Customer Reviews

A Decade of Hits

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Almost everyone will agree that the Charlie Daniels Band is a country group, but they've had more than their share of success on the rock charts. This album will make fans of either musical genre smile and tap their toes, or maybe stomp their feet.

Charlie's agressive fiddle work is the driving force behind the group's biggest hit, "The Devil Went Down to Georia." Right behind that one come's the rebellious, amusing tale of "Uneasy Rider."

The group's unabashed patriotism is featured in "In America", and their southern heritage brought forth in "The South's Gonna Do It Again." There are several other solid cuts included in the collection.

The Charlie Daniels Band - A Decade of Hits is hard-driving music that will make you want to get up and dance, or at least stand up and holler. Either way, this disc is a party waiting to happen.

I came of age at a time when rock (if you can call late "1970s rock" rock - I wouldn't) and country sometimes overlapped, and no one straddled the genres as successfully and meaningfully for me and my friends as The Charlie Daniels Band. 1979's The Devil Went Down to Georgia was huge and served as my introduction to this country band that knew how to rock a fiddle. Then came the 1980 Full Moon album featuring The Legend of Wooley Swamp, a song I couldn't get enough of. You couldn't go to a pizza joint for a year and a half without someone cuing this song up on the jukebox (usually more than once). Also from the Full Moon album came In America. This was 1980: America was suffering from stagflation (an all but impossible economic combination of both inflation and high unemployment that only Jimmy Carter could make happen), the Soviets were rattling their sabers and pointing increasing numbers of nuclear missiles at the US, and the American hostages in Iran headlined the news every single night - America was at one of the weakest points in its history. Charlie Daniels made all of us proud to be Americans again with his patriotic anthem In America.

Uneasy Rider is a story song featuring some classic bluegrass picking in the background dating back to the band's early days. The song's about a hippie who gets stuck in a redneck Mississippi town and holds off a gang of five country boys by calling one of them out as a liberal pinko Commie; it's a great, comedic song running in excess of five minutes (which qualified as a long song back in that era). 1974's Long Haired Country Boy is your classic "good old country boy" song; this country boy doesn't have much, but everything he does have, he got on his own - as old Hank would say, a country boy can survive. If you don't like it, just leave this long haired country boy alone. Still in Saigon relates the experiences of a soldier in Vietnam and the trouble he had adjusting to life back home.

Of course, 1974's The South's Gonna Do It Again holds a special place in many a Southerner's heart; this is the song morning deejays play when they want to rile up some of the masses of Yankees that have moved down South in the last few decades. It's a great song, featuring an extended bit of serious fiddle playing, but it's probably best appreciated down here below the Maxon-Dixon line.

Stroker's Theme, Every Time I See Him, and Let It Roll were previously unreleased tracks included on the album. Let It Roll is a real toe-tapping, rocking country number that really gets the juices flowing (and I'm not talking about tobacco juice). The band packs a lot of intensity into Every Time I See Him as well, although this isn't really a stand-out track. The Charlie Daniels Band is still going strong today, but both their roots and their most commercially successful tracks are forever preserved in this impressive collection of hits from their first decade of recordings.

Having been associated with Ella, Bing, Sammy Davis on many many recordings - I can't tell you how thrilled Charle Daniels makes me feel - there is something so infectious about his music - it sends chills down my spine - this album is a total winner - and I play it all the time - I don't even do that with my own recordings or any other artists material - IT IS SUCH A "FEEL-GOOD" GROUP OF SONGS AND OVER-ALL MUSIC - I can't wait to get into my car and play it again. Especially Devil Comes Down To Georgia!!!

Yeah, Charlie,

Buddy Bregman

I should say right off that I am not a big fan of country music.
I would never had listened to this if my mom hadn't brought out this CD during a family car trip. Pretty soon, I was tapping my feet and singing along.
There are some great songs on this that you never get to hear on the radio.
I'm sure you'll think my sense of humor is totally warped, but I find "Easy Rider" incredibly amusing.
Another great story-telling song is the incredibly creepy "Legend of Wooley Swamp."
The final song that I feel is worthy of mentionining is the catchy, haunting tune "Still In Saigon." It gives a tiny piece of what it must've been like for a couple of vets I know.
A must-hear. 13 stars...

I don't normally do reviews of music. While I have had some very basic training in music here and there throughout my life, I simply do not have the technical knowledge (nor the ear, to be honest) to do music of any sort justice. My primary criteria for evaluating a CD or a given song or work is simple. I either like it or I do not. I cannot tell you why I like or dislike a piece - it is just what it is.

I am not what you would call a big fan of modern country music. I like the old time stuff and in particular the bluegrass genre and listen to the stuff along with a very wide range of other types of music. I will tell you that I am rather fond of Charlie Daniels and the Charlie Daniels' Band. He/they have given me a lot of listening pleasure over the years. I have had the particular CD being reviewed here for a number of years and listen to it quite often.

