Charlie Daniels 1936-2020

Charlie Daniels, one of the pioneers of southern rock, has died of a hemorrhagic stroke at a hospital in Hermitage, Tennessee at age 83.  He had previously suffered a stroke in 2010 while snowmobiling in Colorado, and was given a pacemaker in 2013.

Charles Edward Daniels was born in Wilmington, North Carolina but as a teenager moved to the small town of Gulf.  He would listen to gospel, bluegrass, country music and R&B.  He graduated from high school in 1955 and formed a rock 'n' roll band, playing mostly guitar and fiddle.  During the 1960s, he worked as session musician in Nashville, Tennessee.  He recorded his eponymous debut album in 1971, and later formed the Charlie Daniels Band.  With this band, he had several hits in the 1970s, including Long-Haired Country Boy, The South's Gonna Do It Again, and The Devil Went Down To Georgia.  His music career was put on hold for four months in 1980 after he suffered a broken arm and two broken fingers when his shirt sleeve was caught in a spinning auger while he was drilling post holes for a fence.  Besides southern rock, Daniels became recognized as a country artist, being accepted into the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In 1976, Daniels was a supporter of presidential candidate Jimmy Carter (D), who was Georgia's governor, and performed at his January, 1977 presidential inauguration.  He later drifted generally rightward in his politics, which eventually included supporting President George W. Bush's Iraq policy and criticizing some of President Barack Obama's policies.

Daniels is survived by his wife Hazel, whom he married in 1964, and by their son Charles William Daniels.

Read more at the Tennessean, AP News, CNN, CBS News and Taste Of Country.

One of the Charlie Daniels Band's early hits was Long-Haired Country Boy, which yours truly used to sing in college and afterwards.


This is a live performance of The South's Gonna Do It Again, which mentions a bunch of southern rock artists.  If I remember correctly, Tom Crain plays guitar and Taz DeGregorio plays piano.


In The Devil Went Down To Georgia, a boy named Johnny gets into a fiddle-playing contest with Satan himself.


In 1980, the Charlie Daniels band released the patriotic song In America, written in response to the Iran hostage crisis.  I'd say that the song is still relevant.