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From RollingStone.com:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/ ... on=single1

Country maverick's prison-penned debut record sees re-release

After spending years imprisoned in the vaults, the long-lost 1969 debut from country outlaw David Allan Coe is about to be freed. Penitentiary Blues, which features songs Coe wrote while serving time in various prisons, will get a deluxe re-release August 23rd through Shout! Factory/HackTone Records. Coe, now sixty-four, entered reform school at age nine and spent most of the next twenty years in and out of correctional institutions for offenses ranging from armed robbery to auto theft.

Those used to the Akron native's rowdy -- and sometimes rude -- country may be surprised at the album's barroom blues sound, which landed Coe on the road with B.B. King and the Staples Singers after his release from prison in 1967.

"The thing that's amazing is that, comin' out of Nashville, that album was kinda overlooked," remembers Coe. "But in Europe, I won blues artist of the year."

However, King helped convince Coe to turn his attention to country music, where he'd write hits like "Take This Job and Shove It." As Coe recalls, "B.B. said, 'You're a great blues singer, but, man, you gonna starve to death. Nobody wants to hear a white boy sing the blues.'"

Penitentiary Blues, which features stark confessionals like "Cell #33" and "Death Row," was originally released on Shelby Singleton's SSS International. When Coe signed to Columbia, Penitentiary Blues came with him, but the album has never seen a CD release.

Coe met HackTone founders Michael Nieves and David Gorman a few years ago when they were working on the DVD release of Heartworn Highways, a 1981 documentary that featured Coe, Townes Van Zandt and other Nashville iconoclasts. Coe showed Nieves and Gorman some footage from the Penitentiary Blues sessions, which he had uncovered for DVD release on his own label, Coe Pop Records. "They thought, 's***, this is a great thing,'" Coe says. "So they decided to put the album out."

The reissued album touches on two of the most controversial aspects of Coe's legend. The first is the charge that he's a racist, made after a series of X-rated "joke" songs he recorded in the Seventies, including "Nigger f****," which got him confused with "white power" performer Johnny Rebel. "Anyone that hears this album and says I'm a racist is full of s***," Coe says, adding that the slur entered his vocabulary in prison, where he received encouragement to write the songs that would make up Penitentiary Blues from a man in the next cell: R&B singer Screamin' Jay Hawkins. "I was one of about fifteen white boys . . . and that word didn't mean nothin'. I used to have to fight my way outta everywhere because I hung around black guys."

There has also long been debate as to whether Coe served time on Death Row for killing another inmate who demanded oral sex. Coe says another prisoner, "who was serving two life sentences and was never gonna get out," finally confessed to the crime. As far as Coe's involvement, he repeats what he told the reporter who first investigated the story: "There's no statute of limitations on murder."

Meanwhile, a more recent album that has yet to see the light of day is Coe's collaboration with Pantera. Coe wrote all the songs with the band's Dimebag Darrell, shortly before the guitarist was murdered onstage last year.

"His brother [Pantera's Vinnie Paul] is tryin' to get that together," says Coe. "That's gonna be a great thing."

DAN LEROY

All I want to say about DAC is that his biggest hit was a cover of Steve Goodman's "You Never Even Call Be By My Name". Yet, I think, he didn't realize the song was a C&W parody.

He seems to have ripped off Jimmy with "Divers Do It Deeper".

Even putting the alleged racist tags aside, I'm not Wasting Any Margaritaville Money on Coe.

I do believe he realized it was a parody.
Remember it did not become a parody until David contacted Steve and told him it was not the perfect country song because it did not include trucks ,trains, prison, mama, and getting drunk.
Also I'm not sure that was his biggest radio hit. Bar room hit, sure.
I seem to remember lots of airplay from "Jack Daniels if you please" and don't forget he wrote "Take this Job and shove it" also recorded it although Johnny Paycheck made it a hit. Also wrote Tanya Tuckers #1 hit "Would you lay with me in a field of stone"

sonofabeach wrote:I do believe he realized it was a parody.
Remember it did not become a parody until David contacted Steve and told him it was not the perfect country song because it did not include trucks ,trains, prison, mama, and getting drunk.
Also I'm not sure that was his biggest radio hit. Bar room hit, sure.
I seem to remember lots of airplay from "Jack Daniels if you please" and don't forget he wrote "Take this Job and shove it" also recorded it although Johnny Paycheck made it a hit. Also wrote Tanya Tuckers #1 hit "Would you lay with me in a field of stone"

SonofaBeach

You just might be right. Any relation to Jahfin?

