“You better watch where you’re goin’, remember where you been. That’s the way I see it, I’m a Simple Man” – Charlie Daniels 1989

In 1989, Dad was approached to write some songs for the Patrick Swayze motion picture, “Next of Kin,” a movie about a Chicago cop who grew up in the hills of Kentucky, who tries to catch the killers of his younger brother, as his older brother prepares for a blood feud with the Chicago mob.

“A dream is a wish your heart makes” – Mac David, Al Hoffman & Jerry Livingston from Disney’s “Cinderella” Dreams are funny things, we dream when we sleep, we dream of things we want to accomplish, or for something we really want, or relationships, success, etc. But not all dreams are good, some are quite disturbing and startling, and July 6th, 2020, felt like one of those dreams, the “not good” kind.

My worst birthday ever was when I turned 15 on April 28, 1980.

Was it because I was spoiled and I didn’t get what I wanted?

No, although our plans did change at the last minute, but only  because of a tragedy.

*NOTE* In honor of the Sixteenth Anniversary of Charlie's Grand Ole Opry induction, here's a Soapbox Rewind from 2008, just before he was inducted, and he shares his feelings on his then-upcoming induction. - TeamCDB

On Friday, January 18th, I will catch a plane from Durango, Colorado, where I'm on vacation, en route to Nashville, Tennessee, which is the last fifteen hundred miles of a journey of several million which started one afternoon in Gulf, North Carolina, circa 1951 when I was visiting a friend, Russell Palmer, and he pulled out an old Stella guitar.

Goodbye 2023, hello 2024! 

It’s a fresh start on another 365 days for us to seize and – as dad would say - make count, and if he was still here, I have no doubt he would still be making his days count.

He always did. 

"It was October in St. Louis Town

When We Heard That the Free Bird

Had fell to the Ground

We all said a Prayer 

"Stopping to give someone a helping hand is not time wasted but time invested. Let’s all make the day count." - Charlie Daniels

Dad was a caring man; Dad was a man of faith, and Dad was a very humble man.

In his memoir, “Never Look at the Empty Seats,” – now in paperback HERE - dad talks about a lot of people he’s met and many aspects of his life. Still, there’s one that he fails to mention, and it’s a story you most likely would not know about unless you subscribed to “The Charlie Daniels Podcast," you can check that episode out HERE

“Opportunity knocks but once, softly, and then moves on swiftly, attune your heart to her call, your ear to her knock, open the door and be blessed. Let’s all make the day count.” – Charlie Daniels

Sage advice from a wise man.

And he knew what he was talking about because it had happened to him on multiple occasions in his lifetime, but I’m going to focus on three pivotal individuals who opened the door for opportunities.

On April 1, 2014 – in what many probably thought was an elaborate April Fool’s Day prank - The CDB released “Off the Grid-Doin’ it Dylan,” a tribute album to Bob Dylan who was a pivotal figure in dad’s career.

It was also the first album of new material released through Blue Hat Records distribution deal with Megaforce Records, which is primarily a heavy metal label, and the original distributor of Metallica’s early recordings

In 1984, the CDB was hard at work on its next release, ‘Honky Tonk Ave.’ The album was loosely based on a short story that dad wrote in his short story collection “The Devil Went Down to Georgia: Stories by Charlie Daniels” which would be released the next year.

The idea was to tie in the story and the album into something along the lines of Willie Nelson’s ‘Redheaded Stranger’ album, where the songs tell a bigger story.

February 2, 1985

Volunteer Jam XI was the last one at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, it was a 9-hour spectacle of amazing music and surprises, but what VolJam XI is probably best remembered for is the blizzard that hit the city of Nashville making it impossible for some to actually make it to the show.

Dad said on stage, “I know you went through a hell of a lot to get here because this is the biggest snowstorm I’ve ever seen in Tennessee!”

It’s hard to believe that we’re just a few weeks away from the one-year anniversary of dad’s “changing addresses” – thank you, my spiritual big brother, Bill Wolfenbarger, for the use of that term.

It’s been a doozy of a year, dealing with the aftermath of losing dad, the lingering effects of the pandemic and how that has impacted what we’ve been trying to do business-wise, and the “sadiversaries” that have popped up over the last 11 months.

