David Allan Coe

David Allan Coe's been looking like a redneck version of George Clinton lately, sporting a multicolored dreadlock beard, big sunglasses, and more tattoos than Skin and Ink. But the only thing funky going on behind the Confederate flag guitar is the booze-and-broads smell of a hard-livin' country legend. The 65-year-old...

By Niki D'Andrea

December 9, 2004

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David Allan Coe's been looking like a redneck version of George Clinton lately, sporting a multicolored dreadlock beard, big sunglasses, and more tattoos than Skin and Ink. But the only thing funky going on behind the Confederate flag guitar is the booze-and-broads smell of a hard-livin' country legend. The 65-year-old Coe is one of the last surviving members of a music outlaw rank and file that includes Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, and Willie Nelson, and he's been jocked by everybody from Kid Rock to Glen Campbell. The original "Long Haired Redneck," Coe wrote all the songs for his 1968 album -- the aptly titled Penitentiary Blues -- while serving a lengthy prison term in the Ohio State Penitentiary. And while he's been a free man for years, he'll never settle down and punch a clock. After all, it was Coe who wrote "Take This Job and Shove It."

Niki D'Andrea has covered subjects including drug culture, women's basketball, pirate radio stations, Scottsdale staycations, and fine wine. She has worked at both New Times and Phoenix Magazine, and is now a freelancer.

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