Cox Communications brings CDB to the Fort

 

story and photos by Ruby Dean
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At the Cox Community Concert presents The Charlie Daniels Band, the sweltering day had just begun to dissipate when CDB took stage to heat up the night with hits that span Charlie Daniels’ 50-plus year career. Daniels played in front of a crowd of more than 12,000 at the Riverfront Park in downtown Fort Smith.

People lined up early to hear one of country’s best singers before gates opened at 6 p.m., with lines wrapping around the road on both the north and south ends of Clayton Expressway.

Charlie Daniels has been playing music for more than 50 years. He has seen a lot of changes in the music industry such as liberality of lyrics, acceptability of music and also in the sounds. Besides the fiddle, Charlie Daniels next best instrument to play is the guitar which he usually plays while writing new songs and is sure to keep a few with him no matter if he is on the road or at home.

In October, Daniels will turn 74, but when the fiddling icon still hits the stage with energy and passion. In January, Daniels suffered a stroke while snowmobiling in Colorado. He says he has had to make lifestyle changes since the stroke. He has lost weight, started exercising and watches what he eats.

Most may not know that Daniels and his wife, Hazel, have been married more than 40 years. With the demands of being on the road so much in his early career, Daniels was careful to keep his family tops in his life, which has made this relationship last. Hazel is not only his companion for life, but also his best friend, Daniels said in a recent interview.

His first hit “Uneasy Rider” from his 1973 second album “Honey in the Rock.” was written while he was in Baton Rouge with a rock group. It was a multi-based show. There were people there from San Francisco who seemed scared to be around the groups that were there, thus came his hit song “Uneasy Rider.”

In 2009-2010, Daniels stretched his legs into advertising and was featured in a GEICO auto insurance commercial, which showcases his fiddling talent. According to Daniels, the commercial was a lot of fun to be in because he had a great group of people with which to work.

During his musical career, Daniels wrote many great songs including “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” which is his signature song and the one he chose to close out his Fort Smith concert.