David Allan Coe

Face it: David Allan Coe is tougher than you. The tattooed Texan crooner of country classics such as “Truck Driving Man” and “Tennessee Whiskey” has a renegade’s background that wilts your résumé like a daisy before a flamethrower. You weren’t orphaned at nine. You didn’t go to reform school before your first wet dream. You didn’t kill a guy in the pen for requesting oral sex. And, as a result, you’ll never have the right to sing lines such as Jack Daniels, if you please/Knock me to my knees/You can kill this pain that’s driving me insane. His musical résumé is no less impressive. He penned the greatest employee kiss-off in the annals of American class warfare, “Take This Job and Shove It” (made famous by Johnny Paycheck). He called himself the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy well before Glen Campbell lifted the moniker for his chart-topping smash. He has written tunes for everyone from Willie Nelson to Tanya Tucker to Kid Rock. But lest you think he’s all piss and vinegar, give a listen to the heart-melting “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile.” You’ll be crying down the barrel of your gun.