First Niagara presents Tuesday in the Park at Artpark -thru September 4, 2012
The Artpark music lineup features its Tuesday in the Park concert series and free Coors Light Wednesdays, along with ticketed special event concerts.
During the 2012 summer Artpark & Company will present twelve ‘Tuesday in the Park’ concerts (June 19 – September 4). In a new format, the Tuesday concerts will require a general admission ticket to access the amphitheater. Tuesday concert tickets will be $5 in advance, and $10 week of the concert (Sunday-Tuesday ticket purchases), with select Tuesday concerts ticketed at $10 in advance and $15 week of the concert (Sunday-Tuesday ticket purchases). Artpark will offer ‘front of stage’ priority tickets again for each concert event: $25 (standing room only). Tuesday concert tickets will be limited, and will be available in advance at the Artpark Box Office, by phone at 716-754-4375 or 1-888-223-6000, and online at tickets.com and artpark.net. Note: phone and online ticket orders are subject to $1.75 handling fee per ticket. Handling fee will be waived on tickets purchased in person at the Artpark Box Office (Open Monday-Friday from 10am-4pm).
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June 26 |
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July 17 |
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Heart** | July 24 |
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July 31 |
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August 14 |
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August 21 |
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August 28 |
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The ‘Coors Light Wednesday’ concerts will continue to be free: tickets will only be required for ‘Tuesday in the Park’ concerts.
Parking fees in Artpark lots on Tuesday nights will be reduced to $5 with $3 parking for motorcycles. Coors Light Wednesday free concerts parking will be $10, with $6 motorcycle parking.
Artpark President George Osborne broke with Artpark tradition and made an early announcement of the Opening concerts for ‘Tuesday in the Park’ concerts. Kansas will kick off the Amphitheater concert Season on June 19th, and Foreigner will be in concert at Artpark’ on June 26. Concert tickets for both events are $5 and go on sale Monday March 26th at 10:00AM.
For ‘Tuesday in the Park’ concert tickets will be available in person at the Artpark Box Office, by phone at 716-754-4375 or 1-888-223-6000, and online at tickets.com and artpark.net.
Kansas
June 19
Opener: Marcangelo Perricelli
From the beginning, Kansas achieved success by playing only their original music. This "garage band" from Topeka was discovered by Wally Gold who worked for Don Kirshner and released their first album in 1974.
The band has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of), one platinum live album (Two for the Show) and a million-selling gold single, "Dust in the Wind."
KANSAS appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the 70's and 80's and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. In fact, "Carry On Wayward Son" was the #2 most Played Track on classic rock radio in 1995 and went to #1 in 1997. In 1998, KANSAS released an orchestral CD, "Always Never the Same" recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London.
They followed with an orchestral tour accompanied by top-caliber symphony orchestras. In 2000 KANSAS went back into the studio with original band member and songwriter Kerry Livgren to produce "Somewhere to Elsewhere," the first CD featuring all 6 of the original players in 20 years! The ten new songs were written by Kerry Livgren and recorded in his studio in Topeka, KS. Players included: Phil Ehart, Billy Greer, Dave Hope, Kerry Livgren, Robby Steinhardt, Steve Walsh and Richard Williams. 2001 brought the much anticipated, digitally re-mastered release of "Masque" and "Leftoverture," including never-released demos and live cuts. The digital re-master of "Point of Know Return" was released in February 2002. It also includes 2 new live cuts. Original member and drumming master, Phil Ehart said, "We always have our eyes on the horizon. We are always looking for new ways to capture the essence of our music and of our performance.
Now, KANSAS is releasing a state-of-the-art DVD using the latest technology in film, audio and visual design." Device-Voice-Drum was the driving force behind the 2002/2003 tour. Device-Voice-Drum was released on October 2, 2002 and is available as a Widescreen DVD and also as an Enhanced Audio 2-CD set.
Sony Music has released a boxed set in 2004 titled "Sail On" which features unique KANSAS cuts as well as vintage video footage on the included DVD disc. Kansas, America's greatest and most successful progressive rock band, released the two-disc (one CD/one DVD) anthology 'Works In Progress' via Compendia Music Group on May 23, 2006. Material was taken from a decade's worth of studio and live albums and home videos -- 1992's 'Live At The Whisky,' 1995's 'Freaks Of Nature,' 1998's 'Always Never The Same' and 2002's 'Device Voice Drum.' (The 'Works In Progress' DVD features two audio tracks from 'Always Never The Same' specially remixed in 5.1 Surround Sound.) 'Works In Progress' chronicles a full one-third of Kansas' 30+ years of existence.
Putting the collection together gave the band members themselves a chance to reflect on this important career phase. "In remastering this project it definitely helped US appreciate this time in our career," says Ehart. "We had forgotten what a great version of Kansas this truly was!"
In their hometown of Topeka, KANSAS celebrated their 35th Anniversary with a symphonic concert, accompanied by the Washburn University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Larry Baird. Kansas: There's Know Place Like Home captured this unique live performance and featured special guests Kerry Livgren & Steve Morse with spectacular lighting and high resolution clarity.