Like any collection of songs, I have my favorites and my less favorites and this CD is no exception. Among those songs I like on this one are:

The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Still in Saigon,
The Legend of Wooley Swamp
and
Uneasy Rider

The other songs, which include:

The South's Gonna Do It Again
Stroker's Theme
In America
Longhaird Country Boy
and
Everytime I See Him

These are all fine songs but not the ones I like to listen to repeatedly.

The sound quality of this CD is good, the mix is good and while there are other collections of Daniels' work that are probably more comprehensive, this one does me personally just fine. This singer has been around for some time now and still seems to be growing strong. It has been sometime now since he produced what they call a hit, but that is okay. For me he and his band still have a very strong entertainment appeal. I do love to hear his fiddle playing.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Since the CDB had hits for more than a decade, and may have even more to come, this CD leaves out too much for a fussy completist like me. The "Essential" Charlie Daniels (what happened to the "Band"?) has a couple more hits from the decade in question ("Texas" from 1976 and "Mississippi" from 1979) plus later hits "Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye", "Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues", and "Simple Man".

On the other hand, this disc is four dollars cheaper than "Essential" as of this writing. Though it's the same price, I can never recommend any of the tacky "Super Hits" CDs. All three rightly include "In America" which, while not Daniels' best song by a long shot, was a big hit absurdly left off the pricey 2-disc set also available. 3 stars for including all the best-known hits at a low price.

Based on a true story, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" remains an amazing song. 1979 suffers from its disco-heavy reputation, but a lot of different sounds broke through on the radio that year and this is a prime example. The next year I loved "The Legend of Wooley Swamp", with its hard rock choruses alternating with mysterious spoken-word verses. A Halloween staple for me. "Uneasy Rider" was a big hit from a few years earlier, though I was so YOUNG I didn't know of it or the CDB until "Devil" hit. A good novelty song that may not work for fans of later hits, because it suggests a more liberal (hippie?) personality than later songs like "In America", "Simple Man", and "A Few More Rednecks". To go further out on this limb, I recall reading criticism that 1989's "Simple Man" was racist. I only heard the song once, and there was a line or two that concerned me, but can't recall it well enough to do more than to raise the point. I hope that neither Mr. Daniels nor his fans intend such sentiments.

Audio alert: I have the 1990 version of this disc. HOPEFULLY this (1999) version has better sound. I had to crank my car player to 32 for the same volume newer CDs put out at 20. (Obviously this isn't the Spinal Tap scale.) You can spot the difference by checking the upper right-hand corner of the cover. If you see the old "Compact Disc digital audio analog recording" logo, it's the inferior version I own. And which Amazon indicates is now worth .07 cents!

Karma alert: I see that Buddy Bregman reviewed this CD! He's an arranger/orchestra conductor dating back (almost) to the big band era. The car audio thing happened yesterday, when I played it for a friend who loves "TDWDTG". Last night, another friend--I have two, you see--and I randomly agreed to watch the horror DVD "Happy Birthday To Me". I'm now getting to the point...I didn't realize Buddy's daughter Tracey was in that (1980) film. I know this means so much to Charlie Daniels fans, but Tracey soon after went on to liven up "The Young and the Restless" and is still doing so today. Well, maybe Monday. I scanned Mr. Bregman's 9 reviews, and Daniels is the only non-pop/jazz/swing act he's written about. I think it's a good sign to be singled out for praise by someone from a different genre. No idea what Tracey (a/k/a Lauren Fenmore), who can also sing quite well, thinks about all this.

This is the essential album for people who are interested in Charlie Daniels. He is one of country's greats. I'm only 18, but I love this album and like another reviewer said, I play this every time I'm on the porch having a beer. This music always pisses off my beatnik neighbours.

One of those albums that no matter what your taste in music is you will appreciate this. The Charlie Daniels band has that line between country and rock, and the way he plays the fiddle is music to anyone's ears. Anyone who listens to this album will appreciate the music. and as another listener said, you don't have to be old, as i am just 24.

If you're looking to buy a Charlie Daniels CD this would be a good one to start with.A Decade of Hits has Charlie Daniels biggest hits up to 1983. 1979's Devil went down to Georgia opens the album.Then you've got a few story songs Uneasy Rider and one of my favorites off this album "The Legend of Wooley Swamp." A decade of hits does not disapoint, the album is just what it says.

My husband and I are salmon fishers in Alaska, and this selection ALWAYS revs us up and keep us going during days that are 20 hours long (actual daylight hours). We have been known to wake up the rest of the fleet by playing this selection LOUD on our CD player. IT IS A MUST FOR CHARLIE DANIEL FANS!