Longhaired Redneck (song) explained

Longhaired Redneck
Type:single
Artist:David Allan Coe
Album:Longhaired Redneck
B-Side:"Would You Lay with Me"[1]
Released:January 1976
Genre:Country, Outlaw country
Length:3:24
Label:Columbia
Producer:Ron Bledsoe
Prev Title:You Never Even Called Me by My Name
Prev Year:1975
Next Title:When She's Got Me (Where She Wants Me)
Next Year:1976

"Longhaired Redneck" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist David Allan Coe. It was released in January 1976 as the lead single from Coe's album of the same name. The song is notable for its direct reference to the "outlaw" movement in country music during the 1970s, with which Coe was associated, as well as the chorus which features Coe impersonating classic country artists Ernest Tubb, "Whisperin'" Bill Anderson, and Merle Haggard. The song also makes reference to Johnny Rodriguez stealing an Angora goat from a ranch near Utopia, Texas owned by Uvalde County Judge Bob Davis, which ultimately led to Rodriguez being discovered. The song peaked at number 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and at number 23 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. It was written by Coe with Jimmy Rabbitt, who is also a popular radio DJ in Texas.[2]

Cover versions

GG Allin, the American punk rock singer-songwriter best remembered for his notorious live performances, covered the song with rewritten and parodied (explicit) lyrics on his album Freaks, Faggots, Drunks and Junkies. He retitled the song "Outlaw Scumfuc".[3]

Finnish country rock band Freud Marx Engels & Jung recorded the song in Finnish as Pitkätukkainen punaniska in 1986. It is almost a verbatim translation of the original.

Chart performance

Chart (1976)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles17
Canadian RPM Country Tracks23

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. 2008. 98. 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. Web site: 脱毛サロンで受ける光脱毛はじわじわと . Jimmyrabbitt.com . 2016-10-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120304023730/http://www.jimmyrabbitt.com/rabbittbio.htm . 2012-03-04 . dead .
  3. Web site: Freaks, Faggots, Drunks, & Junkies . January 1988 . Aware One Records . 2012-02-14.