Charlie Daniels Band’s Very First ‘Volunteer Jam’ Has Been Unearthed

Joseph Hudak
·2 min read
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Jam-1-Dickey-Betts-CD - Credit: Courtesy Charlie Daniels Jr.*
Jam-1-Dickey-Betts-CD - Credit: Courtesy Charlie Daniels Jr.*

This Oct. 4 marks 48 years since the very first Volunteer Jam, Charlie Daniels’ Nashville celebration of Southern music. The Allman Brothers’ Dickey Betts and Marshall Tucker Band’s Toy Caldwell both performed at the War Memorial Auditorium that Friday night, coming together for a summit of country and rock and launching a musical tradition that carried on for decades.

Today, the full live performance finally goes to streaming with the release of Volunteer Jam 1 – 1974: The Legend Begins. The collection of 12 songs from the Charlie Daniels Band’s headlining set leans heavily on the CDB’s Fire on the Mountain album, released a month after this recording. “Long Haired Country Boy” is a centerpiece, which Daniels introduces as “an easygoing thing.” In later years, a more toned-down (and politically conservative) Daniels would change the lyrics from “I get stoned in the morning/I get drunk in the afternoon” to “get up/get down.” But here, “Long Haired Country Boy” exists in all its defiant glory, along with a raucous interpretation of Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya” and a swinging jam on Bob Wills’ “Stay a Little Longer.”

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Daniels, a Country Music Hall of Fame member, died in 2020. The 2021 Volunteer Jam was transitioned into a memorial for the singer and fiddle player, best known for “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” — a song that was still five years away from release when Daniels held the first Volunteer Jam.

Charlie Daniels & Friends: Volunteer Jam 1 – 1974 – The Legend Begins Track Listing:
1. “Tennessee Waltz”
2. “Whiskey”
3. “Way Down Yonder”
4. “Long Haired Country Boy”
5. “New York City, King Size Rosewood Bed”
6. “Caballo Diablo”
7. “Jambalaya”
8. “Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)”
9. “No Place to Go”
10. “The South’s Gonna Do It (Again)”
11. “Orange Blossom Special”
12. “Don’t You Lie to Me”

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