What comes to your mind when you hear the name Charlie Daniels? For me it is his awesome, incredible fiddle playing and the cool stories he tells in his songs. I love Charlie Daniels. I know and like all of his songs with the exception of one: Jitterbug. I probably cannot stand that song because the keyboards guy “Taz” Di Gregorio sings it. 
Another question for ya: Is there anybody that does not know “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”? Charlie Daniels recorded this timeless song back in 1979 and it is still a requested favorite today and probably always will be.
About Charlie Daniels
Born Charles Edward Daniels on 28 October 1936 in Wilmington, North Carolina, wrote “Carolina (I Love You)” about his youth, was the son of a lumberjack and was raised with a love of bluegrass music. He borrowed a guitar when he was 15 years old and immediately learned to play basic tunes. He then acquired skills on mandolin and fiddle, but had to modify his playing when he lost the tip of his ring finger in an accident in 1955.
At the age of 21, he decided to become a professional musician and formed a bluegrass band, the Misty Mountain Boys, but the group changed its name to the Jaguars, following the single “Jaguar”, which they recorded in 1959. The record didn’t receive much attention, but the band continued to play and Daniels continued to write songs. One of his originals, “It Hurts Me,” was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1963. By the late ‘60s, it had become clear that the Jaguars weren’t going to hit the big time, so Daniels moved to Nashville to become a session musician and ended up being one of the most popular fiddlers in Nashville.
In 1967, Daniels played electric bass on Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline and later appeared on his albums Self Portrait and New Morning. He also worked with Marty Robbins, Hank Williams Jr. (on Family Tradition) and Ringo Starr (on Beaucoups Of Blues), and took Lester Flatt’s place alongside Earl Scruggs. He produced albums by the Youngbloods and by Jerry Corbitt and the latter, in turn, produced one by Daniels.
The Charlie Daniels Band was formed in 1970, with Daniels joined by Barry Barnes (guitar), Mark Fitzgerald (bass), Fred Edwards and Garry Allen (drums), and Joel “Taz” Di Gregorio (keyboards). They started recording southern rock-style albums for the Kama Sutra Records label. Although a multi-instrumentalist, Daniels was a limited vocalist, but his voice was well suited to the talking-style “Uneasy Rider”, which reached the US Top 10 in 1973. He followed it with his anthem for southern rock, “The South’s Gonna Do It”. In 1974, Daniels had members of the Marshall Tucker Band and the Allman Brothers Band join him onstage in Nashville. It was so successful that he decided to make his so-called Volunteer Jam an annual event. It led to some unlikely combinations of artists such as James Brown performing with Roy Acuff, and the stylistic mergers have included Crystal Gayle singing the blues with the Charlie Daniels Band.
The Charlie Daniels Band underwent some personnel changes on 1975’s Nightrider, with Tom Crain, Charlie Hayward and Don Murray replacing Barnes, Fitzgerald and Allen respectively. When Daniels moved to Epic in 1976, there was a concerted effort to turn the band into a major concert attraction, despite the fact that at 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 280 pounds, Daniels was no teenage idol: he hid his face under a over sized cowboy hat. The albums sold well, and in 1979, when recording his Million Mile Reflections album, he recalled a 20s poem, “The Mountain Whipporwill”, by Stephen Vincent Benet. The band developed this into “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”, in which Johnny outplays the Devil to win a gold fiddle. Daniels overdubbed his fiddle seven times to create an atmospheric recording that topped the US country charts and reached number 3 in the US pop charts. It was also a UK Top 20 success and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance.
In 1980 the band recorded “In America” for the hostages in Iran, and then in 1982, “Still In Saigon’, about Vietnam. The band was featured on the soundtrack for Urban Cowboy and also recorded the theme for the Burt Reynolds movie Stroker Ace.
The 13th Volunteer Jam was held in 1987, but financial and time constraints meant the event was put on temporary hiatus (it resumed four years later). In the late 80s Daniels appeared in the movie Lone Star Kid and published a book of short stories,
but continued touring and playing his southern boogie to adoring audiences.
During the 90s, Daniels updated “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” with Johnny Cash and continued in his politically incorrect way – in simple language, he advocates both lynching and red-baiting; not a man to stand next to at the bar. He signed a new recording contract with Liberty Records in 1993, but also targeted the white gospel market through a contract with Sparrow Records. The albums The Door (1994) and Steel Witness (1996) earned Daniels several awards from the Christian recording community.
In 1997 Daniels inaugurated his own Blue Hat Records label and also released his first children’s album, By The Light Of The Moon: Campfire Songs & Cowboy Tunes, on the Sony Wonder label. Two years later he took his Volunteer Jam event on the road for the first time.
On October 28, 2001, Charlie turns 65 and celebrates with the success of his single, “This Ain’t No Rag, It’s a Flag.” The song was recorded in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee after the September 11 tragedy. The demand for the single shut down Charlie’s website.
In 2007, nailing his political views to the mast, he recorded a live album in front of US troops in war-torn Iraq. Later in the year he released Deuces and was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry.
I tried to include but could not find three songs that are among my very favorites by the CDB:”Cumberland Mountain Number Nine”, “Carolina” and “The Legend Of Wooley Swamp”. Hope you enjoy my other selections. Thank you. 
LHCB
Simple Man
Fiddle Fire
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(you must be a member of this group to comment)eletha
Jun 22 2008 14:00
wow karin
i learn some thing about him i did not know thank you for it your blogs are alway fun and enjoyable thank you
terrypolzien
Jun 22 2008 07:49
Good One
Classic cars, bikes, and singers. Charlie is definatly a classic. And a very proud American. TTYL, Terry.
KarinB
Jun 21 2008 17:01
Thank you guys
for your great comments. I really appreciate them. I received a real cool PM about this blog from 29dntc9 that also made my day. I’m already excited about the next R&R blog that is already in the works. Thank you again!!
68, you did cross my mind a few times when I was writing this blog.
Kit_Kat
Jun 21 2008 15:59
Sis,
as always, beautiful job. Thank you.
CEFan6099
Jun 21 2008 13:37
CDB
reminds me so much of my uncle! I grew up listening to CDB and have lots of CDB on my MP3 player and in my music collection. For a special gift, knowing how much my uncle likes CDB, we went to nashville and the whole family purchased him a fiddle and was going to have it put in a display case with a blown up picture of him and charlie daniels in the back ground. Well while we were at the shop purchasing the fiddle around the corner came Mr. Charlie Daniels himself!! So we got him to sign the fiddle for my uncle. One of the greatest moments of my life I have to say by far! Also for football homecoming last year we had Mr. Charlie Daniels himself come to town and perform! That was just awesome! BTW dont think I said this yet, great blog!
68SSCamaro
Jun 21 2008 12:58
you already know what I think!
great J-O-B Karin!!
68ยงยง
26Broad
Jun 21 2008 12:16
My whole music Playlist
has gotten so much better because of these tid bits you work so hard on writing. I get to rediscover music I forgot about and share them with my kids.
Charlie went from a hard partier to a really devout Christian which I thought was really cool.
Uneasy Rider has to be my favorite of all time.
carson1943
Jun 21 2008 10:40
Nice work Karin
Having you for a bud is a definite plus.+++++
Joyan14
Jun 21 2008 10:17
Great work as always Karin
Lots of info I didn`t know, very good reading.
triplH
Jun 21 2008 10:09
great info Karin
thx for sharing