Album review: THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND – Live At The Nassau Coliseum, May 4 1979

Floating World

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and violinist Charlie Daniels, who sadly left us last year, was a pioneer in that he brought together country, blues, bluegrass, rhythm’n’blues and southern rock. A kind of centre point, it’s not until you listen to some of his music that you see the some of the cross platform connection.

As well as playing violin on several Marshall Tucker albums, in ran a number of Volunteer Jams (one of which featured Molly Hatchet and Ted Nugent), he had several hit singles, including The Devil Went Down To Georgia.

This live set, recorded back in 1979 in New York, was originally a radio show that gets released here in full and what a pleasure it is.

After a drawn out intro, the band open with Jitterbug, which has much in common with The Allman Brothers, while Trudy is a little more mainstream country. The crown are loud and enthusiastic, and love tracks like Caballo Diablo.

Disc 2 opens with No Potion For The Pain, and is introduced as a new blues song, slow and heartfelt. Then Birmingham Blues picks up the pace somewhat. A couple of songs straddle 10 minutes, and there’s the classic Devil Went Down To Gorgia – one of my fave country tracks (well, I’m really not a country fan but this one stands out) and it’s given a real blast here. A high paced and energetic with quickfire vocals.

There’s so much to love here as the band mix (or switch between) related styles fluidly – the country is played with passion and mixed with styles it influenced (Southern Rock for example), and with blues thrown in, it’s everything artists like Billy Ray Cyrus aren’t.

A good live show and well recorded – really worth checking out. ****

Review by Joe Geesin

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)