Charlie Daniels' Reflections on a Life in Music: A Memoir from the Famed Country Star

Mary O.: I love this book I'm reading it now it's awesome

United States on Aug 08, 2023

Amazon Customer: Greater read for CD lovers

United Kingdom on Mar 02, 2021

Frank K: Charlie is very astute with a writer's vocabulary. He uses vivid imagery to describe his ups and downs.

Canada on Dec 01, 2020

Mendy J.Mendy J.: If you love Charlie Daniels, if you're an aspiring musician, are currently a musician, if you just love country music or if you just love a good biography, this book is one of those you just can't put down once you start reading it. It will make you feel a little bit of every emotion. Mr. Daniels was an amazing man who left an incredible legacy. Such an easy read...so obviously straight from his heart onto the pages of this masterpiece. He's been my hero since I was 18 years old. I was fortunate enough to get to meet him a couple times. The picture is of him and I when I was 19 at Wal-Mart in Pelham, AL where he did an autograph session for his new Blues Hat album at that time. The day he died, a piece of me went with him...even though he had no idea who I was. He will live on in our hearts for generations to come as he is, to me, the best storyteller of my time. RIP to The Long Haired Country Boy

United States on Aug 27, 2020

Kathy MacPhee: As described

Canada on Jan 21, 2019

French Colonial: Mr. Daniels has a very long and amazing career ! The various persons he meets and befriends; the complications of eternal touring, the recordings and accidents that bring faith in play are all told here.
What makes it even more fun to read is that Mr. Daniels writes the story with the same conscience he writes his songs.

Great lecture and very educational.

Canada on Jan 08, 2019

Michael Donnellan: Starts well but on the whole degenerates into a list of gigs etc..not enough insight given into the man himself, pity- just lacks depth.

United Kingdom on Jul 23, 2018

Carolinian: Let me begin by saying that when I was in high school in West Virginia and later college, there was no music I enjoyed listening to more than the Charlie Daniels Band. I also appreciated John Prine, the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Outlaws, Molly Hatchet the Allman Brothers and others - but the CDB was my favorite, by far. I really enjoyed this autobiography and learned much about Charlie and his band, the business side of music, the highs and lows of the band, his roots in North Carolina and his time spent (on the edge) in Texas (I've always heard a lot of Texas influence in their music). Stories about his humble beginnings and his band's life on the road, friendships with Ronnie Van Zant and the Allman brothers, his early failed marriage (and later ideal marriage), his seriously injured arm in a ranch accident, etc. etc. I enjoyed it all. I have only two small criticisms: (A) the amount of time he spent pontificating on the topics of religion and patriotism (way too much) and (B) his lack of writing about his best guitarist and co-writer on many of their hits - the unforgetable Tommy Crain. The CDB took a huge hit when Crain retired from the band (and later died at...

United States on Jun 23, 2018

James Ellsworth: Readers will learn the 'basics' of Charlie Daniels' life, career, Christian faith, political beliefs and, especially, his advice about the music business. I purchased a Kindle copy of the book, available at an honest, bargain price. It is easy to 'get your money's worth here! What clinched the deal was the free excerpt on the Amazon page: I liked the straightforward tone and the level of ideas presented. The book continued on as the sample began. For fans of the Charlie Daniels Band (yes, I own some of their music), this is 'FIVE STAR' material. It reads far better than many a star autobiography and has more 'truth' to it. Those wanting to go into the 'business' will appreciate the reality Charlie presents about getting started, delivering the 'goods' night after night and driving all those miles just trying to make it pay. He has valuable things to say about how he weathered massive changes in the way music is made, recorded and marketed. This is NOT a 'kiss and tell' about groupies; it is an appreciation of loyal employees and of how much detail, logistical and technical, goes into booking a show, traveling, watching cash flow--even getting out of debt.
So why do I say FOUR...

United States on Feb 26, 2018

James: I am a fan of early CDB and saw them perform numerous times during their heyday of the late '70s with Marshall Tucker and Sea Level among others. I consider them to be an important part of the southern rock legacy. Knowing that the players of that era weren't exactly altar boys, I expected a tome which included the exalted trio of "sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll." I can easily accept the absence of sex while assuming that the "I get stoned in the morning, get drunk in the afternoon" part was purposefully omitted. I am disappointed though that there wasn't more detail about Mr. Daniels own music and his time spent with the other great bands of the era...times both onstage and off. For instance where the Volunteer Jam was concerned I'm surprised that there weren't some wonderful, revelatory stories to be shared. I would also have welcomed more detail about those classic early albums that made the CDB one kick-ass band. I will say though that Mr. Daniels' observations of the workings of the music industry were insightful.
Overall though this book strikes me as a largely chronological set of ruminations that are a mile-wide and an inch-deep.
Where Mr. Daniels does go into depth...

United States on Nov 08, 2017