Actually his biggest hit was "Mona Lisa lost her smile," which hit #2 and "The Ride" which made the top 10...As far ad "Divers do it deeper" ripping off Buffett...I can't recall a Buffett song talking about diving...lol...and if so, Coe was one of the first to pick up the style...then again he did pen "Jimmy Buffett doesn't live in Key West anymore"...I'll give Coe credit for inventing rap music too...He chastized Buffett with that song, continually dropped other performers names into his songs...and...listened closely...he put the N-word into music...hmmm...modern rap and hip-hop owes a lot to Coe....why if what I read is correct Chris Rock is lauded as the funniest man on the planet...the N-word can make you millions if your neck is the right color...I for one am waiting for the day when men are judged by their deeds and character, not by their color...that is the color of their necks...and in my humble opinion Coe is one of the most underated talents around...check out "Long Haired Redneck", the brillantly funny "Dakota the dancing bear pt. 2", "Whiskey and women", "Love is a porpoise", "Mississippi Queen", "Just to prove my love to you", and the incredible tune "X's and O's" A simple yet amazing song. It's incredible that he could have spent so much time behind bars and write so many beautiful songs...you just haven't heard them...Not that the critics matter but check out any criticial reviews of Albums and you will find that the first 3 or 4 of his are rated as some of the best country collections of all time...5 stars...Jimmy doesn't fair near as well but what do critics know about our Parrot head lifestyle...I'm a Parrot head, I'm a Coe head, I'm a married man...so I get no head...lol...Grab a copy of Coe's cd "The first 10 years", if you don't like it...then you can trash him all you like.

For the record I like D.A.C.
"Divers Do It Deeper" has a similar melody to "Changes in Latitudes". We're talking melody not subject matter.
As for him inventing rap I don't think a song called "N#gger F#cker" about a wife leaving her husband for a black man was intended to unite the races and invent rap. It's one thing for 2 black guys to use the word during conversation and another when it's used to demean.

And yes "X's And O's" is amazing

I have to say I agree about the n-word thing. Anytime I've ever heard DAC use it in a song it was done in a derogatory manner. When rappers say it it is not meant as an insult.

As for "Divers Do It Deeper", other than coming out with an island flavored song around the time Buffett was enjoying some of his biggest success, I see no harm in it whatsoever. I understand there was a similar controversy surrounding Garth Brooks' "Two Pina Coladas". Buffett may be one of the pioneers of merging rock, country and island music but he doesn't have a patent on the sound.

Back to DAC, I also think he's written and performed some of the best country songs on record but I find it hard to reconcile this with his racist past. Yes, he says he longer thinks that way while at the same time allowing his racist records to be sold online and at his shows.

I have no serious problem with Diver's Do It Deeper arguably ripping off CIACIL. Musicians do it all the time although probably a little more subtly than DAC. About his tribute to Jimmy, (Jimmy Buffett Don't Live in Key West Anymore) it's on Coe's X-rated album. This is an album whose lyrics and titles push the envelope and no doubt stick it up the mailbox. Whether his JB tune is a paean or a pee-on JB one can only guess.

This being a JB site we shouldn't take kindly to outsiders taking cheap shots at the boss. I for one don't.

Considering the amount of control Buffett wanted to have over artists sounding like him I consider "Jimmy Buffett Doesn't Live In Key West Anymore" a well intentioned, but also well placed jab at this sort of thing. I'm as big a Buffett fan as you're likely to find but he's also not above some well deserved criticism especially in this case and in the case of "Two Pina Coladas". On the other hand and as someone has already mentioned, DAC was never above some namedropping in his tunes so I guess it all works out in the end (no prison jokes, please).

D.A.C.'s most recent "Live At Billy Bob's" cd is pretty good.
I think it came out a couple of years back
Even has a rap type song where he name drops a lot of people including Ice-T, Kid Rock, Uncle Cracker, etc.
As for his supposed racist past, I believe he's changed just like anybody else can change. Last I heard he had a black drummer.
I don't know why he would still be selling the XXX rated albums but I saw on his website that he refuses to ever play them live again.

sonofabeach wrote: I don't know why he would still be selling the XXX rated albums but I saw on his website that he refuses to ever play them live again.

To answer the first part of your question: $$$$$$

It's great that he refuses to ever play them live again but if he truly is no longer racist it sends a mixed message at best that he is still making them available for sale.

Jahfin wrote:

sonofabeach wrote: I don't know why he would still be selling the XXX rated albums but I saw on his website that he refuses to ever play them live again.

To answer the first part of your question: $$$$$$

how could I forget?....the root of all evil.....well that and women

I was speaking with my tongue in cheek on the invention of rap music...but I'm glad to see someone else thinks "X's and O's" is an incredible song...just wish I knew what all those letters throughout the song stand for...take out the N-f**** song from his x-rated albums and the rest are pure comedy set to music...Weens' "p*** up a rope" is just like Coe's x-rated stuff...I don't listen to them very much because it isn't healthty getting those songs stuck in your head...by the way, Jahfin, a very good observation on the key west song.

