Charlie Daniels

Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Much of his output, including all but one of his eight Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, was credited to the Charlie Daniels Band.

Daniels was active as a singer and musician from the 1950s until his death in 2020. He was inducted into the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame in 2002, the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

Charles Edward Daniels was born October 28, 1936, in Wilmington, North Carolina, to teenage parents William and LaRue Daniel. The "s" in Daniels' name was added by mistake when his birth certificate was filled out. Two weeks after Daniels had begun to attend elementary school, his family moved to Valdosta, Georgia, commuting between Valdosta and Elizabethtown, North Carolina, before moving back to Wilmington. After enduring measles, Daniels would require glasses to see for most of his life afterward, which led to his being bullied by other children at his school. Despite these challenges, Daniels found inspiration in Pentecostal gospel music, local bluegrass groups, and rhythm and blues artists he heard on the radio. Additionally, Western films sparked his imagination and creativity. These early influences motivated him to start writing and performing songs, laying the foundation for his future musical career.

Daniels began his music career as a member of the bluegrass band Misty Mountain Boys in 1953, already skilled on guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin, In the 1960s, Daniels was performing rock and roll. Daniels formed a band, the Rockets, who later changed its name to the Jaguars after scoring a hit single with the instrumental recording "Jaguar". After discovering jazz, the Jaguars began performing jazz music, before reverting to rock and country music by 1964.

Daniels lent his talents to the bass guitar playing, arrangement and co-production of a single, "Love" (b/w "Black Olives"), by The Bad Boys, which was released on the Paula Records label in 1966. It became an R&B hit, first registering on the Cash Box Top 50 in R&B Locations chart on 17 December 1966, and still active on the Cash Box Looking Ahead chart 18 March 1967. where it peaked at no. 11. It also made the Record World national R&B chart, peaking at no. 28 on 28 January.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.