RIP Charlie Daniels

ABQCOWBOY

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Well damn.......

I hate this news. Tell you a story, when I was a kid, I used to work at the Raddison Hotel. I was essentially a Bellman and would deliver the papers in the morning and then drive people to things like the Air Port or local area places, restaurants, car rentals etc. One day, about 4 AM, I was delivering papers and there was this guy standing at the Front Desk in a Red, White and Blue baseball cap, a Tshirt that said Grateful Dead and a pair of running shoes. I looked at him and he looked familiar but I didn't put it together. Anyhow, he wanted to go someplace where he could pick up some breakfast and Coffee and reserve a rental. So I told him that it was probably too early for the rental but that I could probably go talk to a guy and have him either call him or reserve something for him if he told me what he wanted. There were no Starbucks or anything like that back then but that I could go get him a cup of coffee myself if he wanted and that I could probably go back in the kitchen and throw together a Breakfast Burrito if he wanted. Nothing else was really open yet, unless he wanted to go down to the Frontier by the University. So we ended up brewing up a fresh pot of Coffee, he decided to just reserve the car and instead of fixing a Breakfast Burrito (wise move probably), we drove down to the Frontier and he ordered breakfast for him and his Wife. We basically called it in and then went and picked it up.

So the whole while, I'm driving and I'm looking at him and he just looks so familiar. Finally I figured it out. So we are driving and I asked him, "Are you Charlie Daniels?" He answered and said "Yes". He went on to ask that I not let that out. So I did that, he was a really nice guy and we went ahead and picked up breakfast and came on back. Maybe around 1 PM or so, he comes down with his Wife and we load up into the Van to go pick up the car. So I talk to he and his Wife, nice Lady, he asks me where he can go to get some authentic New Mexican food and maybe enjoy a drink where he may not have a lot of issues with fans etc. I actually sent him to Cervantes, which is a local restaurant here, with a bar and it kinda caters to Stars that can go in and not be bothered. The owner really kind protects that and he has a room that is just for that kind of thing. So give them directions, they go on their way and I go back to work. I'm doing my thing and I get a page to the bar. I walk in there and Charlie Hayword is sitting at a table. Charlie Hayword is the Base and also a writer for the band. So he has like 20 napkins in front of him with lyrics written on them. He asks me if there is someplace he can get this typed up? So I take it to the Secretary for the GM of the Hotel and ask here if she can type it up, which of course she does not want to do. So I tell here it's for Charlie Daniels and that changed everything. So she does it and I take it back after maybe 20 minutes and the guy thanks me stands up. I try to give him back the napkins and he tells me, he doesn't need them. So I kept them up until I got divorced from my first wife. She threw out all my stuff and so I lost them then.

They were in Albuquerque to play the State Fair and after a couple of days they checked out but before he checked out, he left me $500 dollars in an envelope, which was a hell of a lot of money back then.

He was a down to earth guy and his Wife was really nice. I hate to hear the he's passed.

RIP Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020)
 

CouchCoach

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We had him for two concerts when I was in radio in OK and while he was a really nice guy, I never liked his music, it was never Southern Rock to me but then again, anyone other than The Allman Brothers were not in my book. He was a real down to earth guy and if you didn't know who he was, you wouldn't know who he is.

My wife and I were on his tour bus at his last show and he was really accommodating and we were leaving and she said "I thought you didn't like his music"? "I don't but I like him and this balances all of the aholes that make the music I do like".

He got a kick out of our reminiscing about the opening of the Superdome, he headlined along with the Allmans, and the air filtration system malfunctioning with 75,000 dope smoking Southern Rockers making such a cloud that actually rained on the people on the field. It was actually condensation with the humidity but it misted pretty good on them and we even felt it up ion the stands.
 

NorthoftheRedRiver

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I chatted with a guy at an airport once that had worked for CD for many years. The guy loved Charlie. Said he was one of the most caring, genuine friends he'd ever had. He took an active interest in his bandmates/crew/employees lives and familes and continually checked up on every one. Heck, he'd sit down and help them figure out their finances and plan for their retirements. He was more like a dad than an employer. It seems like he was one of the good guys.
 
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Well damn.......

