David Allan Coe's Racist Songs Are a Huge Part of the Country Singer's Career

Following the news that country music singer David Allan Coe had died at the age of 86, many are now looking back at the singer's life and legacy. Although his fans might have called him a country music outlaw, a huge part of Coe's lasting legacy comes from the racism that infused his music throughout his career.

If you weren't already familiar with Coe's work, you might not realize just how frequently he used stereotypes and racial slurs in his work. Here's what you need to know about the racism in his music.

Although Coe used racist slurs throughout his musical career, the most prolific examples come on two underground albums that he released in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which use the terms liberally. The New York Times reported on the albums at the time, saying that one song contained a line in its chorus saying that some Black people ''never die/They just smell that way.'' In another, he rails against white women who marry Black men.

Coe has not disowned this music, and was in fact selling it on his website in 2000 when The Times published their report. Kid Rock, who is now closely tied to President Trump, was among Coe's biggest fans and boosters at the time.

In an interview with Country Standard Time, Coe said that the paper had mischaracterized the songs. He said, “They couldn't call me a racist or White supremacist because that wasn't true."

"I've got a Black drummer who's married to a White chick," Coe added. "I've got [Black former heavyweight boxing champion] Leon Spinks pictures all over my bus, pictures he took with my family. My hair's in dreadlocks. I'm the farthest thing from a White supremacist that anybody could ever be. I'm really [ticked] off, ya know." He also added that he had sold the rights to the songs in bankruptcy, and was no longer making money off of them.

The Austin Chronicle reported that Coe had a letter on his website at the time in which he explained why he was selling the underground CDs. “I was a young man living with a motorcycle club. . . . I had given up on any commercial success and country radio wouldn't play my songs anyway. . . . I made these albums for bikers to play at parties . . . . Not everyone appreciates biker humor, even in music,” he wrote.

“I don't apologize for these albums, because they are very funny, but don't expect me to sing these songs at my shows!" he added.

These were not the only times that Coe used racism in his music, and he was also known for being closely associated with the Confederate flag.

Although there was plenty of evidence to suggest Coe's racism, he claimed he was not racist. What's less clear is whether that's also true of the many people who loved his music.