He said that he and Goodman had recently scored their first recording contract in New York City and Paul Anka had been assigned to them as their manager.
Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride and Merle Haggard (as well as his song "The Fightin' Side of Me") are mentioned in the lyrics; Coe also uses loose impersonations of each artist in doing so, and also makes reference to Faron Young's "Hello Walls" in the background vocals, noting that "you don't have to call me" any of those names anymore.
Coe wrote back stating that no song could fit that description without mentioning a laundry list of clichés from the genre: "Mama, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting drunk".
Goodman's equally facetious response was an additional verse that incorporated all five of Coe's requirements, and upon receiving it, Coe acknowledged that the finished product was indeed the "perfect country and western song" and included the last verse on the record: I was drunk the day my mom got out of prisonAnd I went to pick her up in the rainBut before I could get to the station in my pickup truckShe got runned over by a damned old trainGoodman, in his versions, commented that there were some other ideas he missed, including farms, Dallas, divorce, dead dogs like Old Shep, and Christmas.
"You Never Even Called Me by My Name" by David Allan Coe spent 17 weeks on the Billboard country singles charts, peaking at number eight.
Freelance writer Alanna Nash wrote in Entertainment Weekly that she considered Supernaw's remake the "most interesting" cut on the album, but thought that it was in too high of a key for the guest vocalists involved.