One of the leading progressive rock bands in classic rock history, KANSAS delivers favorites such as Dust In The Wind, Carry On Wayward Son and Point of Know Return as well as a sampling from each album in their discography, with a special symphonic touch. Kansas: There's Know Place Like Home is now available in stores & online at Amazon.com or iTunes.com on DVD, BluRay and CD.
Visit Kansas online at www.kansasband.com
Foreigner
June 26
Sold-out shows on a recent world tour demonstrate the band's formidable musical arsenal that continues to propel album sales, now exceeding 70 million. At Foreigner's core is founder Mick Jones, the visionary maestro whose stylistic songwriting, indelible guitar hooks and multi-layered talents continue to escalate Foreigner's influence more than 30 years into the game.
With a catalog of multi-platinum gems including Cold As Ice, Juke Box Hero, I Want To Know What Love Is and critically-acclaimed wonders from the 2009 "Can't Slow Down" album ”Foreigner is a band continually forging new musical peaks. Comprising Foreigner's dynamic lineup are founder-lead guitarist Mick Jones, lead vocalist Kelly Hansen, bass guitarist Jeff Pilson, multi-instrumentalist Tom Gimbel, keyboardist Michael Bluestein and drummer Mark Schulman.
The original incarnation of Foreigner, formed by Jones in 1976, included fellow Brit Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott, as well as Americans Al Greenwood, Ed Gagliardi and Lou Gramm. It was this mix of nationalities, and a feeling that music was coming from a different place, that inspired the band name. Stoked with Jones' song-writing mastery and Gramm's fiery vocals, Foreigner embarked on an unprecedented course of larger-than-life rock and never looked back.
Foreigner has 14 (and counting) Top 20 hits - some of them the most enduring songs in rock history - as well as 10 multi-platinum albums. Jones, who began playing guitar in his teens, is a Grammy and Golden Globe nominated songwriter and winner of the prestigious British Ivor Novello songwriter award.
Foreigner's debut album produced these hits: Feels Like The First Time, Cold As Ice and Long, Long Way From Home. The amazing "Double Vision" album followed, as did a string of more hits like Urgent, Juke Box Hero and Waiting For A Girl Like You. Those three songs helped give Foreigner "4" its impressive run at number one on the Billboard chart. At the zenith of 80s sound,Foreigner's fifth album, "Agent Provocateur," gave the world the incredible Number 1 global hit, I Want To Know What Love Is. This musical milestone followed the recordbreaking song Waiting For A Girl Like You (14 weeks, Billboard #2). As successful as the band has been with ballads, Foreigner is and always will be a high-energy rock band.
The frenetic ride of the original Foreigner incarnation reached a milestone in 2002 when Gramm and Jones performed together for the last time. Gramm's decision to leave the band prompted Jones to re-evaluate his life and his vision of Foreigner. With much support and encouragement, Jones rallied a newly-charged powerhouse lineup. A final touch to this intense re-vision was recruiting Kelly Hansen as vocalist, opening full throttle the reemergence of astounding music that speaks to both hard-core Foreigner fans and younger generations.
Foreigner released "Can't Slow Down" in 2009, which entered the Billboard chart in the Top 30 and had great success on radio with two Top 20 singles. The past two years have been an almost constant run of sold-out shows across Europe and the United States culminating with the release of a live album recorded in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium that spent thirteen weeks of 2011 in the Billboard Top 200. The September release of the band's 3-disc set, "Feels Like The First Time," includes an acoustic CD with an intimate and unique reinterpretation of many Foreigner classics, studio re-records by the new lineup and a live performance DVD showcasing the group's exceptional live energy.
Visit Foreigner online at www.foreigneronline.com
Huey Lewis & the news
July 3
Huey Lewis and The News have been together for over three decades. Formed from two rival Bay Area bands in 1979, their contagious brand of straight-ahead rock n' roll has outlasted countless trends, selling over 20 million albums worldwide in the process. Huey Lewis & The News have carried the banner as the quintessential American rock band, endearing them to millions of fans and earning them the right to mark their place on the pop history map.
These Grammy Award winners have written and performed such classic Top Ten Hits as "Heart of Rock & Roll", "Stuck With You", "I Want A New Drug", "If This Is It", "Hip To Be Square" and "Workin' For A Livin'". The group also wrote and performed "The Power of Love" and "Back in Time" for the hit film Back To The Future. "The Power of Love", which was nominated for an Academy Award, went all the way to #1 on Billboard's singles chart.
As great a recording career as the band has had, it's their live performances that remain the stuff of legend. They have toured worldwide continuously for more than 30 years. Huey Lewis & The News incorporate a variety of musical influences, including R&B and soul, to create their own unique sound. One of the highlights of their show is their a cappella rendition of early rock n' roll classics such as "Sixty Minute Man", "Under The Boardwalk" and "It's Alright".
