Everybody started saying, well, this cat’s not as dumb as people think he is.
David Allan Coe Quotes
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| Birth: | 6th September, 1939 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Profession: | Actor, Composer, Lyricist, Musician, Singer |
About
Coe was born in Akron, Ohio. His favorite singer as a child was Johnny Ace. After being sent to a reform school at the age of 9, he spent much of the next 20 years in correctional facilities. Coe received encouragement to begin writing songs from Screamin' Jay Hawkins, with whom he had spent time in prison.
In 1968, Coe released his debut album, Penitentiary Blues, followed by a tour with Grand Funk Railroad. Coe was treated poorly by racist inmates because he was friends with African American prisoners. After concluding another prison term in 1967, Coe embarked on a music career in Nashville, living in a hearse which he parked in front of the Ryman Auditorium, where the Grand Ole Opry was located, and caught the attention of the independent record label Plantation Records, and signed a contract with the label. Coe was a featured performer in Heartworn Highways, a 1975 documentary film by James Szalapski. Other performers featured in this film included Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, Steve Young, Steve Earle, and The Charlie Daniels Band. In 1977 Johnny Paycheck released a cover of Coe's "Take This Job And Shove It," which was a number one hit and Coe's most successful song.
After the Internal Revenue Service seized his home in Key West, Florida, Coe lived in a cave in Tennessee, and later remarried and got back on his feet.
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