The Essential David Allan Coe

Since I have put Sirius XM in my truck I have found that one of the channels that I enjoy the most is Outlaw country. One of the artists often featured is David Allan Coe. I have heard the name before but was not knowledgable about what he sang.

David Allen Coe was one of the members of the original outlaw country group. Not with the stature of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson indeed but he certainly seems to have been a member of the following.

Today I heard a song by him called You Never Even Called Me By Name. This song has much to offer the country fan. With several verses the most important would be one that speaks about Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride and Merle Haggard with a catchy chorus. Perhaps what seperates this song the most however is the last verse, a very self aware verse where Coe speaks about the writer of the song and his telling him that it was not the best country song in the world as it missed some country cliches such as Momma, Trains, Prison, Trucks and Being Drunk. As one might imagine the writer added a verse which included those items and Coe was happy to sing the new verse for us.

Is this silly. Yes. It still is an acknowlegement of what country music used to be and what many of us still enjoy.

I came home and looked him up on Spotify and listened to this album. The first of these songs is entitled The Ride and I realized that I had heard this as well on Outlaw country. Another very good song telling of a ghost encounter with Hank Williams the original.

Yes perhaps a few too many songs are written about beer but this is not literature and there are no pretensions. It is what it is. And it is very good at what it is.


On Willie, Waylon and Me Coe takes us through his life of listening to sixties and seventies country rock. The Burritos, Roger Mcguin and the Byrds, and the Eagles and even tips his hat to true rock icons such as The Beatles, The Stones and Janis. It is an effective song.

More country even is Long Haired Redneck and perhaps most country of all is If That Ain't Country in which he talks about a rural upbringing with cliches like a hard working mama and cars in the yard. It is not a sad song though it is a song that tells with pride where he comes from. If Coe really comes from this background I do not know, what I do know is there are many who have been from that place in their youth and a song that does not aplogize for it but tells of it with pride must have appeal to many folks not written about in Rolling Stone.

David Allen Coe is a fine singer. He also knows exactly who he is. That is something to be valud and indeed even cherished.