I hate this news. Tell you a story, when I was a kid, I used to work at the Raddison Hotel. I was essentially a Bellman and would deliver the papers in the morning and then drive people to things like the Air Port or local area places, restaurants, car rentals etc. One day, about 4 AM, I was delivering papers and there was this guy standing at the Front Desk in a Red, White and Blue baseball cap, a Tshirt that said Grateful Dead and a pair of running shoes. I looked at him and he looked familiar but I didn't put it together. Anyhow, he wanted to go someplace where he could pick up some breakfast and Coffee and reserve a rental. So I told him that it was probably too early for the rental but that I could probably go talk to a guy and have him either call him or reserve something for him if he told me what he wanted. There were no Starbucks or anything like that back then but that I could go get him a cup of coffee myself if he wanted and that I could probably go back in the kitchen and throw together a Breakfast Burrito if he wanted. Nothing else was really open yet, unless he wanted to go down to the Frontier by the University. So we ended up brewing up a fresh pot of Coffee, he decided to just reserve the car and instead of fixing a Breakfast Burrito (wise move probably), we drove down to the Frontier and he ordered breakfast for him and his Wife. We basically called it in and then went and picked it up.

So the whole while, I'm driving and I'm looking at him and he just looks so familiar. Finally I figured it out. So we are driving and I asked him, "Are you Charlie Daniels?" He answered and said "Yes". He went on to ask that I not let that out. So I did that, he was a really nice guy and we went ahead and picked up breakfast and came on back. Maybe around 1 PM or so, he comes down with his Wife and we load up into the Van to go pick up the car. So I talk to he and his Wife, nice Lady, he asks me where he can go to get some authentic New Mexican food and maybe enjoy a drink where he may not have a lot of issues with fans etc. I actually sent him to Cervantes, which is a local restaurant here, with a bar and it kinda caters to Stars that can go in and not be bothered. The owner really kind protects that and he has a room that is just for that kind of thing. So give them directions, they go on their way and I go back to work. I'm doing my thing and I get a page to the bar. I walk in there and Charlie Hayword is sitting at a table. Charlie Hayword is the Base and also a writer for the band. So he has like 20 napkins in front of him with lyrics written on them. He asks me if there is someplace he can get this typed up? So I take it to the Secretary for the GM of the Hotel and ask here if she can type it up, which of course she does not want to do. So I tell here it's for Charlie Daniels and that changed everything. So she does it and I take it back after maybe 20 minutes and the guy thanks me stands up. I try to give him back the napkins and he tells me, he doesn't need them. So I kept them up until I got divorced from my first wife. She threw out all my stuff and so I lost them then.

They were in Albuquerque to play the State Fair and after a couple of days they checked out but before he checked out, he left me $500 dollars in an envelope, which was a hell of a lot of money back then.

He was a down to earth guy and his Wife was really nice. I hate to hear the he's passed.

RIP Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020)

what a cool, great story. I enjoyed and thank you for sharing! Do you recall what song it was?
 

Reverend Conehead

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NOOOOOOO! Join me in flipping off the year 2020. 2020 SUCKS! This is such a rotten year. I saw Charlie Daniels in concert in Honolulu in about 1979 or 80. He was so good. Such a fun show. This has been such a crappy year that I'm getting really mad at God. This stinking pandemic and awesome people dying. I demand that God give us back at least one of the amazing people he's taken recently. Kim Shattuck or Eddie Money, give them back to us. Or make this Charlie Daniels death announcement turn out to be a hoax. Enough is enough.

2020 is such a crap year that 2021 had better be a banner year. I demand the following:
1. The Eagles go 0 and 16, and their most obnoxious fans apologize on live TV to the NFL and admit that their fan base are such jerks that they totally deserve this awful season.
2. The Cowboys not only go 16 and 0, but no team scores more than 3 points on them in any game. Then of course they go on to the Super Bowl where they beat the Steelers 78 to 0. Then the owner of the Steelers goes on live TV after the game and admits that anyone who roots for the Steelers is a commie.
3. (No talk about politics but)... the election gets canceled and instead Reverend Conehead gets appointed Emperor of the United States and all the hottest actresses fall madly in love with him and fight over who gets to be First Lady.
 
