''Invictus (Means) Unconquered'' is an album released by

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

musician

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. He ini ...

. It was released in 1981 on Columbia.

Recording

With its radio-friendly sound and guest duets, Coe's previous album ''I've Got Something to Say'' was an attempt to reach a wider country audience, and this process is continued on ''Invictus (Means) Unconquered'', with producer

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regar ...

couching the songs in tasteful instrumentation that put the spotlight squarely on Coe's voice. In his

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review of the album, Thom Jurek calls the LP "arguably the finest album of his career" and singles out Coe's vocals for particular praise: ''Invitus'' is also noteworthy in that Coe only had a hand in writing just four of its ten songs, although considering the songwriter had produced ten albums of nearly all original material for Columbia in seven years, a creative dry spell was understandable. " A Boy Named Sue" songwriter

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

contributes three songs, including "Someplace to Come When It Rains", which gets a sensitive reading from Coe, and the parting-of-the-ways tune "If You Ever Think of Me", which the pair composed together. They also collaborated with Karen Brooks on the lustful “The Best Game in Town,” and this song, along with the hopeful “As Far as This Feeling Will Take Us,” is sung by Coe and Brooks as duets in the classic

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

tradition. Coe wrote "Ain't It Funny the Way Love Can Do Ya" with songwriting couple Guy and Susanna Clark, and wrote the

John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (; June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He commanded the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing twenty-four banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprison ...

-inspired outlaw anthem “I Love Robbing Banks" with

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff ...

. Whether prompted by commercial aspirations or not, the covers that Coe and Sherrill chose to fill out the album were inspired. The opener, "Rose Knows", is the classic cheating tale filled with the paranoia of a man dreading that his wife is suspicious of his trysts, while the Bobby David-Ray Kennedy tune "The Purple Heart", which Sherrill infuses with the classic "Ray Price shuffle", uses war as a metaphor to show the bitterness and heartbreak of a love gone sour. ("You put me out of action so many times before and left me on the battlefield to bleed...") Coe also covers the outlaw classic "London Homesick Blues", popularised by

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He also wrote t ...

, and, more curiously, the Tammy Wynette classic "

Stand by Your Man "Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by the American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album '' Stand by Your Man''. ...

". Coe plays it straight on the song, which was written by Wynette and Sherrill, and is heartfelt and moving, taking on a new meaning in a man's voice - more of a plea than a declaration. (This would be taken to the extreme the following year when the heavy metal band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

and Wendy O. Williams would also cover the song.) Released as the album's single, Coe's "Stand by Your Man" reached No. 88 on the charts.

Reception

Like many Coe albums of this era, ''Invictus (Means) Unconquered'' was a mediocre commercial success, making it to No. 67 on the country albums chart.

wrote: "From top to bottom, ''Invictus Means Unconquered'' towers above most country records not only of the era, but of all time. It's a quintessential example of everything country music can achieve when it is honest, true, and from the center of a broken heart."

Track listing

#"Rose Knows" (Don Goodman, Mary Ann Kennedy, Pam Rose) – 2:27 #"Ain't It Funny the Way Love Can Do Ya" (Coe,

, Susanna Clark) – 2:40 #"If You Ever Think of Me at All" (Coe,

) – 2:48 #"The Purple Heart" (Bobby David, Ray Kennedy) – 3:11 #"London Homesick Blues" (Gary P. Nunn) – 3:00 #"

" (

) – 3:27 #"As Far as This Feeling Will Take Us" (with Karen Brooks) (Buzz Rabin, Flash Gordon) – 2:55 #"Someplace to Come When It Rains" (Shel Silverstein) – 3:31 #"The Best Game in Town" (with Karen Brooks) (Coe, Shel Silverstein, Karen Brooks) – 3:04 #"I Love Robbing Banks" (Coe,

) – 2:29

Personnel

, Karen Brooks –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* The Nashville Edition –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Billy Sanford, Jimmy Capps,

Tommy Allsup Thomas Douglas Allsup (November 24, 1931 – January 11, 2017) was an American rockabilly and swing musician. Personal life Allsup was born near Owasso, Oklahoma, in 1931, and was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. Allsup had a son, ...

, Phil Baugh –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Pete Drake Roddis Franklin "Pete" Drake (October 8, 1932 – July 29, 1988) was a Nashville-based American record producer and pedal steel guitar player. One of the most sought-after backup musicians of the 1960s, Drake played on such hits as Lynn Anders ...

, Dale Seigfreid –

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

* Henry Strzelecki,

Joe Osborn Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

Kenny Malone Kenny Malone (August 4, 1938 – August 26, 2021) was an American drummer and percussionist. Life and career Malone was born in Denver, Colorado. From the 1970s onwards, he was a prominent session musician in folk, country and many other acousti ...

Jerry Carrigan Jerry Kirby Carrigan (September 13, 1943 – June 22, 2019) was an American drummer and record producer. Early in his career he was a member of the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later worked as a session musician in Nashville for over ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Hargus "Pig" Robbins Hargus Melvin Robbins (January 18, 1938 – January 30, 2022), known by his nickname "Pig", was an American session keyboard player. He played on records for many artists, including Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Patti Page, Loretta Ly ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Farrell Morris –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

– producer

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control David Allan Coe albums 1981 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Billy Sherrill