Requiem for a Harlequin
Requiem for a Harlequin | ||||
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Studio album by David Allan Coe | ||||
Released | 1970 | |||
Genre | Psychedelic[1] | |||
Length | 31:39 | |||
Label | SSS International | |||
David Allan Coe chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
Requiem for a Harlequin is the second album by David Allan Coe.[4][5] It was released in 1970 on SSS International Records.[6] There are no track names; side one is named, "The Beginning" and side two, "The End".
It is a concept album in which Coe repeatedly uses the phrase "Asphalt Jungle" to describe the life he grew up in. Reoccurring themes include hard tales of life, love, relationships, the Civil Rights Movement, 60's Counter Culture ideology, and modern society. The record is entirely spoken word (self described by Coe in recent years as "The first rap album") with backing music encompassing a wide variety of genres including rock and roll, blues, folk, and gospel.
The liner notes on the back of the album cover describe how David Allan Coe and his foster father, Jack, wrote the lyrics to the album serving time in a maximum security block in an Ohio prison.
Critical reception
Phoenix New Times called Requiem for a Harlequin a "politically charged psychedelic concept album [...] a stylistic aberration [that] presaged Coe's fondness for the outré and counter-establishment."[1]
Track listing
All songs written by David Allan Coe
- "The Beginning" (Side A) - 15:59
- "The End" (Side B) - 15:40
References
- ^ a b Outhier, Craig. "David Allan Coe Versus Insane Clown Posse". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
- ^ AllMusic
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE. p. 449.
- ^ Thrasher, Don (10 Dec 2010). "THE RENEGADE: DAVID ALLAN COE IS AN ENDURING OUTLAW LEGEND". Dayton Daily News: G4.
- ^ The Comprehensive Country Music Encyclopedia. Times Books. 1994. p. 73.
- ^ "Artist Biography by Mark Deming". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- Penitentiary Blues
- Requiem for a Harlequin
- The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy
- Once Upon a Rhyme
- Longhaired Redneck
- Rides Again
- Texas Moon
- Tattoo
- Family Album
- Nothing Sacred
- Human Emotions
- Compass Point
- Spectrum VII
- I've Got Something to Say
- Invictus (Means) Unconquered
- Underground Album
- Rebel Meets Rebel
- 17 Greatest Hits
- For the Record: The First 10 Years
- The Essential David Allan Coe
- "You Never Even Called Me by My Name"
- "Longhaired Redneck"
- "Stand by Your Man"
- "Tennessee Whiskey"
- "Dock of the Bay"
- "Take Time to Know Her"
- "The Ride"
- "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile"
- "She Used to Love Me a Lot"
- "I'm Gonna Hurt Her on the Radio"
- Discography
- Johnny Paycheck
- "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)"
- "Take This Job and Shove It"