I spoke to Bonnie Bramlett yesterday about her old friend Charlie Daniels. Here's some of what she had to say.
“The first time we met Charlie is when he opened for Delaney and Bonnie at Carnegie Hall. We were all kids. This whole Southern Rock crowd, everyone’s very close, and not just the band members, but the family, the wife, the kids. I’m one of the very, very many people he called sister. He’s always been there for me, all my professional life. He had my back, had my front, had my soul and though I’m speaking for myself, I know I’m speaking for many.
“When you think about Charlie, the first thing you think of has to be the violin – that fiddle! But he was also a monster guitar player and he was so generous with the stage. He was from the era when everyone got to be one of a kind. There’s a song there! But he really was and that generosity thing, you could feel right away. If you were doing something improv with him – and that’s usually what he did – he will never put you in a position that you might not bloom in. There’s a lot of people who just don’t consider it, not because they want you to fail but because they just don’t think about you. He considers everyone that walks up on the stage and he wants to lift them up.
“He was so proud of Devon and Duane and Berry Jr and what they were doing. Those children are our legacy and he was so proud of all of them. He just liked all the kids. Our loss is heaven’s gain and Charlie believed that to his marrow. I’m happy that he didn’t have a lot of suffering. He’s sure gonna be missed. We’re all suffering the loss, but I know he’s fine. He’s gonna live forever, just like the songs, just like our good friend Billy Joe Shaver sang, “
Thank you AlPaul.
Charlie was a great guy, musician and band leader. I had the opportunity to speak with him a few times. The last time was at a radio station I was with in North Carolina and we had a big outdoor show and Charlie and Minnie Pearl came by to promote it on the air.
I doubt Charlie remembered me from one time to the other as they were several years apart but I was always ask him who HIS favorite guitar player is and he would always say Duane Allman.
The Bottleneck Bandito
Wonderful written tribute to Duane by Charlie
Charlie was simply a good writer, his soapbox columns are almost as big a legacy as his albums - his heartfelt tribute to Tommy Caldwell on the back cover of the CDB’s Full Moon album comes to mind, also RVZant, likely others too like Toy, Taz....
Great comments by Bonnie
Yes. Duane Allman played his notes like a great harmonica player on slide. Duane was simply the best.
Thank you AlPaul.
Charlie was a great guy, musician and band leader. I had the opportunity to speak with him a few times. The last time was at a radio station I was with in North Carolina and we had a big outdoor show and Charlie and Minnie Pearl came by to promote it on the air.
I doubt Charlie remembered me from one time to the other as they were several years apart but I was always ask him who HIS favorite guitar player is and he would always say Duane Allman.
I first met him up in Westchester at Rockland Community College. We went to see the concert but somehow the tickets fell out of my coat pocket. We were going to buy more tickets but it was sold out. We ran into his tour/stage Manager told him what happened he spoke to Charlie who told him to get us in the house to watch the show and gave us passes to come backstage and meet them after the show. Charlie wanted to know what we thought about the show. They were all nice people and anytime they were in town or not real far away we'd see them. It was like an extended family re-union. Nice people, great music, southern hospitality always.
This is a sad time, but he had a life well lived and shared his good time music with everybody. If you go on his website and his soapbox section read his last post from July 3rd. It's almost as if he wrote his own epitaph without knowing it would be that.
