Customer Reviews

Essential Super Hits of the Charlie Daniels Band

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Charlie Daniels has long been an icon of southern rock and country music. Along with his fine band, he's had success with radio staples such as "Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "Still in Saigon." He's crafted a legacy--and you can get it here, with new versions of some of his greatest songs.

Such flag-wavers as "In America" and "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag" stand true throughout time and airplay. "Uneasy Rider" is still a fun, rompin acoustic classic about a hippy in the South. His version of "Freebird" is to die for; "The Intimidator" is a tip of the hat to Earnhardt. "Drinkin My Baby Goodbye" is doubtless one of the greatest--and most fun to sing along--drinkin songs ever. And "Simple Man" tells it like it is--Daniels was one of the first "Angry Americans," after all.

Some of the album's greatest moments are surprises, of sorts. Keith Urban adds his guitar pickin to "The South's Gonna Do It Again;" Lee Roy Parnell (and his guitar) and Ray Benson get swingin on "Texas;" Travis Tritt harmonizes on "Southern Boy," a song he and Daniels cowrote; and John Berry and Hal Ketchum add their immeasurable singing talents to "Long Haired Country Boy"--almost stealing the song from Charlie Daniels himself!

But it is with the unlisted track, a faithful version of Red Skelton's classic rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance, that the album hits its highest of high notes. Daniels's voice is superb--like he was born to do this recitation. I got goosebumps, I got misty eyes, and I gave a big "Hell yeah!" when Daniels wrapped it up. It's a classic, and is alone worth the price of the album.

The Charlie Daniels Band has been crafting music for longer than I've been alive, and they've still got it. This is without a doubt a classic collection, one that everyone should have on their shelves, CD holders, or wherever it is you store your music. Songs written and performed by a patriotic, flag-wavin, gentle, lovin, hard-drinkin, rock-n-rollin, fiddle/guitar-playin redneck--how in the world could you not love it?

While it is Charlie Daniels on this album, the songs have been re-recorded and they are not the way I remember them.
Why is it that some musical artists believe that a decade or two later they can re-record a song and fix it or do it better? What if Leonardo da Vinci decided 20 years later to re-paint the Mona Lisa? Or the Boston Red Sox decide 10 years from now to replay the World Series because they think they can do it better?
"If it ain't broke don't fix it".

It is awful. I wanted the classics. And if it's a re-recording, it should say so in big letters on the front of the disc, not in miniscule print on the back along with all the other fine print no one reads. A rip off on the worst level. And now we can no longer return these things just because we don't like them.

It wasn't until I got home and opened it that I caught the "NEW stereo recordings" part of the packaging, so I was a bit skeptical.

However, after giving it a listen, I'm not at all disappointed. I happened to have just seen CDB in concert in Vegas and despite his age, he still puts on a great, energetic show. And to me, this CD reflects that - it's got a new, different energy that the original recordings lack (perhaps due to their age). It's got the energy of that live show, without the sort of annoying "live" sound of a live CD.

in response to Jeffrey Wiseman's review posted below entitled, "disappointed", are these cuts not the way u remember simply b/c they no longer contain Daniels singing about smoking tweed or getting drunk? his choice not use profanity in "Devil Went Down to Georgia" means he must not be "cool" anymore, right? these are really the only main differences i've noticed in the newer cuts. the only thing that could've made this cd better was if he had done the same thing w/ "In America", "Simple Man", "Uneasy Rider", & "Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye" (though the 1st 2 have great messages). although it may not be completely evident yet in this album, Charlie is a disciple of Jesus Christ now! yes, a Christian! his life is wrapped up in that of Jesus, so the destructive trappings of his past worldy life should be undetectable. personally I'm excited to see just what kind of exciting ways he'll serve the one true God in the future! maybe learning of a mega-country/rock star & author of so many beloved classic American tunes finally finding his way to the Author of the universe causes u to question your own authorship friend. if so, cry out to Jesus! he always hears.

as far as an artist's prerogative to revise his/her music, c'mon man... it's his music! he wrote it and he can do what he wants w/ it to improve it or make it better, which is exactly what he's done! besides the profanity issue, i've heard the original recording of "Devil Went Down to Georgia", and this one is infinitely better!