 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2024) |
| Tattoo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1977 at Columbia Studio, Quadrophonic Studios, Creative Workshop, Nashville Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 35:30 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Ron Bledsoe | |||
| David Allan Coe chronology | ||||
| ||||
Tattoo is an album by country musician David Allan Coe, released in 1977 on Columbia Records.
After his previous outlaw movement-hitching concept album Rides Again (its opening track was titled “Willie, Waylon and Me” and was reprised halfway through the running order of crossfading songs), Coe returned to a straighter country approach on 1977’s Tattoo, the title a reference to Coe’s menacingly inked frame.
The Ohio-born Coe often wrote songs remembering childhood and family set all over the south, such as “Texas Lullaby” and “I Still Sing the Old Songs,” and sang them with such conviction that many listeners assumed they were autobiographical, although his reputation for exaggerating aspects of his own past - such as claiming he’d done time on death row for murder, a boast eventually disproven – did not adhere him to some critics and fellow musicians, who viewed Coe’s creative liberties as exploitative. [1] A converse view, on the other hand, would be that Coe’s ability to carry off these songs so authentically speaks to one of his greatest strengths as a vocalist. “Daddy Was a God Fearin’ Man,” which is set in Harlan, Kentucky, is another one of these compositions where the narrator recalls visiting his grandfather as an eight-year-old boy and reminiscing about his father, who was a poor farmer and “could barely sign his name.” Although the set opens with the honky tonk bounce of “Just to Prove My Love to You,” most of Tattoo is dominated by contemplative ballads exploring traditional country themes, as noted by AllMusic critic Thom Jurek, who calls it “one of Coe's finest recordings -- it's full of love songs, divorce tunes, cheating songs, and rootsy, gutsy honky tonk playing by a stellar cast of musicians.”
Coe wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on the LP, such as “You’ll Always Live Inside of Me,’ a collaboration with Bobby Charles, which is a stone country song worthy of George Jones before breaking into a Ray Price shuffle on the chorus. (“Play it pretty,” Coe urges before the steel guitar break.) “Play Me a Sad Song,” is similar to the Tammy Wynette hit “Apartment#9” in structure, and even quotes the line “Loneliness surrounds me” on the chorus, while the regretful “Face to Face,” another Coe original, is a cry-in-your-beer tune that laments “Now it’s time to share the pain." Other songs on the album have more complex arrangements without sacrificing this country sound, largely because of Coe’s soulful delivery. As Jurek writes:
"Maria Is a Mystery" features some of the most haunting imagery in any Coe song, and he follows it with the amazing "Just in Time to Watch Love Die," before a deeply moving read of "Frisco Mabel Joy." The album closes with "Hey Gypsy," a dramatic, fully orchestrated plea for wanderers to return to a place of solace. It sounds like Coe is so haunted by these songs that he's looking directly into the depths of the mirror of his own soul.
Tattoo was Coe's third release of 1977 and would reach number 38 on the country music albums chart.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
AllMusic wrote: "This is easily one of the finest country records issued in the 1970s." [2]
All songs written by David Allan Coe, except where noted.
David Allan Coe is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He 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".
Dwight David Yoakam is an American country singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.. Yoakam had considerable success throughout the late 1980s onward, with a total of ten studio albums for Reprise Records. Later projects have been released on Audium, New West, Warner, and Sugar Hill Records.
Billy Joe Shaver was an American country singer and songwriter. He was a prominent figure in progressive and outlaw country.
Honky Tonk Heroes is a country music album by Waylon Jennings, released in 1973 on RCA Victor. With the exception of the final track on the album, "We Had It All", all of the songs on the album were written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver. The album is considered an important piece in the development of the outlaw sub-genre in country music as it revived the honky tonk music of Nashville and added elements of rock and roll to it.
This Time is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1974, at the peak of the outlaw country movement. It was produced by Jennings and Willie Nelson.
Black on Black is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
Mark Nelson Chesnutt is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of eight albums between those two labels. During this timespan, Chesnutt also charted twenty top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which eight reached number one: "Brother Jukebox", "I'll Think of Something", "It Sure Is Monday", "Almost Goodbye", "I Just Wanted You to Know", "Gonna Get a Life", "It's a Little Too Late", and a cover of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing". His first three albums for MCA along with a 1996 Greatest Hits package issued on Decca are all certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); 1994's What a Way to Live, also issued on Decca, is certified gold. After a self-titled album in 2002 on Columbia Records, Chesnutt has continued to record predominantly on independent labels.
The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy is the third album of American singer David Allan Coe, and his first on Columbia Records. Released in 1974, it is his first release in the country music genre.
Once Upon a Rhyme is the fourth studio album by American country singer David Allan Coe. It was released in 1975 on Columbia.
Longhaired Redneck is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1976 on Columbia.
Rides Again is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1977 on Columbia.
Family Album is an album by country musician David Allan Coe, released in 1978 by Columbia Records.
Human Emotions is an album by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1978 on Columbia.
Compass Point is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1979 on Columbia.
I've Got Something to Say is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1980 on Columbia. Guy Clark, Bill Anderson, Dickey Betts, Kris Kristofferson, Larry Jon Wilson, and George Jones are all featured on this album.
Invictus (Means) Unconquered is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1981 on Columbia.
"You Ask Me To" is a song written by Billy Joe Shaver and Waylon Jennings. It was originally recorded by Jennings on his 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes. This record spent fifteen weeks on the Billboard country singles charts, reaching a peak of number eight. Shaver recorded his own version in 1977 titled "You Asked Me To" in the past tense for the album Gypsy Boy, with special guest Willie Nelson on guitar and vocals. "You Ask Me To" also appeared as the closing song on Elvis Presley's 1975 album Promised Land. It was recorded in December 1973 at Stax Records studios in Memphis and released on Presley's 40th birthday. It also appeared with an alternate arrangement in Elvis Presley's posthumous 1981 album Guitar Man, which reached the Top 50 in the US.
Darlin', Darlin' is an album released by the country musician David Allan Coe on Columbia Records in 1985.
Son of the South is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1986 on Columbia.
"Crazy Dreams" is a song first recorded by American country singer Patsy Cline. It was composed by Charles Beam, Charles L. Jiles and W.S. Stevenson. It was released as a single in 1960 and was produced by Owen Bradley. It was the last single released on Cline's contract with Four Star Records, which terminated in 1960.
