An Interview with the Legendary Charlie Daniels

"My Beautiful America" provided by The Charlie Daniels Band. Copyright information below.

The son of a timberman and a Southerner by birth, his music - rock, country, bluegrass, blues, gospel - is quintessentially Southern. In fact, even his bent for all things Western is Southern, because his attire, his lifestyle and his interests are historically emblematic of Southern working class solidarity with the "lone cowboy" individualism of the American West.

Beginning in rural obscurity, Charlie Daniels was born in 1936 in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he "was raised there as much as anywhere. We moved around between South Carolina, Georgia and Wilmington", due to his fathers work. He was raised on a musical diet that included Pentecostal gospel, local bluegrass bands, and the rhythm & blues and country music emanating respectively from Nashville's 50,000-watt megabroadcasters WLAC and WSM.

After graduating high school in 1955, Charlie Daniels formed a rock 'n' roll band and hit the road, joining the rock 'n' roll revolution that Elvis Presley had ignited. The band soon met Bob Johnston, and recorded "Jaguar", which was picked up for national distribution by Epic. Daniels and Johnston wrote "It Hurts Me", which became the flip side of a 1964 Presley hit. Charlie later moved to middle Tennessee to find work as a session guitarist in Nashville at Johnston's urging.

Among his more notable sessions were the Bob Dylan albums of 1969-70 Nashville Skyline, New Morning, and Self Portrait. Daniels produced the Youngbloods albums of 1969-70 Elephant Mountain and Ride the Wind, toured Europe with Leonard Cohen and performed on records with artists as different as Al Kooper and Marty Robbins.

In the summer of 1979, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", became a Platinum single, topped both country and pop charts, won a Grammy Award, became an international phenomenon, earned three Country Music Association trophies, became a cornerstone of the Urban Cowboy movie soundtrack and propelled Daniel's Million Mile Reflections album to Triple Platinum sales levels.

When you hear a classic Charlie Daniels Band performance like "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", you hear music that knows no clear genre. Is it a folk tale? A southern boogie? A country fiddle tune? An electric rock anthem? The answer is, "yes" to all of that and more. And the same goes for "In America", "Uneasy Rider", "The South's Gonna Do It", "Long Haired Country Boy", "Still in Saigon", "The Legend of Wooley Swamp", and the rest of a catalog that spans 50 years of record making and represents more than 20 million in sales.

In April 1998, top stars and two former Presidents paid tribute to Daniels when he was named the recipient of the Pioneer Award at the Academy of Country Music's annual nationally televised ceremonies. January 19th, 2008, Charlie's life long dream became a reality. He was inducted as a full-fledged member into the Grand Ole Opry. "It is an honor that I can't begin to articulate, there is no way I can express what it means to me", says Daniels. "And to make it special, I was joined on stage by Russell Palmer, the man who taught me my first guitar chords all those years ago". "I pursued my dream in music and by the goodness of God have been able to have a wonderful career, which has spanned more than fifty years".

"I have been blessed with Gold, Platinum and Multiplatinum albums, I have appeared many times on network television, even in moving pictures. I have won multiple awards from The Country Music Association, The Academy of Country Music, The Gospel Music Association and even a Grammy. I have even played on the Grand Ole Opry many times. But I was always on the outside looking in. I was always a guest, never a member."

"Ain't God good"!!!!!!!!!!

On September 10, 2010, Charlie Daniels spoke with Patrick Fairbrother of The Carolinas Today. Some excerpts follow:

Patrick Fairbrother: How are you doing since your incident on the mountain? (Charlie suffered a mild stroke while snowmobiling in Colorado.)

Charlie Daniels: I'm doing well. I'm doing good. Doctor says everything looks good.

Patrick: You're an extremely patriotic person, have you ever been in the military?

Charlie: Never have been in the military.

Patrick: I see you do a lot of work with the USO...

Charlie: We've done stuff with the USO, but we go all over the place with Stars for Stripes. It's a smaller outfit that does the same thing the USO does. I've been to Iraq 3 times with them.

Patrick: Your First Hit?

Charlie: "Uneasy Rider" -Daniels broke through as a record maker, himself, with 1973's Honey In the Rock and its hit hippie song "Uneasy Rider." (His rebel anthems "Long Haired Country Boy" and "The South's Gonna Do It" propelled his 1975 collection Fire On the Mountain to Double Platinum status.)

Patrick: Have you actually played all of the places in the song "My Beautiful America"? (The first track on his latest CD, "Land That Love".)

Charlie: I've played every state in the union.

Patrick: I'll bet that's been a phenomenal trip...?

Charlie: Well, it has been, and the funny thing about it, is that when we do an autograph line, I'll ask where their from (The Fans). They come from every where... and I've played at or near every one of them.

Patrick: Is Twin Pines Ranch your personal residence? (Charlie's boyhood dream come true.)

Charlie: That's where I live , where I go when I'm off, Where I like to spend time, I've surrounded myself with things that I love to do. I love western art, bronzes and that sort of thing. Our log house is in that motif. I've got my horses there. Its a place to shoot my guns or hit a few golf balls or fish. I can go in and stay for 3 or 4 days and not go back out the gate and it don't bother me at all.

Patrick: What's the most memorable place you have played? Was it the Opry?

Charlie: That's one of them. But I'd be hard pressed to pick just one. Regardless of where we play, any stage, the fans get the same show. Indoors or outdoor, we play the same show.

Patrick: Is there any place that you would still like to play or visit?

Charlie: Any place that I haven't been, basically.

We talked awhile about politics and the situation along the US-Mexico border. Charlie is very passionate about those subjects, especially the latter. You can read more of his views on the afore mentioned subjects by going to www.CharlieDanielsBand.com and click on the 'Soap Box' link.

I thanked him for allowing me to interview him, "You're welcome. God Bless", he replied.

"My Beautiful America (Recitation)" Copyright 2003. CDB Music, LLC d/b/a Wooley Swamp Music (BMI)
The Charlie Daniels Band