About The Song
“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.
Video
Lyrics
Country deejays knows that I’m an outlaw
They’d never come to see me in this dive
Where bikers stare at cowboys who are laughing at the hippies
Who are praying they’ll get outta here alive
The loud mouth in the corner’s gettin’ to me
Talking ’bout my earrings and my hair
I guess he ain’t read the signs that say I been to prison
Someone ought to warn him ‘fore I knock him off his chair
‘Cause my long hair just can’t cover up my red neck
I’ve won every fight, I’ve ever fought
Hey, I don’t need some turkey telling me that I ain’t country
And sayin’ I ain’t worth the damned ol’ ticket that he bought
‘Cause I can sing all them songs about Texas
And I still do all the sad ones that I know
They tell me, I look like Merle Haggard
And sound a lot like David Allen Coe
And the bar maid in the last town that we played in
Knew the words to every song I’d wrote
She said, Jimmy Rabbit turned her on to my last album
Just about the time the jukebox broke
Yeah, Johny Cash helped me get out of prison
Long before Rodriguez stole that goat
I’ve been the Rhinestone Cowboy for so long, I can’t remember
And I can do you every song, Hank Williams ever wrote
And I can sing all them songs about Texas
And I still do all the sad ones that I know
I can’t help it, I look like Merle Haggard
And I sound a lot like David Allen Coe
But the country deejays, all think I’m an outlaw
And they’d never come to see me in this dive
Where bikers stare at cowboys who are laughing at the hippies
Who are praying they’ll get out of here alive
The loud mouth in the corner’s gettin’ to me
Talking ’bout my earrings and my hair