David Allan Coe Dies: “Outlaw” Country Singer Who Wrote Defiant ‘Take This Job And Shove It’ Was 86
He was not on the list.
David Allan Coe, the country singer-songwriter who helped
define Nashville’s “outlaw” sound of the 1970s and ’80s, and wrote “Take This
Job and Shove It,” the song that would become the anthem of disaffected workers
during the economic upheaval of the decade, died at a hospital Wednesday, April
29. He was 86.
His death was announced by his wife to Rolling Stone
magazine. A cause and exact location of death were not disclosed. Coe
reportedly was hospitalized several years ago with Covid-19 and had mostly
retreated from public appearances since then, though it is not known whether
Covid played a part in his passing.
Along with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris
Kristofferson, Jessi Colter and others, Coe was a major part of the “outlaw
country” movement that swept Nashville in the mid-1970s, offering listeners a
rougher, rawer, more rebellious back-to-the-roots approach to country than the
slick, string-heavy pop-ish “Nashville Sound,” or “Countrypolitan,” that had
been dominant since the 1960s.
While Coe was a noted country singer in his own right, with
hits, written by others, including “You Never Even Call Me by My Name,”
“Tennessee Whiskey” and “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile,” his most lasting impact was
perhaps as a songwriter. His “Take This Job and Shove It,” with its
smack-you-in-the-face opening lyric (“Take this job and shove it/I ain’t
workin’ here no more/A woman done left and took all the reasons/I was working
for”) was a massive and influential hit for the singer Johnny Paycheck in 1977.
The song was so popular that it inspired a feature film
comedy of the same name in 1981. Directed by Gus Trikonis and starring Robert
Hays, Barbara Hershey, Art Carney, and David Keith, the Take This Job And Shove
It cast also included Coe and Paycheck in small roles.
Several years before “Take This Job…” became a smash, Coe
wrote “Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone),” a song that became a 1974
hit for a teenaged Tanya Tucker.
Born September 6, 1939, in Akron, Ohio, Coe did time in
reformatories during his youth and, from 1963 to 1967 was imprisoned in Ohio
for possession of burglary tools. His first album, 1970’s Penitentiary Blues,
features songs he wrote while in prison. Four years later he recorded the album
The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy, which he publicized by performing in a
sparkly suit and a mask.
Unlike the more conservative, clean-cut country stars of the
’60s, Coe and the other “outlaws” took on a biker look – Coe himself had been
part of a biker gang – that included long hair, beards, tattoos and cowboy
hats. One of his hits, 1976’s “Longhaired Redneck,” summed up the image in one
song title. The look, as well as the sounds, would make a lasting impact on
country music.
Throughout his long popularity, Coe toured with Willie
Nelson, Neil Young and even Kid Rock. Along the way, he wrote and recorded
albums and songs that pushed boundaries with their racy lyrics, particularly on
the 1978 album Nothing Sacred and 1982’s Underground Album. Sexually explicit,
the songs also included lyrics that were racist and homophobic, songs he would
later regret. In a 2001 Billboard magazine interview, he said, “Those were
meant to be sung around the campfire for bikers, and I still don’t sing those
songs in concert.”
In later years Coe had serious tussles with the IRS, causing
debt, bankruptcy and the lost of publishing rights to even his biggest hits.
His final album, in which he collaborated with heavy metal’s Dimebag Darrell
and other former members of Pantera, was released in 2006.
Complete information on survivors was not immediately
available.
Actor
Beer for My Horses (2008)
Beer for My Horses
4.9
Gypsy Gene
2008
Rebel Meets Rebel: Nothin' to Lose
Music Video
David Allan Coe (as Rebel Meets Rebel)
2006
Brad William Henke and Sam Trammell in Going to California
(2001)
Going to California
7.9
TV Series
Arlin
2002
1 episode
Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon
Jennings in Stagecoach (1986)
Stagecoach
5.9
TV Movie
Ike Plummer
1986
Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash in The
Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986)
The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James
6.2
TV Movie
Whiskeyhead Ryan
1986
Take This Job and Shove It (1981)
Take This Job and Shove It
5.0
Mooney
1981
Lady Grey (1980)
Lady Grey
5.7
Black Jack Donovan
1980
Earl Owensby in Seabo (1978)
Seabo
5.3
Rebstock
1978
Composer
Lesbian Ho'Down at the Bunnyranch
7.1
Composer
2000
Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon
Jennings in Stagecoach (1986)
Stagecoach
5.9
TV Movie
Composer
1986
Earl Owensby in Seabo (1978)
Seabo
5.3
Composer
1978
David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone (1975)
David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone
7.0
TV Movie
Composer
1975
Writer
Take This Job and Shove It (1981)
Take This Job and Shove It
5.0
song
1981
Soundtrack
Ethan Hawke, Keith David, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong in The
Lowdown (2025)
The Lowdown
7.3
TV Series
performer: "You Never Even Called Me by My Name"
2025
1 episode
Jay J. Bidwell and Carmen Nixon in Sue Bob & Hank (2017)
Sue Bob & Hank
