The Charlie Daniels Band was formed in 1970 and they started recording 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 has 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. When he 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 20 stone Daniels was no teenage idol: he hid his face under an oversized cowboy hat. The albums sold well, and in 1979, when recording his Million Miles Reflections album, he recalled a 20s poem, "Mountain Whippoorwill", 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. In 1980 the band recorded "In America" for the hostages in Iran, and then in 1982, "Still In Saigon", about Vietnam. The band were featured on the soundtrack for Urban Cowboy and also recorded the theme for the Burt Reynolds' movie Stroker Ace, which featured Tommy Crain's banjo (Daniels' band has been very loyal to the latter, with Taz DiGregorio playing keyboards from the late 60s). 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. In recent years he updated "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" with Johnny Cash, and has 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. His most recent recordings have been aimed at the white gospel market. The Door won a gospel Grammy award in 1995.
Charlie Daniels