Opry 100: A Grand Ole Evening of Charlie Daniels - Soapbox Jr.
Tuesday night, July 8, 2025, marked twice this year that fans at the Grand Ole Opry rose to their feet to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” The other was a couple of months ago on a primetime TV special. Sadly, both times, Dad was only there in spirit.
All through 2025, The Grand Ole Opry is celebrating one hundred years as a radio show on 650 AM WSM. Technically, the first two years it was known as the WSM Barn Dance, but it has run without interruption for one hundred years. The name was the only thing that changed.
Even the 2010 Middle Tennessee floods couldn’t stop the Opry. While the Grand Ole Opry House flooded along with the Opry Mills Mall next door, after a brief stay at what was then Two Rivers Baptist Church, the Opry moved back to the Ryman Auditorium until repairs were completed on the Opry House.
Longevity of anything of that magnitude is admirable.
We found out about six weeks ago that the Opry was going to do special tribute shows over the course of their 100th birthday, and one of the first was to be Dad, and to make it even more emotional, the date was only two days after the 5th anniversary of Dad “changing addresses.” There was no doubt it was going to be a special night.
It was indeed special, and it was also a pretty exclusive group because the other tribute shows scheduled were for Johnny Cash and June Carter, Loretta Lynn, Porter Wagoner, Bill Monroe, Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl.
Pretty good company.
So back to the tribute to Dad.
First up was the incomparable “Queen of Bluegrass,” Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. Her tribute to Dad was “In America” and staying true to her values, she chose to let her backup singers sing some of the words that she didn’t feel comfortable singing, “we damn sure fooled you,” “they can all go straight to hell,” a true southern lady.
While on the surface, “In America” may not seem like a song that would produce tears, but I blame it on the overall emotional tone of the show which presented many clips of previous performances throughout the evening.
Next was Eddie Montgomery who recorded Dad’s song “All Night Long” along with the late Troy Gentry and they invited Dad to perform on it as well.
Strange as it may sound, this song produced tears also, but not for the reasons you might think.
I pitched this song to my friend Anthony Martin – who was in A&R back in 2000 for Sony – and Eddie and Troy were both in on the meeting as well. Then after the song was cut and the first Montgomery Gentry album, ‘Tattoos and Scars’ was delivered to the label and approved, I was invited down to Longhorn Steakhouse for drinks with the producers, Anthony, Eddie and T-Roy and several other song pluggers and a few songwriters.
While he wasn’t there to celebrate with his brother, apparently John Michael Montgomery had given Eddie his American Express platinum card for the evening.
HUGE mistake.
I had a couple of drinks, but I watched the professional party animals consume multiple “mind erasers” and other stout beverages. I left after a couple of hours, right after John Michael’s card was run the first time for $600, if I’m not mistaken. Word had it that it was closed out two more times, so John Michael was probably on the hook for somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000.
I was also there when they recorded Dad’s vocals for the song and when they filmed the music video in Kentucky. The song was even a minor hit on radio, bringing him back to the Billboard country chart for the first time in close to a decade.
So yeah, I got misty-eyed again.
The Travelin' McCourys were up next, led by Bluegrass great, Del McCoury’s sons, Ronnie and Rob. They actually did two songs that Dad had reorded, although they were not his originals, rather they performed “I’m Working on a Building” and the Grammy nominated instrumental of “I’ll Fly Away” -along with a few extra fiddles on stage to help our - that he recorded on the 2005 Bluegrass Gospel album, “Songs From The Long Leaf Pines.”
Bluegrass and Gospel music helped build Dad into who he was musically and spiritually, so the misty-eyes continued.
Chris Young then performed “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye,” something he’s done quite a few times since Dad’s been gone. He’s done it at the 2022 Volunteer Jam and at various fundraisers for The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project and plenty of other times.
After intermission, Trace Adkins took the stage and did “Ladies Love Country Boys” which features the lyrics, “She’s ridin’ in the middle of his pickup truck, blarin’ Charlie Daniels yellin’ “turn it up!” But then went all in on the “controversial” “The South’s Gonna Do It (Again)’ which shoudn’t be controversial at all, unless the South leading a musical revolution this time. No tears that I can recall in the intermission.
