Son of the South is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1986 on Columbia.
By 1986, country music entered a new phase as a crop of younger country stars like George Strait, Randy Travis, and Dwight Yoakam emerged to become a dominating presence on country radio. In the coming years, older country stars would find it more difficult to get airplay and see sales dip. Even Johnny Cash, whose name had been synonymous with country music for decades, was dropped by Columbia in 1985. Coe, who originally made a name for himself as a songwriter, composing the 1973 Tanya Tucker hit âÂÂWould You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)âÂÂ, gained prominence as part of the 1970s outlaw country movement and steadily released albums throughout the 1980s produced by Billy Sherrill, scoring his biggest hit in 1984 when âÂÂMona Lisa Lost Her Smileâ peaked at #2.
Son of the South is a summit of sorts, being the first time fellow outlaw legends Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Jessie Colter appeared on a Coe release. Coe composed âÂÂWillie, Waylon, and Meâ for his 1977 album Rides Again, aligning himself with the outlaw movement (although some critics and fellow musicians viewed this as a dubious imposition), and maintained friendships with both men, despite Jennings cool treatment towards him at times. Jennings drummer Richie Albright called Coe âÂÂa great, great songwriter. A great singer. But he could not tell the truth if it was better than a lie heâÂÂd made up. Waylon didnâÂÂt make him comfortable enough to hang around. But Willie did. I was around Willie quite a bit and David Allan was with him eighty percent of the time. Willie allowed him to hang around.â In his autobiography, Jennings mentions Coe once (in a chapter titled âÂÂThe Outlaw ShitâÂÂ), calling him âÂÂthe most sincere of the bunchâ of bandwagon jumpers, but contends âÂÂWhen it came to being an Outlaw, the worst thing he ever did was double parking on Music Row.â Jennings also writes:
Jennings and wife Jesse Colter join Coe on Colter's âÂÂStorms Never Last,â which incorporates a light Caribbean feel, while Jennings and Nelson contribute vocals to Coe's composition âÂÂI Hate Love.â Nelson joins Coe by himself on the mournful ballad âÂÂIâÂÂve Already Cheated on You,â a song the pair wrote together. Another duet, âÂÂCouldnâÂÂt Do Anything Rightâ features Karen Brooks, one of Coe's favourite songwriters and regular duet partner. Coe only contributed one original song to his last album Unchained, but appears to have found his muse on this LP, having a hand in writing more than half the songs, including âÂÂThe Country Boy (Who Rolled the Rock Away),â a tribute to Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, and Elvis Presley that reached #44 on the country singles chart, and the love song âÂÂTo Help You Love Again,â a co-write with fellow songwriting maverick Shel Silverstein. Of the song "Gemini Girl" Coe later stated, "That song was about one of the weirdest relationships that I was ever in - with the gemini person. I never was able to catch onto the whole 'twin thing.' You have to understand that when they are one, they are not the other." Coe also helped compose the title track, on which is heard Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts.
Coe's album covers had been provocative in the past, like the 1977 release Texas Moon, which displays Coe and his associates mooning the camera, and the 1978 release Family Album, which AllMusic Thom Jurek calls âÂÂone of the most bizarre covers in David Allan Coe's - hell, anybody's - catalog. He is dressed in a minister's black, flowing robe with an Amish hat, a little blonde girl in his lap, his two - yes, two (of three at one time) - wives standing behind him, and behind them, a black Lincoln Town Car and Coe's Silver Eagle tour bus. The album is dedicated to his two mothers - he's apparently from a Mormon family - and stipulates how difficult it is for a child to have two mothers. It's so surreal one is almost afraid to play the recording.â The cover of Son of the South â Coe, sitting, holding a baby with a Confederate flag draped over his shoulders â was one more in a series of decisions that occasionally alienated Coe from the country mainstream, although Coe did print a message on the back of the album to diffuse any potential backlash:
The line âÂÂRegardless of what youâÂÂve heard about meâ likely refers to Coe's reputation as a misogynist and a racist, stemming from two independently released albums of explicit material, 1978's Nothing Sacred and 1982's Underground Album, which Neil Strauss called "among the most racist, misogynist, homophobic and obscene songs recorded by a popular songwriter." It is not surprising, then, that the cover of Son of the South would be reinforce negative opinions about Coe. Interestingly, the first born son mentioned in Coe's message, Tyler Mahan Coe, currently is the creator of the popular podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones, which deep dives into the history of country music in the twentieth century. Tyler once toured in Coe's band before being allegedly fired.
Son of the South reached #31 on the country albums chart.