David Allan Coe (September 6, 1939 – April 29, 2026) was an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons. He first came to prominence for busking in Nashville and initially played mostly in the blues style, before transitioning to country music, becoming a major part of the 1970s outlaw country scene. His biggest hits include “You Never Even Called Me by My Name”, “Longhaired Redneck”, “The Ride”, “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile”, and “She Used to Love Me a Lot”.
Coe’s most popular songs covered by other artists include the number-one hits “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)”, sung by Tanya Tucker, and Johnny Paycheck’s rendition of “Take This Job and Shove It”. The latter inspired the movie of the same name. Coe’s rebellious attitude, wild image, and unconventional lifestyle set him apart from other country performers, both winning him legions of fans and hindering his mainstream success by alienating the music industry establishment. Regardless, Coe was a popular performer on the country music circuit prior to his death.
However Coe’s lifestyle and contributions were much more complicated, complex and very colorful that this Wikipedia introduction. You can real all about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allan_Coe
David Allan Coe pass and autographed guitar thanks Nick Huffman and 1998 autograph from MK ULTRA interview.
Its crazy to think of the friends I’ve collected over the years in relation to David Allan Coe.
Twelve days after Heather Hobbs and I moved to Chicago from Indianapolis in the autumn of 1998 we took to the streets to approach and introduce ourselves to local business owners and potential advertisers. Over the previous year and a half since we first met on spring night after a Type O Negative concert we had made many trips to the Windy City with the idea that we’d eventually relocate here. Most of our visits were music/concert related and then we got serious about hunting for a place to live. We settled on a place in Wicker Park which at the time was artsy and full of interesting mom and pop businesses and a mixed populace of residents. It wasn’t uncommon to walk down the street, or into a store such as local grocer Jewel or the Great Ace Hardware and see who at the time were “rock stars” doing their thing shopping as consumers just like anyone else going about their day to day business just as we would. I never got used to it and that was a good thing because now 28 years, almost 3 decades later that is a distant memory as mostly all of them have moved away. But even then you’d be a a local bar, many that I would be dj’ing in would be full of many local music celebrities. Hell by 2001 I would be waited on in a restaurant by a member of a band that is still a large part of my life to this day. That incident was the inspiration for this “blog” titled Diary of a Damned Man
Sunday September 13, 1998 Heather and I took a nice walk to explore our new neighborhood and what it had to offer. We started on Milwaukee Avenue via the street of our residence on Hermitage. It was a leisurely stroll with no intention other than taking in what would be our new home. Wicker Park at the time had many small bars many of which offered live entertainment and DJ’s. Lots of independently owned stores lined the long vibrant street. There seemed to be independent /used buy and sell record stores all within a 10 – 15 minute walk from each other. As we neared what we would soon learn was the legendary venue known as the Double Door, a place where I’d spend many many long nights over the next two decades inside of sat a big tour bus and over the front window was a rarity, the performers name DAVID ALLAN COE. A rarity becasue just about all well known bands prefer to travel in a tour coach / bus incognito as to discourage fans of the performers of doing the thing that I was about to do. I knocked on the door. Now, this is something I was not new too. MK ULTRA Magazine was in its 3rd year and I had been invited to do so countless times to interview or just spend time with the band. But I did this totally uninvited but not totally unwanted. The tour manager of the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy answered. I introduced myself and with a claim that I would later learn to be untrue (which I will not elaborate on any further) and was offered to do an interview later and attend the show as guests of David Allan Coe a man that sings country and western music on jukebox radio and television.
This was exactly one of the reasons Heather loved being with me a s a couple in those years, This type of thing was not uncommon since the day that we very first met. We raced home and I quickly phoned up ( this was before cell phones replaced landlines and answering machines) my then good friend Shane Bugbee a local based promoter and publisher with a national footprint much like that of my own at the time. For a few years we were deviant bookends in the entertainment industry. He asked me if I would conduct the interview for his then locally based monthly publication C.A.N. AKA Chicago At Night. And that’s exactly what we did.
David sat with us at the front of the coach pre show alongside his then girlfriend who was much younger with a long braided beards with red white and blue beads and he told us stories about performing in prisons, the locally based biker club “The Outlaws” and that he would be recording music with members of Pantera. He also dismissed a lifelong belief of mine commenting that he was unaware of the person I had mentioned from back in Ohio. It happened in front of Heather and it was a bit embarrassing but no longer relevant as we went on with the evening and our lives joined at the hip for many rock n roll experiences over the next few years, and I would into the rest of my life. I would go onto see David Allan Coe over the years and eventually become friends with many of those directly involved in his life including the late great Nick Huffman.
The only autographed made out to me from David Allan Coe
It was a no brainer choosing my guests for this tribute I’ll be recording this afternoon. I only wish Nick Huffman were alive to be at my side.
It’s pretty bad when Dollar Tree has to lock up their candy. UPTOWN CHICAGO
A big CONGRATULATIONS to our good friend and sometimes partner in crime Dave McAnally who played guitar for the legendary industrial band PIG fronted by Raymond Watts last night at Dark Force Fest 2026 ! He is one of the hardest working and most consistent contributors to the current scene that I know. Keep an eye on tis one people.
As of 5/2/2026 this is the price of gas in the city of Chicago and its not even summer and 100% political
5/2/2026 found this signed Cheap Trick LP in my vinyl collection today!
Chicago sees wettest start to spring on record, with 10.63 inches since March 1
Chicago is in the midst of its wettest spring on record, following multiple rounds of heavy rain and severe storms in recent weeks.
It’s the first time on record that Chicago has had more than 10 inches of rain during that time period. The previous record was 9.84 inches in 2013.
An active storm track over the Great Lakes region has led to an extremely active start to severe weather season in the Chicago area. The National Weather Service reports 11 individual severe weather events in Chicagoland since January 1, when there would typically be only four severe weather events early in the year.