Next up was Gretchen Wilson who has finally returned to performing again, and she hasn’t missed a beat. Welcome back, Gretchen! Of course, she did her very first single in which she proudly proclaimed that she knows “all the words to every Charlie Daniels song,” “Redneck Woman.” She then gave her rendition of “Long Haired Country Boy,” before temporarily exiting the stage.
She then returned and joined Jamey Johnson on stage for his cover of “Trudy” which he recorded last year. His version includes a full horn section for a unique arrangement, but still is faithful to the original.
Finally, the big finale, the big one, the big enchilada, the one everyone has been waiting for, and the Opry goes big. Jamey and his band stay out there, joined by Chris Young, the McCourys, Trace, Gretchen and Rhonda Vincent. Jamey sings lead as he did with the tribute to Dad on the Opry 100 TV special, and Rhonda has the honor of playing a very special fiddle.
I’m not sure of the circumstances, but somehow the Opry has one of Dad’s black Barcus Berry fiddles that he regularly played on stage. There used to be a Roy Acuff museum in the old Opryland theme park and it stayed there until the 2010 Nashville flood.
I understand that there was one of Dad’s fiddles in the collection, but Roger Campbell - CDB roadie extraordinaire for 44 years – believed that it was damaged in the flood, but it was definitely his, and Rhonda was going to play it, and she seemed just a little nervous.
Nobody wanted to follow Dad when he performed at the Opry, because nobody wanted to follow his last song.
But Jamey’s vocals were strong, the band was hot and Rhonda did Dad proud with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” For the second time in about three months – the first being the Opry 100 TV Special - Dad received a standing ovation at the Grand Ole Opry without actually appearing on stage in person, but there was no doubting that he was there in spirit.
I spoke to Rhonda after the show and I told her that she was a very good, very precise skilled fiddle player, but tonight, she put some “nasty” on her playing, some grit, which is exactly what her performance needed.
The night was emotional, uplifting, and a whole lot of fun.
Oh yes, there was one more special element to this night. It was my Mom’s 82nd birthday. This one was bittersweet and melancholy as we saw performances from across the decades on the screens and even saw a clip from 2021 when the Opry had reopen and we were listening to Chris Young talk about the MTSU Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Centerfff as we were still shell shocked from his “changing of addresses.”
But this birthday was much better than five years ago. You see, Dad went home on July 6 and my Mom’s birthday is July 8. That meant that five years ago, we were at a family and friends visitation at the funeral home in Mt. Juliet with birthday celebration about as far from our minds as you can get.
I managed to surprise her the following year in hopes of a “birthday reset.”
Obviously, we had limited options because of the show, but I had one thing in mind and it worked out perfectly. I asked the one and only Opry Dan if we might be able to make this happen. I said I would love it if we could get the crowd to sing happy birthday, he said they would have a cake for her, and we'd try to figure out the rest.
We went on stage, and the crowd did indeed sing to her, but Mom almost blew the backstage cake and birthday singing.
Cake during intermission was on her itinerary, but she decided to stay out front so she could see people and not have to run back and forth. When people told me she was staying outside when we had people waiting to take her picture and sing happy birthday, I sprinted back out to the crowd and I said, MOM, BACKSTAGE, NOW!
We got there in time – I was worried about the next part of the show starting and nobody being there for cake and singing – but it all worked out.
Special thanks to Opry Dan and Gina for taking care of us and always making us feel as welcome as we did when we were waiting for Dad to close the show.
Backstage there is a quote from Dad hidden in one of the rooms that says that the best we have to offer are sitting in the seats tonight, they’re also backstage taking care of business.
Thank you to everyone at the Grand Ole Opry!
What do you think?
Let’s all make the day count!
Pray for our troops, our police, the Peace of Jerusalem and our nation.
God Bless America!
#SonyReleaseHonkyTonkAve
#BenghaziAintGoingAway #End22
Charlie Daniels, Jr.
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