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According to a 2015 article in the American Spectator magazine, Ray Charles was once asked why he liked country music. Ray’s reply was simple: “It’s the stories, man. Listen to the stories.”
If you’ve spent as much time immersed in music as I have, sometimes you want to know the stories behind the songs and artists you love. I’ve read a number of musical biographies and am often looking to read more (Springsteen, you’re next).
If you want the depth of biography without spending quite that amount of time, podcasts are another choice. A new one came out last year that you may love if you love the history of country music. It’s called “Cocaine and Rhinestones” and is produced by Tyler Mahan Coe.
It’s been over a year since the first season of the podcast started, and it was a great one, covering a variety of subjects. The Bakersfield sound gets an in-depth treatment, with two long episodes on Buck Owens and Don Rich. The oft-told story of Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee,” which I’ve also written about, takes up an episode. The final episode of the season also delved into that sound, focusing on the career of pedal steel guitar virtuoso Ralph Mooney.
Often Coe chooses a subject, usually an artist because there is a story around that person he wants to tell. It may be a certain sub-genre of the music, like Cajun music told through the lives of Doug and Rusty Kershaw, or pop influences in country music told through Wynonna Judd’s life story.
Sometimes, a single song can provide that focal point, such as when he spent three episodes on the song “Harper Valley PTA,” telling the story from the point of view of the producer, Shelby S. Singleton, the songwriter, Tom T. Hall, and the artist, Jeannie C. Riley. Coe isn’t shy about delving into controversial topics, such as when he covers Spade Cooley, the major early country music star who brutally tortured and murdered his wife.
He pulls together a variety of sources, but Coe is the single force behind the podcast, writing and producing each episode himself. In all of the topics he covers, he seems to drive for objectivity. You’ll hear him praising an artist’s talents in one sentence, then telling you in blunt terms that parts of their autobiography are fiction.
If there’s an easy lesson to be learned here, it is to treat many of these autobiographies, and some biographies, with a huge grain of salt. People often re-write their own history, intentionally or not. Multiple sources and checking one against another helps one understand better what is the likely truth of the matter.
If you want to delve further into any of the topics, Coe makes that easy, proving a transcript of each episode and a list of the sources on his web site. The number of books he uses is impressive.
There’s a lot to be learned here, even if you know the basic stories. I was familiar with the controversy over Loretta Lynn’s song, “The Pill,” but according to Coe’s research, Lynn had more songs banned from country radio stations (9) than all male country music artists of the 20th century combined (5). There has long been a gender double standard in the genre, which has only expanded in recent years with women getting little airplay. But still, that statistic was surprising.
In case you recognized the name, yes Coe is the son of country musician David Allan Coe. Obviously, there would be a lot that could be explored in the life of the elder Coe, his songwriting, his time in prison, allegations of plagiarism, and the controversial underground albums that have damaged his reputation and legacy.
But no “dad episode” is planned. Tyler Mahan Coe states that he is uncertain whether he could approach the topic with the same level of objectivity, which is quite understandable.
Though he hasn’t announced the schedule, topics, or timeline, Coe says that seasons two and three of the podcast are both planned. Given the work involved, it may take some time to get them produced.
One can only wait and anticipate. In the meantime, check out season one of Cocaine and Rhinestones wherever you get your podcasts.
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