Charlie Daniels Band Album: “A Decade Of Hits”

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.

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...

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.

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.

This c.d is a great collection of songs from yesteryear! I like to play it over and over again! It plays and looks flawless! THank you,Scott K