"Charlie Daniels has died." That was how the article began. Those four words stunned me. I felt my heart ache and a lump develop in my throat. Charlie Daniels has been a big part of my life since the early seventies. I loved his music. I loved his presence. I loved his patriotism. I loved the way he shared his faith. I loved his morals to which he strove to live by. Charlie Daniels was a special man who God had gifted him music as a path to speak out on other issues.
Apparently he died at the age of 83 due to complications from a stroke. The catalogue of his works has been closed. There will not being any new songs that reflect his beliefs in story form.
The important thing to know about the man, and he would often remind people of the fact, was that he was human. He had been a Christian most of his life but did not necessarily live a perfect Christian life, like all of us. In the early eighties though, he was convicted to rededicate his life to God and he did it with all of the passion he could muster. He became a spokesman of sorts that always carried the Christian message when he would talk. His songs took on more of a Christian theme as his career progressed. Most important, his fans could see the difference in his life and in his songs. The man lived as he thought he should.
The Charlie Daniels Band was part of an explosion of southern rock/blues that came on the heels of The Allman Brothers monster album in 1971 "Live At The Fillmore East". It seemed like overnight bands from the southeast United States were breaking into the charts causing a big change in the sound of the country. The Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grinderswitch, Jerry Jeff Walker, Elvin Bishop, ZZ Top, and Wet Willie led the way in the footsteps of The Allman Brothers. It was almost like a revolution in the music industry and it took off in a big way. Still more bands in the southern rock/blues genre would come along and keep the new sound alive.
Daniels loved the roots of the movement. He promoted in every way he could think of. One of his standard songs "The South's Gonna Do It" paid homage to all of the pioneers of southern rock. His best known efforts though were an annual festival held in his home state of Tennessee called "Volunteer Jam". I am not sure how many of these festivals he held but it was at least seven in my memory. The first Volunteer Jam was made into a film that was incredible.
Daniels stayed under the major music radar for many of his early years, which is a shame. His early albums are masterpieces. He was a perfectionist and a song had to earn it's way onto the latest album. The result are that these albums do not have one throw away song on any of them and most people have not heard the majority of these great songs. The songs on "High Lonesome", "Honey In The Rock", "Saddle Tramp", "Night Rider", and "Fire On The Mountain" are unbelievably good.
What a lot of these songs also reflect is that Charlie Daniels was truly an "every man's man". He was one of the people. He would not hold himself up as anyone's better but rather their equal. He was just one of us and it came naturally to him.
I know this is a short writing. I could write so much about how this man influenced me. I do want to say this though. Many of you have heard me write and talk about John Lennon, David Bowie, and Lou Reed among others as some of my favorite artists and among the best. Here is the thing though. When you take the artist as a whole, as every facet of his life is brought together to see the big picture of who the artist is, in my mind there are three that stand heads above all the rest. Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, and Charlie Daniels. Each of these men displayed the same life evolving aspects. All three were true to their faith. They each had a high sense of morals. They each had a love of their country. And all three of these men lived a life that truly reflected who they were as human beings. There are not a lot of those in the arts today, especially the performing arts.
Charlie Daniels will be missed. His music will live on. New generations will discover it and Daniels will forever be a huge part of Americana.
Thank you Mr. Daniels. You made my life richer.
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