Short
performer: "If That Ain't Country"writer: "If
That Ain't Country"
2017
Dwayne Johnson in Ballers (2015)
Ballers
7.6
TV Series
writer: "Take This Job and Shove It" (uncredited)
2016
1 episode
Will Forte and Kristen Schaal in The Last Man on Earth
(2015)
The Last Man on Earth
7.4
TV Series
performer: "The Fish Aren't Bitin' Today"writer:
"The Fish Aren't Bitin' Today" (uncredited, uncredited)
2015
1 episode
Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll in Jackass Presents: Bad
Grandpa (2013)
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
6.5
performer: "You Never Even Called Me by My Name"
2013
Travis Pastrana in Nitro Circus (2009)
Nitro Circus
7.6
TV Series
performer: "Take This Job and Shove It"writer:
"Take This Job and Shove It"
2009
1 episode
Squidbillies (2005)
Squidbillies
6.6
TV Series
Soundtrack ("The Okaleechee Dam Jam")
2008
1 episode
John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie
Bibb, and Sacha Baron Cohen in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
(2006)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
6.6
performer: "Walking Bum"
2006
Jason Lee, Jaime Pressly, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Steeples, and
Nadine Velazquez in My Name Is Earl (2005)
My Name Is Earl
7.8
TV Series
writer: "Take This Job And Shove It"
2006
1 episode
Mary-Louise Parker in Weeds (2005)
Weeds
7.9
TV Series
performer: "Don't Bite the Dick"
2005
1 episode
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
6.2
performer: "Linda Lovelace"writer: "Linda
Lovelace"
2004
Big Eden (2000)
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7.3
performer: "A Sad Country Song"writer: "A Sad
Country Song"
2000
Version A, 1 sheet
Office Space
7.6
writer: "Shove This Jay-Oh-Bee"
1999
Nice Guys Sleep Alone (1999)
Nice Guys Sleep Alone
5.7
performer: "You Never Even Call Me By My Name"
1999
John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, and Patrick Swayze in To Wong
Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
6.8
performer: "Stand By Your Man"
1995
Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, and
Yeardley Smith in The Simpsons (1989)
The Simpsons
8.6
TV Series
writer: "Take This Job and Shove It" (uncredited)
1994
1 episode
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988)
Mystery Science Theater 3000
8.6
TV Series
writer: "Take This Job and Shove It"
1989
1 episode
Hit the Road Running (1983)
Hit the Road Running
6.7
performer: "Hit the Road Running"
1983
Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Patrick
Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, and Ralph Macchio in The Outsiders (1983)
The Outsiders
7.0
performer: "Jack Daniels If You Please"
1983
Take This Job and Shove It (1981)
Take This Job and Shove It
5.0
lyrics: "I Love Robbing Banks", "Take This
Job and Shove It"music: "I Love Robbing Banks", "Take This
Job and Shove It"performer: "You Can Count on Beer", "How
Good It Used to Be", "I Love Robbing Banks"
1981
El Paso Wrecking Corp.
6.9
writer: "Take This Job and Shove It" (uncredited)
1978
Ernie Sigley in The Ernie Sigley Show (1974)
The Ernie Sigley Show
6.8
TV Series
writer: "Would You Lay with Me (in a Field of
Stone)"
1974
1 episode
Music Department
Hit the Road Running (1983)
Hit the Road Running
6.7
singer: title song
1983
Thanks
Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story (2017)
Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story
7.8
special thanks
2017
Self
Take This Job
Video
Self
2017
Heartworn Highways Revisited (2015)
Heartworn Highways Revisited
7.1
Self
2015
Squidbillies (2005)
Squidbillies
6.6
TV Series
Self (uncredited)
2008
1 episode
American Music: Off the Record (2008)
American Music: Off the Record
6.6
Self
2008
Field of Stone
Self
2007
Johnny Cash: God's Gonna Cut You Down (2006)
Johnny Cash: God's Gonna Cut You Down
7.6
Music Video
Self (uncredited)
2006
CMT Outlaws 2005 (2005)
CMT Outlaws 2005
TV Special
Self - Performer
2005
CMT Outlaws (2004)
CMT Outlaws
9.6
TV Special
Self - Performer
2004
David Allan Coe: Live at Billy Bob's Texas (2002)
David Allan Coe: Live at Billy Bob's Texas
Video
Self
2002
Earl Owensby, the Man... the Myth (1997)
Earl Owensby, the Man... the Myth
Video
Self
1997
Roy Orbison in Episode #13.3 (1982)
Sing Country
TV Series
Self
1987
1 episode
World Championship Wrestling (1985)
World Championship Wrestling
8.1
TV Series
Self - Entertainer
1986–1987
2 episodes
Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, June Carter Cash, Johnny
Cash, Larry Gatlin, Tom T. Hall, and Waylon Jennings in Johnny Cash: The First
25 Years (1980)
Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years
8.4
TV Special
Self
1980
Atoka (1979)
Atoka
Self
1979
90 Minutes Live (1976)
90 Minutes Live
5.4
TV Series
Self
1978
1 episode
All You Need Is Love (1977)
All You Need Is Love
7.6
TV Series
Self
1977
1 episode
Townes van Zandt in Heartworn Highways (1976)
Heartworn Highways
7.8
Self
1976
David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone (1975)
David Allan Coe: The Mysterious Rhinestone
7.0
TV Movie
Self
1975
Archive Footage
Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story (2017)
Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story
7.8
Self (archive footage)
2017
Rare Southern Gospel Singing Celebration
Video
Self - Performer (archive footage)
2010
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