Longhaired Redneck was Coe's third album for Columbia in three years and the first where he wrote or co-wrote all the songs. Coe had already written several hits for other artists and scored his own Top 10hit in 1975 with the Steve Goodman-John Prine composition “You Never Even Called Me by My Name.” By 1976 the outlaw country movement was in full swing as artists such as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson were finally enjoying massive commercial success after years of fighting to record their music their own way. Coe, however, was still somewhat of an outsider, almost too outlaw for the outlaws, a predicament summed up well by Thom Jurek in his AllMusic review of the LP: The outlaw country zeitgeist was summed up well in the title track of Longhaired Redneck, which recounts playing in a dive “where bikers stare at cowboys who are laughing at the hippies who are praying they'll get out of here alive.” The song, which has an unmistakable rock swagger, features Coe performing an impressive imitation of Ernest Tubb, making it irretrievably country as well, illustrating the dichotomy of what was being referred to as "progressive" country music. Coe later explained, “It was terminology that I'd made up at the time. I was trying to tell people that not everybody with long hair was a hippie. Not everyone was the kind of person that thought you could punch them out, take their money and that they'd say, 'I won't do nothin' about it.'” The song is also an early example of Coe's penchant for namedropping, as he mentions Merle Haggard and proclaims “Johnny Cash helped me get out of prison.” Several of the songs, such as the prison lament “Revenge” and “Living on the Run,” play up to the outlaw image, while “Spotlight” explores the lonely wasted existence of a country singer. and advises the press, “Don't waste your time or your flashbulbs, too many heroes are dead.” Conversely, Longhaired Redneck also contains songs with warmer themes, such as “Texas Lullaby” and “Family Reunion,” which boasts multilayered harmonies and an allusion to the bluegrass classic "Fox on the Run". “Free Born Ramblin’ Man” is a more obvious derivative paean to Southern rock, with its Allman Brothers-like guitar intro and title evoking that band's biggest hit. Coe is backed by The Nashville Edition and The Jordanaires on vocals, as well as some of Nashville's top session musicians such as Reggie Young and Charlie McCoy.
Reception
AllMusic praised the album, opining "Like most of Coe's '70s material, this one's essential outlaw country that stands the test of time," but scorned the LP's closing track "Dakota the Dancing Bear, Part II," as "an exercise in cynical, pointless counterculture idiocy and, unfortunately, was the first of Coe's 'novelty' songs."
Track listing
All Songs written by David Allan Coe except where noted.
