 Like the State of Texas, Charlie Daniels is partly Western
and partly Southern. His signature "bullrider" hat and belt buckle, his
lifestyle on the Twin Pines Ranch (a boyhood dream come true), his love of
horses, cowboy lore and the heroes of championship rodeo, Western movies, and
Louis L'Amour novels, identify him as a Westerner. The son of a lumberjack 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.
It hasn't been so much a style of music, but more the values consistently
reflected in several styles that has connected Charlie Daniels with millions of
fans. For decades, Charlie Daniels has steadfastly refused to label his music as
anything other than "CDB music", music that is now sung around the fire at 4-H
Club and scout camps, helped elect an American President, and been popularized
on a variety of radio formats.
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 more than 35
years of record making and represents more than 18 million in sales.
Charlie Daniels' resume includes recording sessions with artists as diverse as
Bob Dylan, Flatt & Scruggs, Pete Seeger, Mark O'Conner, Leonard Cohen, Ringo
Starr and Johnny Cash. His songs have been documented by ABC Newsmagazine 20/20.
In 1985, he published a collection of short stories, The Devil Went Down to
Georgia, peopled with the same kind of characters and tall tales as his
songs.
In April 1998, top stars and two former Presidents paid tribute to Charlie
Daniels when he was named the recipient of the Pioneer Award at the Academy of
Country Music's annual nationally televised ceremonies.
"It's purely American music with something for everyone," Charlie Daniels said.
"At least that's what I've hoped for in my 40-plus years in music."
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