Tattoo
and
Family Album
mark
singer/songwriter
David Allan Coe
's fifth and sixth albums for
Columbia
, respectively, issued in 1977 and 1978. They also make up the third volume of
Bear Family
's
Columbia Records
retrospective covering the years 1974-1981. The issue of
marked the third album
Coe
issued in 1977. First there was the often-angry
Rides Again
, where the "Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy" made his final recorded appearance; then the self-released
Texas Moon
, recorded on the road; and finally
.
also marks the beginning of
's association with
Billy Sherrill
(though
Ron Bledsoe
would remain with him until 1980's
Invictus Means Unconcquered
).
mark a far more sensitive side of
features more love songs than most
records, and there are some fine ones, such as
"Just to Prove My Love for You,"
"Face to Face,"
"You'll Always Live Inside of Me,"
"Just in Time (To Watch Love Die)."
centers more on the connection to one's roots and connections not only between
and his family of origin (raised a Mormon, he was the son of polygamy), but his progeny and the concept of family as a universal concept. Inexplicably, in keeping with his contradictory nature,
also contains the classic
"Take This Job and Shove It,"
which
Johnny Paycheck
took to number one, and the tasteless
"Divers Do It Deeper,"
which sounds more like
Jimmy Buffett
than
. These albums are generally overlooked in
's catalog and shouldn't be; they are consistent, literate, and represent the other side of the
outlaw
persona
worked so hard to create. ~ Thom Jurek