Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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DANIELS, Charlie

(b Charles Edward Daniels, 28 October 1936, Wilmington NC; d 6 July 2020, Nashville) Guitar, fiddler, singer, bandleader. Daniels formed the Jaguars working clubs and honky tonks in the Southwest; moved to Nashville '67, sessioned on Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline, Ringo Starr's Beaucoups Of Blues, also with Marty Robbins, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, etc. He missed the road and formed the Charlie Daniels Band '71; the country-rock outfit included Charles Hayward, bass; Taz DiGregorio, keyboards; James Marshall, drums; Tom Crain, guitar. They were signed to Kama Sutra for pop hits 'Uneasy Rider' '73, 'The South's Gonna Do It' '75. He started an annual event the Volunteer Jam in Nashville Jan. '74 featuring top stars with CDB as headliners. Album Fire On The Mountain '74 went gold. Switched to Epic '76, made an impression with 'Wichita Jail' '76, 'Heaven Can Be Anywhere' '77; no. 1 country chart with 'The Devil Went Down To Georgia' '79, also pop hit USA and UK: led to awards including Single of the Year, Instrumentalist of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year CMA '79, Touring Band of the Year ACM '80.

Million Mile Reflections '79 was a hit; there were further hit singles, and more albums included Uneasy Rider '73, Volunteer Jam VI '80, Full Moon '81, Windows '82, Me And The Boys '85, Homesick Heroes '88, Renegade '91, America, I Believe In You '93. Moved to Liberty/Capitol and made country gospel albums. A new version of 'The Devil Went Down To Georgia' with Johnny Cash, Mary Stuart and Travis Tritt made the charts and a Grammy nomination '94; album Same Ol' Me '95 was made with Nashville session musicians rather than the CDB.