The Tenth Decade of Charlie Daniels Begins
He was hardly an overnight success story. His path to prominence was a marathon rather than a sprint. Each chapter chugging along preparing for the next one and the next one until thing finally started falling into place.
He lived 83 years constituting part of nine decades on earth, here’s a few highlights from each of them.
His first decade:
Dad was born in Wilmington, NC in 1936, to Carlton and LaRue Daniel(s) and moved around the state of North Carolina and parts of Georgia. He grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry, and music grabbed his soul.
His second decade:
In his teens, he learned how to play guitar, mandolin and fiddle before getting bitten by the rock & roll bug. Music was brewing in his soul.
His third decade:
He left his job at a local creosote plant and set out to make it as a musician in 1958 at the age of 21. He spent much of his twenties performing in night clubs and learning how to entertain a crowd.
He had a song he had co-written called “It Hurts Me” recorded by Elvis Presley.
He also married my Mom and soon we became a family of three.
His fourth decade:
In 1967, we moved to Nashville with $20 and the clutch out of our car. Dad had moved to Music City to make it as a session musician, but the years of rock covers contributed to a style that didn’t fit the usual Nashville recording sessions, and he struggled to get steady session work.
His first big break in the music business was at the age of 32 when he played on Bob Dylan’s ‘Nashville Skyline’ sessions.
He released his first album on Capitol Records when he was 33.
He founded The Charlie Daniels Band when he was 35.
His first big commercial success as an artist was when he was 36 with the release of the Billboard Hot 100 top ten single, “Uneasy Rider.”
He was 38 when he received his first gold record for ‘Fire on the Mountain.’
He signed the largest record deal in Nashville at the time with CBS Records New York offices in 1976 when he was 39.
His fifth decade:
He was 42 when he released “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” and was 43 when he received his first platinum record for ‘Million Mile Reflections,’ and when he won a Grammy.
He appeared on Saturday Night Live when he was 45 and performed at the landmark first Farm Aid concert in 1985 when he was 48 and also published his first book.
He rededicated himself to being a Christ follower.
His sixth decade:
He was still having chart success in 1988 through 1990 with ‘Simple Man’ which peaked at #12 on the Billboard Country chart when he was 53.
He did his first of two original Dove Award-winning Gospel albums when he was 58.
His seventh decade:
Dad released a 3CD boxed set, ‘The Roots Remain.’
He received the Pioneer Award – basically the ACM’s lifetime achievement award – at the age of 61.
He had a top 40 single in 2001 at the age of 65.
Performed with Gretchen Wilson at the Pregame show for Super Bowl XXXIX at the age of 69.
His eighth decade:
He became a member of The Grand Ole Opry in 2008 when he was 71.
Became a member of the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2009
His ninth decade:
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016 at the age of 80.
He released his memoir, “Never Look at the Empty Seats” in 2017 at the age of 81.
Was called home on July 6, 2020 at the age of 83
In 2022, a live album from the very first Volunteer Jam in 1974 was finally released.
In 2023, he posthumously received the ACM’s Merle Haggard Spirit Award at ACM Honors.
He released a long-lost patriotic song in 2026 to coincide with the America 250 Celebration.
The CDB’s ‘The Best of the Charlie Daniels Band Volunteer Jam’ was also released in 2026.
The first Legend of Charlie Daniels show premiered on July 5, 2026 at Ft. Campbell, and plans for a tour are in the works.
A few days ago, we finally located a commercial for “Uneasy Rider” which has been something I’ve been trying to find for many years.
On October 28, we will celebrate what would have been Dad’s 90thbirthday.
That’s a lot of accomplishments in 90 years.
But to quote The Bard, “What’s past is prologue.”
There’s much more to come.
Beginning October, 28, we officially begin the TENTH decade of Charlie Daniels, and we’re using that to kick off new merchandise designs, and to use this next decade as the ultimate tribute to the man and his music leading up to what would be his 100th birthday in 2036.
Ambitious? Absolutely, but deserving.
Here’s just a few of the things that are in active development.
First is a long gestating state-of-the art music attraction finally appears to be headed in the right direction and will be unlike anything anyone has ever experienced and will be based here in Nashville.
We are actively working on a documentary chronicling the development of The Legend of Charlie Daniels show, and it may be combined with a long-planned documentary about Dad’s life and career, or it may live as two separate projects. We’re still working out the details.
A film based on a story of Dad’s is currently in development with a major motion picture company.
A new book that Dad was writing before he went home called which should be announced in the next few months. It’s a series of intertwined stories that draw heavily from Dad’s childhood.
We are currently developing a stage musical based on “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” utilizing concepts that I had envisioned of intertwining many of Dad’s story songs to tell a bigger story.
There’s also a script for a bio pic in development, and some exciting possibilities are presenting themselves with this project.
That’s what’s in active development that I can comment on, but some I have had to be prudently vague about in my descriptions.
But I’m not done.
There are still things that I plan on pursuing including bringing back the long-needed Charlie Daniels Museum. This was an early project shortly after Dad left us, but it never got off the ground, and I want to see that change.
There’s the possibility of another volume of Dad’s upcoming book, if this one is successful. Dad wrote enough for two books, so another volume is there if the demand is.
I’ve been trying for many years to get an inventory of in the vaults at the record label where the majority of his catalog exists, but it has been more of a challenge than I anticipated, but I’m nothing if not persistent.
We’d also love to make as much of the Volunteer Jam recordings and/or videos available as well, as well as uncovering every unreleased recording we can locate.
Then there are still two projects near and dear to my heart.
The first is a children’s project called “Rodeo Rabbit and the Bayou Band” which we have done a full demo for with character voices and original songs. It’s touching, entertaining, it teaches some valuable lessons for kids – and adults - and includes some great songs.
Then there’s the heartwarming story Dad would read every Christmas Eve (which has now fallen to me) called “A Carolina Christmas Carol” which I am still determined to produce one day.
There’s enough to keep us busy for the next ten years and probably more.
He may not have lived to see his tenth decade, but we can still celebrate it, him, his music and his legacy.
We love you and miss you, Dad. We continue your work in your absence.
“The winds of change may blow the tree away
But the roots remain, then, now and until the end” – Charlie Daniels 1996
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!
Charlie Daniels, Jr.