David Allen Coe - Penitentiary Blues.
The album is super, super cool. The whole thing is stinging, & there `aint` a bum track on it !
When I first saw the album in Archive Records, of Surrey, it just grabbed me, & demanded I take notice. Frustratingly though, it wasn`t until my second trip that same week, that I found my intuition being able to pick up on its exciting, forceful energy. Now I`m at its mercy.
The album is heavily influenced by early Chuck Berry, with undertones of Lightnin` Hopkins, with a nod in Screaming Jay Hawkins` direction, This alone was a real head-turner for me, especially as I found myself singing along to verses more in-keeping with a Voodoo spell, than a stinging R+B track from `68 ! Check out Monkey David Wine, if you dare. Like a glass of singing moonshine from the backwaters of Billy Goat Hill, I felt totally wired after the second listen. From there on I tore through the album like I would as a passenger of Lenny Woods as he speeds round a race track, not listening to a slow/ medium Blues romp from Alabama.
Penitentiary Blues has a rare, understated, late `60`s Country/ Blues vibe running all the way through it, & in my eyes should make the album more difficult to justify purchasing, if you can find it. Why would anyone decide to buy it in a record shop when there are far superior albums that can be taken on face value, & are essential acquisitions for any self deserving collector. Theoretically it should not be up there in the annals of quality, understated gems, from the last 45 years, due to a medley of disturbing facts related to Coe`s far from healthy social outlook, but it is. And it is because its a damn hot, stinging Blues album full of superior scales & verses.
The covers is great too. It is a work of art, to be frank. A gate-fold, which is always nice, but can pose problems for the collector, as it means getting into rough, hard covers that will slice fingers after two years on the shelf, but hell, its worth it because the thing opens out like a cell door, including bars cut into the front cover. Open it carefully as it reveals a very ugly, angry looking Coe behind it staring into nothing much, looking as though Mother Jones has included him in some compiled list of their worst offenders section from 1968. Just for that its worth the now £15/ 20.00 book price it rightly commands. Continuing along this vibe be sure to delve into the rear, or ass, of the cover. The pictures on its behind look as though they could well of been stills for a first run of Deliverance, or something just as backwards, & dark. I really enjoyed the second photo showing Coe`s re-conditioned, 1966 Huc & Gabet, ambulance, sitting precariously in the center of the snap, leaving Coe looking like a serious contender for its real purpose, if he ever decided to drive it out of the state !
Certainly Penitentiary has no affiliation whatsoever with 1960`s mainstream America, socially, or politically. It is an anomaly, & in many ways, that is the point here. For buried deep in the bowels of the albums soul lay a passive, burning resentment towards the imposition of anything that is modern, or outside of Alabama. Coe clearly still carries defiantly, on those big shoulders, the pain of two hundred years of the outside worlds refusal to understand the South. Perhaps he is right ? As W.J. Cash said in The Mind Of The South; " To understand the Southern Man you got to be from the South ". So who am I to suggest he is wrong ? But what Coe is really saying here is, "Boy, you aint s`posed to get it", but what we are supposed to do is dig Coe`s particular, unique southern Voodoo Blues sound, & so we should. Because what Coe is channeling in Penitentiary is the soul of the South, with all its pain, & the spilt blood of its people over the last two hundred years. This is what Penitentiary is all about, & this is what Coe is offering; a picture into the South, & I am sure that he doesn`t care whether we `get it or not `. This is no nicely, steady as she goes approach, that White Mansions was, this is a nasty, drug induced Blues scorcher, that musically deserves any half-decent assessment in its favour. With titles like Monkey David Wine, Conjure Man, Walkin` Bum & Cell 33 your not going to get far if you get moral or uppity about this guy. So be prepared, its not an easy listen, but it is worth it.
What ever your thoughts on Penitentiary, & its harsh 12" Blues feel, in the end, & this is to Coe`s credit, you will feel a million dollars. Coe is a Conjure man, just like his closing song states, & he dosn`t lie about it. His music is honest, so are his lyrics, & although I may not like his attitude, I love this album, & that`s what counts.
Coe. through Penitentiary, if nothing else, has brought us together. He outrages, teaches, yet instills in us one thing; our mutual love of great music. Turn off your moral compass if your going to get into this kick-ass scorcher of an album, & forget about everything else. Musically its worth it, but be careful because you may find yourself, after one listen, reaching for a Stetson & high heeled boots, but remember, you don`t have a 1966 Huc & Gabet ambulance sitting out back waiting for you if it all goes wrong.
Take it easy, Brother
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