View source for Requiem for a Harlequin

{{Infobox album
| name       = Requiem for a Harlequin
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[David Allan Coe]]
| cover      = DACoe_harequin.png
| alt        =
| released   = 1970
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Psychedelic music|Psychedelic]]<ref name=Outhier/>
| length     = 31:39
| label      = [[Plantation Records|SSS International]]
| producer   =
| prev_title = [[Penitentiary Blues]]
| prev_year  = 1970
| next_title = [[The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy]]
| next_year  = 1974
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r105957|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic]</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="CL">{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=2 |page=449}}</ref>
}}
'''''Requiem for a Harlequin''''' is the second album by American musician [[David Allan Coe]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thrasher |first1=Don |title=THE RENEGADE: DAVID ALLAN COE IS AN ENDURING OUTLAW LEGEND |journal=Dayton Daily News |date=10 Dec 2010 |page=G4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Comprehensive Country Music Encyclopedia |date=1994 |publisher=Times Books |page=73}}</ref> It was released in 1970 on [[Plantation Records|SSS International Records]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Artist Biography by Mark Deming |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-allan-coe-mn0000629609/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=27 March 2021}}</ref> The album is a departure from Coe's work mostly in the [[country music]] genre. There are no songs in the traditional sense on ''Harlequin'', rather each side of the original LP is a lengthy spoken monologue over musical accompaniment. Side one is named "The Beginning", and side two was called "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 while 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."<ref name=Outhier>{{cite web |title=David Allan Coe Versus Insane Clown Posse |url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/david-allan-coe-versus-insane-clown-posse-6430907 |first=Craig |last=Outhier |work=Phoenix New Times |access-date=2023-06-30}}</ref>
== Track listing ==
All songs written by [[David Allan Coe]]
#"The Beginning" (Side A) - 15:59
#"The End" (Side B) - 15:40
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{David Allan Coe}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:David Allan Coe albums]]
[[Category:1973 albums]]
[[Category:Psychedelic music albums by American artists]]