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Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels (born
October 28, 1936 in Wilmington, North
Carolina) is an American musician famous for
his contributions to Country, Southern Rock,
and Jazz music.
Daniels, a talented singer, guitarist, and
fiddler, began writing and performing in the
1950s. In 1964, Daniels co-wrote "It Hurts
Me", a song which Elvis Presley recorded. He
worked as a Nashville session musician, often
for producer Bob Johnston, including playing
on three Bob Dylan albums during 1969 and
1970, and recordings by Johnny Cash and
Leonard Cohen. Daniels recorded his first
solo album, Charlie Daniels, in 1971 (see
1971 in country music). His first hit, the
novelty song "Uneasy Rider", was from his
1972 second album, Honey in the Rock, and
reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1974, Daniels organized the first in a
series of Volunteer Jam concerts based in or
around Nashville, Tennessee. Except for a
three-year gap in the late 1980s, these jams
have continued ever since.
In 1975, he had a top 30 hit as leader of the
Charlie Daniels Band with the Southern Rock
self-identification anthem "The South's Gonna
Do It Again". "Long Haired Country Boy" was
also a minor hit in that year.
Daniels won the Grammy Award for Best Country
Vocal Performance in 1979 for "The Devil Went
Down to Georgia", which reached #3 on the
charts.
Subsequent Daniels pop hits included "In
America" (#11 in 1980), "The Legend of Wooley
Swamp" (#31 in 1980), and "Still in Saigon"
(#22 in 1982).
In the late 1980s and 1990s, several of
Daniels' albums and singles were hits on the
Country charts. Daniels also released several
Gospel and Christian records.
Daniels has never shied away from politics.
"The South's Gonna Do It" had a mild message
of Southern cultural identity within the
Southern rock movement. Daniels was an early
supporter of Jimmy Carter's presidential bid
and performed at his January 1977
inauguration.
"In America" was a reaction to the 1979-1981
Iran Hostage Crisis; it described a
patriotic, united America where "we'll all
stick together and you can take that to the
bank / That's the cowboys and the hippies and
the rebels and the yanks." In contrast,
"Still in Saigon" (written by Dan Daley) was
an effective portrayal of the plight of the
American Vietnam veteran ten years after the
war; it was part of an early 1980s wave of
attention to the subject, in contrast to
treatments such as Bruce Springsteen's "Born
in the U.S.A." and "Shut Out the Light",
Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon", and somewhat
later Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road".
In 1990, Daniels' country hit "Simple Man"
seemingly advocated a pseudo-Biblical form of
vigilantism; lines such as "Just take them
[rapists, killers, child abusers] out in the
swamp / Put 'em on their knees and tie 'em to
a stump / Let the rattlers and the bugs and
the alligators do the rest," got Daniels
considerable media attention and talk show
visits.
In 2003, Daniels published an Open Letter to
the Hollywood Bunch in defense of George W.
Bush's Iraq policy. His 2003 book Ain't No
Rag: Freedom, Family, and the Flag contains
this letter as well as many other personal
statements. During the 2004 presidential
campaign, Daniels said that having never
served in the military himself, he did not
have the right to criticize John Kerry's
service record. [1]
Daniels now resides in Mount Juliet, TN,
where the city has named a park after him.
Daniels is a born again Christian.
In 2005, he has made a cameo appearance along
with Larry the Cable Guy, Kid Rock, and Hank
Williams, Jr. in Gretchen Wilson's music
video for the song "All Jacked Up".
[edit] Discography
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