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RustyBourneHorse

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NOOOOOOO! Join me in flipping off the year 2020. 2020 SUCKS! This is such a rotten year. I saw Charlie Daniels in concert in Honolulu in about 1979 or 80. He was so good. Such a fun show. This has been such a crappy year that I'm getting really mad at God. This stinking pandemic and awesome people dying. I demand that God give us back at least one of the amazing people he's taken recently. Kim Shattuck or Eddie Money, give them back to us. Or make this Charlie Daniels death announcement turn out to be a hoax. Enough is enough.

That it does. 2020 has been horrendous!!! Can we please unplug 2020 for 10 seconds and then plug it in? 2020 is broken.
 

RustyBourneHorse

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Well damn.......

I hate this news. Tell you a story, when I was a kid, I used to work at the Raddison Hotel. I was essentially a Bellman and would deliver the papers in the morning and then drive people to things like the Air Port or local area places, restaurants, car rentals etc. One day, about 4 AM, I was delivering papers and there was this guy standing at the Front Desk in a Red, White and Blue baseball cap, a Tshirt that said Grateful Dead and a pair of running shoes. I looked at him and he looked familiar but I didn't put it together. Anyhow, he wanted to go someplace where he could pick up some breakfast and Coffee and reserve a rental. So I told him that it was probably too early for the rental but that I could probably go talk to a guy and have him either call him or reserve something for him if he told me what he wanted. There were no Starbucks or anything like that back then but that I could go get him a cup of coffee myself if he wanted and that I could probably go back in the kitchen and throw together a Breakfast Burrito if he wanted. Nothing else was really open yet, unless he wanted to go down to the Frontier by the University. So we ended up brewing up a fresh pot of Coffee, he decided to just reserve the car and instead of fixing a Breakfast Burrito (wise move probably), we drove down to the Frontier and he ordered breakfast for him and his Wife. We basically called it in and then went and picked it up.

So the whole while, I'm driving and I'm looking at him and he just looks so familiar. Finally I figured it out. So we are driving and I asked him, "Are you Charlie Daniels?" He answered and said "Yes". He went on to ask that I not let that out. So I did that, he was a really nice guy and we went ahead and picked up breakfast and came on back. Maybe around 1 PM or so, he comes down with his Wife and we load up into the Van to go pick up the car. So I talk to he and his Wife, nice Lady, he asks me where he can go to get some authentic New Mexican food and maybe enjoy a drink where he may not have a lot of issues with fans etc. I actually sent him to Cervantes, which is a local restaurant here, with a bar and it kinda caters to Stars that can go in and not be bothered. The owner really kind protects that and he has a room that is just for that kind of thing. So give them directions, they go on their way and I go back to work. I'm doing my thing and I get a page to the bar. I walk in there and Charlie Hayword is sitting at a table. Charlie Hayword is the Base and also a writer for the band. So he has like 20 napkins in front of him with lyrics written on them. He asks me if there is someplace he can get this typed up? So I take it to the Secretary for the GM of the Hotel and ask here if she can type it up, which of course she does not want to do. So I tell here it's for Charlie Daniels and that changed everything. So she does it and I take it back after maybe 20 minutes and the guy thanks me stands up. I try to give him back the napkins and he tells me, he doesn't need them. So I kept them up until I got divorced from my first wife. She threw out all my stuff and so I lost them then.

They were in Albuquerque to play the State Fair and after a couple of days they checked out but before he checked out, he left me $500 dollars in an envelope, which was a hell of a lot of money back then.

He was a down to earth guy and his Wife was really nice. I hate to hear the he's passed.

RIP Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020)

Wow, that was great to read. He definitely seems like he was a wonderful person.
 

ABQCOWBOY

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Wow, that was great to read. He definitely seems like he was a wonderful person.

Well Fur, I can't say I knew him personally but I can say that he was nothing but cool to the people working there. His Wife was really, really nice as well. I'm glad I had the story to tell and I'm glad that you were able to get a little enjoyment out of it.

:thumbup:
 

RustyBourneHorse

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Well Fur, I can't say I knew him personally but I can say that he was nothing but cool to the people working there. His Wife was really, really nice as well. I'm glad I had the story to tell and I'm glad that you were able to get a little enjoyment out of it.

:thumbup:

Yeah, I definitely enjoyed reading it.
 
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