of Frank And Jesse James in 1986, notable for its historical accuracy, and which also featured Johnny Cash, Kristofferson and June Carter.