Charlie Daniels, the big, tobacco chewing, fiddle sawing, singer songwriter from Tennessee, passed away after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke in Hermitage Tennessee at the age of 83.
After establishing himself as a studio musician working with artists like Bob Dylan, Charlie busted out on his own with a string of songs that embraced his redneck rocker persona to a country audience. “Uneasy Rider,” “The South’s Gonna Do It Again,” and “Long Haired Country Boy," also helped him make the crossover to Southern Rocker.
His biggest hit was his tale of good versus evil, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” A fiddle contest against the devil set deep in the woods of Georgia, it climbed to No. 1 on the country chart and crossed over to No. 3 on the pop side in 1979, earning him a Grammy Award.
In his book, “Country U.S.A.," historian Bill C. Malone wrote, “This big, gruff, tobacco-chewing, outspoken musician embodied Southern good-old-boy traits almost to the point of caricature. He was nationalistic, hedonistic, macho…and lovable. He also made compelling music.”
Good luck in that fiddle rematch with Lucifer Charlie...