Gothic Theatre
David Allan Coe
If there’s ever been a way to describe DAC, it has got to be his ability to defy categorization. With nearly three decades of following his musical muse wherever it’s led, this outlaw has crossed the panorama of American roots music.
As well as being a singer, songwriter, guitarist, David is also a magician, deep sea treasure hunter and movie star. His movies include “Stagecoach”, “The Last Days of Frank and Jessie James”. “Lady Grey”, “Buckstone County Prison” and “Take This Job and Shove It” to mention a few. David signed with SUN Records in 1968 and recorded his first album “Penitentiary Blues”, all songs that he wrote in prison. In 1973 Columbia Records bought David’s contract from Sun and he recorded his first album “The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy” several years before Glen Campbell had a hit with the song “Rhinestone Cowboy”.
Much has been written about David’s past and his lifestyle but not much about his achievements over the years. From performing on FARM AID to touring with NEIL YOUNG, KID ROCK and WILLIE NELSON. David’s song “Take This Job and Shove It” has received a Million Airplays Certificate from BMI. His “Greatest Hits Album” is PLATINUM and his “First Ten Years Album” is GOLD. He has had sixty-three songs on the Billboard Singles Charts, including “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile”, “The Ride”, “Please Come to Boston”, “Willie, Waylon and Me”, “Jack Daniels If You Please”, “You Never Even Call Me By My Name” to name a few. He has written songs for Johnny Paycheck, Tanya Tucker, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Charlie Louvin, Del Reeves, Tammy Wynette, Melba Montgomery, Stoney Edwards, The Oakridge Boys and KID ROCK. Both “Would You Lay with Me” and “Take This Job and Shove It” are million seller songs penned by David. Johnny Cash had recorded David’s songs including “Would You Lay with Me” on his current chart topping album entitled “CASH”. His tour schedule is never-ending list of SOLD OUT shows. He performs both Country and Rock shows depending on the venue. David also plays in many Casinos’ where he does Las Vegas type shows. DAVID IS AN ENTERTAINER.
David Allan Coe has been through a lot in his life. He had tried to put his past behind him and move on with his life. He is a single father with his oldest son Tyler traveling with him on the road, where he is home-schooled. His youngest son, Carson, and his two daughters Tanya and Shyanne, live with their mother. Carla, his oldest daughter, is married and the mother of his grandchildren. Shelly is a singer songwriter living in Austin, Texas. David’s newest album is on Cleveland International Records. It is called “Songwriter of the Tear” and includes all songs written by David including “The Penny”, “Drink Canada Dry”, “The Ghost of Hank Williams”, “Then I Found You”, “Standing Too close To the Flame”, “The Only Thing Missing Is You”, “Desperate Man” and others. David is also doing an album with PANERA and KID ROCK to be released sometime this year.
Perhaps now, David can finally take his place alongside the great stars of Country music, many of whom he influenced. He has held his head up high in the face of indifference, disapproval, accusations and outright hostility, ”......Over the years people have gotten the impression that I am prejudiced. I’m not prejudiced. Sure, I have this thing about controversy. But I don’t dislike anybody because of their color or sexual beliefs or whatever…..”. Since writing “Jack Daniels, If You Please” in 1957, David has had a knack for penning some of country music’s most memorable drinking songs, But contrary to popular belief, he has never been much of a drinking man. “I only started drinking whiskey a couple of years ago, when I was 58 years old,” he explains. “I will take a couple of shots of whiskey when I am onstage at night. But that’s the only time I drink.” It’s all part of his gift for encapsulating human experiences even beyond the many he’s lived through in his own life. “I’ve written songs about having babies, but I’ve never had one,” he says. “I think as a songwriter you can tune into other people’s emotions and whatever, and you can write about that experience.”Through all this he has persevered and let his talent lead the way and break down the doors. He has successfully put his prison years behind him, without trying to cover them up, and he holds himself up as “living proof” that an ex-con can succeed. An important message for the many who are now in the position he was in then. With many years of hard living behind him, David is at the height of his creative powers, experimenting with new music, and we can look forward to many more years from this incredible showman.
David is a star in every sense of the word, and someone to look up to and learn from. The term “living legend” may be overused to the point of cliché, but in the case of David, it fits like a glove. Hailed by Country Music Magazine as ”..One of the most singularly fascinating and enigmatic figures to carve a niche in ‘70s and ‘80s country music,” Coe continues to cut his own bold and singular path through the world of popular music. David is a man comfortable in all kinds of music—provided that music has the unbridled passion of a man committed to life without limits. Still while it’s hard to pin the man down in any one place, space or time the people who’ve been turning out for David’s legendary live performances over the last decade have elevated him to cult hero status. Because of his ability to capture their emotions they have embraced David’s music and used it as their own rallying cry against the status quo.
As each new generation of Rednecks Kickers, Pickers, Preppies, Skinheads, Deadheads, Hippies and Bikers come to hear David’s music, his legend and popularity grows!
At a time when the touring industry is anemic, he continues to play some 200 dates a year. David is packing ‘em in on college campuses, biker bars (Iron Horse Saloon), honky tonks, state fairs, blues bars and music halls. If there’s a stage and people looking to let off some steam and have their feelings re-calibrated, David will be there. It’s a covenant that keeps the “Long Haired Redneck” on the road. His devotion to the fans, and the music, has created a spiral that now has its own momentum. At David’s shows there’s a chemical reaction that transforms the songs when the audience is in the house. For it’s the people that set David on fire. When they start whooping and hollering, it feeds an already burning love of music and stokes the flames higher. You can hear the musicians straining to get every last drop of passion from their instruments. It’s in the way the notes bend, the beats pound and David’s gravelly voice just keeps coming at you like a train. In those moments, it’s easy to remember why music mattered so. And in those moments, we can all be transformed. But it takes someone willing to push the envelope to make it happen. For David, pushing the envelope is the natural course and just a starting point.