This upcoming “sadiversary” is the precursor to the biggest one of all, the first Father’s Day without dad in my life, then the one-year anniversary is just around the corner.

*NOTE* Charlie will be back with a brand new soapbox on Monday, in the meantime, here's a rewind from way back in 2003. - TeamCDB/BW

To you who have read this column for years this piece may seem a little redundant since I have written on this subject before. But it is such a frequently asked question that I feel I should revisit it from time 
to time.

*NOTE* Charlie will be back with a brand new soapbox on Monday, in the meantime, here's a soapbox rewind from 2009. - TeamCDB/BW

I guess it may be a sign of my advancing age or a healthy case of nostalgia in fond remembrance of a simpler time in my life, but sometimes I find my thoughts wandering back to a time and place in my young life when my responsibilities consisted making sure the wood box was full and keeping my grades above the passing line.

Normally the soapboxes I write are about dad, or something political in nature in the vein of Dad’s soapboxes he regularly wrote when he was still with us.

But with Mother’s Day this weekend, I thought it was appropriate to turn my thoughts to my mom, Hazel Daniels.

As I have said before, mom had a lot to deal with when I was growing up. Not that I was a particularly bad kid, or anything, but dad was on the road most of the year, so she was almost a single mother for long periods of time.

We did everything together, and she always took care of me.

This weekend, perhaps even tonight, I will complete my annual Easter tradition, even though it is not exactly something I am looking forward to. In fact, it’s pretty embarrassing on some levels.

If things go according to plan, a box of Kleenex will be involved, as it has in the past, and I have no doubt that will be the case yet again.

As I write this, the “Tennessee Midlands,” as dad used to call them appear to be heading full speed into spring as tree frogs are singing, daffodils are starting to bloom, many of the trees are just beginning to bud.

*NOTE* We haven't done this in a while, but the time seems right to reexamine this soapbox of Charlie's from September of 2018. He was speaking of how things could have changed had the 2016 election gone differently, but it is downright prophetic compared to our nation in 2021. - TeamCDB

If this piece is going to have any impact, it cannot be viewed through partisan eyes, conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat. Preconceived political prejudice and implacable attitudes must be cast aside. 

I’ve had some criticism lately after a few political soapboxes that I have written recently, and I wanted to address that in a soapbox which is a combination of a political one, and a Charlie Daniels memories one.

This is going to be a different soapbox for a change, neither political nor really about dad. Consider this a manifesto of sorts. We take this sort of thing seriously in this organization and have for many years.

When I left off last time, I mostly covered dad’s support of the Tennessee Vols and some appearances at Nashville Predators Stanley Cup Semi-Finals games, but there was more to tell, and a few points I needed to finish.

Super Bowl LV is in the books, and it made me realize that I’ve written several things about my dad in the recent months, but very little about one of his passions, sports.

Sunday, January 31^st marked the first day that mom and I have been back to World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro since dad’s funeral on July 10^th 2020.

I’ve been writing more politically themed soapboxes recently, and as I’ve mentioned, CNSNews, which often picked up dad’s politically-themed soapboxes asked me if I wanted to take on some current events topics, instead of just memories of my dad.

After reading comments over the last several months, I have decided that I need to start my political soapboxes with a disclaimer for people that obviously didn’t follow dad’s social media until after his passing, I'll have a new one about him soon, for those sick of politics.

“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”        – ‘1984’ George Orwell                                                                                                           

Happy New Year, such as it is…

I’ve been struggling on what to write for several days now and have started over at least four times as things are changing drastically from day to day.

On Thursday, I wrote a preamble to go with dad’s “A Carolina Christmas Carol’ and I mentioned that most likely I would not be posting anything until after the first of the year unless something jumped out at me.

For those who haven’t been following dad’s soapbox, my Soapbox Jr’s or social media until this year, then you may not know the history of this story, or the tradition regarding it.

I haven’t watched a single Christmas special this year, visions of sugarplums aren’t dancing in my head, and I feel more like saying “Bah humbug” than wishing Christmas cheer.

Around Thanksgiving, Beau L’Amour - son of author Louis L’Amour - emailed me. I have spoken to his mother, Kathy, a few times over the past 15 years, but I don’t think I have spoken to nor seen Beau in probably close to 30 years.