From CreativeLoafing.com:
http://clnlb.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs. ... 1/CHAVIBES

In 1969, Dave Coe was a 30 year-old parolee, resident of a hearse parked outside Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Old Opry. Bona fide country outlaw Coe told tall tales of his years behind bars - unless you believe he really did teach Charlie Manson to play the guitar, and that the State of Ohio lost all evidence of his alleged time on Death Row. With the name on the contract now matching the one on his rap sheet, David Allan Coe's life after prison soon became equally improbable, as he got a chance to make his first album, Penitentiary Blues, backed by some of Nashville's finest.

Among the prime Nashville Cats on Penitentiary Blues was the late drummer Kenneth Buttrey, who had played on Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35." Buttrey got to march, pound, and roll Coe through the echoing halls of this portrait of the Longhaired Redneck as young bluesman. Its songs don't all deal with prison life, but, in this context, they sure seem like cells, both connected and separated. Places where your thoughts crowd you and people are alone together, in little cages like stages, because somebody's always watching and being watched.

Penitentiary Blues - long out of print, recently reissued by Hacktone/Shout! Factory in time for Coe's 66th birthday - now seems like the blueprint for Coe's enduring worldview. He sees himself and his lady friends as forever finding and losing each other in the maze of life, like ships that go bump in the night. If one of the pair discovers or accuses the other of bumping someone else, Coe's always ready (sometimes eager, sometimes sad) to hit the road, to stay away from conflict, and any other confinement.

And that applies to most other situations too, as in Coe's most famous song, "Take This Job And Shove It" ("I ain't workin' here no more"). Another standby, "You Never Even Call Me By My Name," establishes an ironic distance between himself and the clichés expected of country performers, which allows him to come back and use them again per his mercurial mood. Like the latter-day Dylan, he seems to live and thrive on an Endless Tour, and in endless reissues. Performing combinations of old and (carefully rationed) new songs, he moves kinda slow onstage now. But still, when Coe appears, it's nature's way of telling us to party.

Not that I'm defendeing the racist stuff, but ya gotta admit a catalog that includes "N.F." and "Jodi like a Melody" shows a versatility that's tough to match.

I doubt I'd like DAC as a person, but I do certainly like his music, and for his age he still kicks ass on stage (when he can stay sober long enough to get through a show).

rednekkPH wrote:Not that I'm defendeing the racist stuff, but ya gotta admit a catalog that includes "N.F." and "Jodi like a Melody" shows a versatility that's tough to match.)

Speaking just for myself I don't really consider the ability to write such differing songs to be a sign of "versatility". Musicianship-wise he's certainly shown that ability. He can go from cry in your beer country to heavy rock in a skinny instant but the songwriting thing just shows his knack for being able to pen a very crude song as well as a very pretty one. I just don't see any versatility in that.

rednekkPH wrote:I doubt I'd like DAC as a person, but I do certainly like his music, and for his age he still kicks ass on stage (when he can stay sober long enough to get through a show).

The latter part is why I doubt I'll ever take a chance on seeing him live. I've seen him twice (both times back in the 80s), the first time he was really good, the second time he was so drunk he never got up from his stool.

Jahfin wrote: the first time he was really good, the second time he was so drunk he never got up from his stool.

the last time I saw him was a few years ago at this little hole-in-the-wall bar. There was maybe 300 people there, truly the perfect setting for seeing Coe. Unfortunately, he came on stage with a bottle of Jim Beam and finished it by the beginning of the 2nd set. he could barely talk let alone sing...sad, it really could have been one of those "once in a lifetime" shows.

rednekkPH wrote:

Jahfin wrote: the first time he was really good, the second time he was so drunk he never got up from his stool.

the last time I saw him was a few years ago at this little hole-in-the-wall bar. There was maybe 300 people there, truly the perfect setting for seeing Coe. Unfortunately, he came on stage with a bottle of Jim Beam and finished it by the beginning of the 2nd set. he could barely talk let alone sing...sad, it really could have been one of those "once in a lifetime" shows.

I just found out he played in my area last night (or was at least supposed to). I don't rule out giving him another chance by his track record's not so good in that dept. unfortunately. Doesn't sound like he holds his liquor very well either, the DBTs go through at least a bottle of Jack per show and it's hard to tell.

Jahfin wrote: Doesn't sound like he holds his liquor very well either, the DBTs go through at least a bottle of Jack per show and it's hard to tell.

They each have a bottle, or do they split one? This bottle was David's only. I wouldn't want to be the one who tried to steal a sip.

Cut the guy a break, he's only slightly younger than dirt.

rednekkPH wrote:

Jahfin wrote: Doesn't sound like he holds his liquor very well either, the DBTs go through at least a bottle of Jack per show and it's hard to tell.

They each have a bottle, or do they split one? This bottle was David's only. I wouldn't want to be the one who tried to steal a sip.

They share a bottle from what I've seen anyway.

rednekkPH wrote:Cut the guy a break, he's only slightly younger than dirt.

That he is, may be another good reason to try to catch him the next time he's playing around here.