Huey Lewis & The News are: Huey Lewis (vocals and harmonica), Johnny Colla (saxophone, guitar and vocals), Bill Gibson (drums, percussion and vocals), Sean Hopper (keyboards and vocals), Stef Burns (guitars and vocals) and John Pierce (bass). Their live show features a horn section of San Francisco bay area luminaries: Marvin McFadden (trumpet), Rob Sudduth (tenor saxophone) and Johnnie Bamont (baritone saxophone).
sublime with rome
July 10 - Artpark Outdoor Amphitheater
Special Guests: Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
Over twenty years after forming legendary ska-punk band Sublime, band co-founder/bass player Eric Wilson met another singer/guitarist that would deeply affect his life. That musician - his junior by nearly two decades - was 20-year-old Rome Ramirez. In Wilson's own words, "this kid could play guitar like a mofo and he's got a platinum voice." Incidentally, Wilson had previously reserved that same description for his former Sublime bandmate, the late Bradley Nowell.
Formed in Long Beach, CA, in 1988, Sublime delivered an irresistible blend of ska, reggae, punk, surf rock, and hip-hop that captured the imagination of fans around the world. Over the course of its three albums — 1992's double-platinum 40oz. to Freedom, 1994's gold Robbin' the Hood, and 1996's 6x-platinum self-titled major-label debut — the band has now sold more than 17 million albums worldwide. Nowell died of a heroin overdose two months prior to the release of Sublime, which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Top 200, sold six million copies, and spawned such hits as "What I Got," "Santeria," and "Wrong Way," which remain radio staples across with country. ("Date Rape," from 40oz. to Freedom, is the all-time most requested song on influential Los Angeles rock radio station KROQ, which has listed Sublime as its No. 3 act in its annual "Biggest Bands" list for the last six years.) Profoundly affected by Nowell's death, Wilson never considered performing the group's music live without their frontman.
It took the talent and enthusiasm of Rome Ramirez — a genial, now 23-year-old newcomer and gifted songwriter and musician — to change that. Growing up in the Bay Area, Rome was introduced to Sublime's music by his uncle, and credits the band with inspiring him to first pick up a guitar and learn to play at age 11. "It was the first time I ever really wanted to make music as opposed to just listen to it," he says. Rome began singing and writing songs as a teenager and was playing solo gigs around the Bay Area when he met Wilson (the two were recording at the same studio).
An instant friendship and musical bond was formed. The first big show as Sublime With Rome came in October 2009 at Cypress Hill's annual Smokeout Festival, performing in front of 20,000 people. A sold-out tour in March 2010 followed with spontaneous sing-alongs and writhing mosh-pits at every stop. That fall, Sublime With Rome entered the studio with to begin recording their debut album.
The result was Yours Truly, released in the Summer of 2011. The album, produced by Paul Leary, both picks up where Sublime left off and builds on what they've accomplished, thanks to the fresh infusion of energy from Rome, who brought in lyrics, melodies, and chords he'd written over the past few years. Songs like first single "Panic" (a Top 5 Modern Rock hit), "Take It Or Leave," and "You Better Listen" are reminiscent of vintage Sublime, while songs like "Lover's Rock" and "Murdera" pick up on the reggae dancehall style the band had begun exploring in 1996. "Paper Cuts" has a distinct punk flavor, while "PCH" and "Spun" have more of a rock-pop feel.
With the release of Yours Truly, Sublime with Rome spent the rest of the year touring the world and treating fans to both new songs as well as Sublime favorites that many never had a chance to hear live. Bringing things full circle, the band's first performance of 2012 was at this year's Smokeout Festival, joined by celebrated drummer and longtime friend Josh Freese. The trio is excited to perform for fans throughout the rest of 2012.
Visit Sublime with Rome online!
YES
with very special guests Procol Harum
July 17
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets. No fewer than 18 musicians have been a part of the band's line-up, with its current form comprising singer Jon Davison, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Geoff Downes.
Heart
July 24
Opener: Bruce Wojick Band
Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson first showed the world that women can rock when their band, Heart, stormed the charts in the '70's with hits like "Crazy on You," "Magic Man," "Barracuda," "Straight On," and so many more. Not only did the Wilson sisters lead the band, they wrote the songs and played the instruments too, making them the first women in rock to do so. Heart continued topping the charts through the '80's and '90's with huge hits like "These Dreams," "Alone," "What About Love," "If Looks Could Kill," "Never," and a string of other hits that showcased the sisters' enormous talents as musicians and singers.
Nearly 35 years after their first big hit, Ann and Nancy Wilson were back in the Billboard Top 10 in 2010 with Heart's "Red Velvet Car" album, and a Top 5 DVD ("Night at Sky Church").
As individuals, the sisters have also achieved significant success. Ann sang on songs that were both chart successes and motion picture themes, like "Almost Paradise" from Footloose, "Best Man in the World" from Goldenchild, and "Surrender to Me" from Tequila Sunrise, while Nancy composed and performed the scores to a half dozen motion pictures including the award winning "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous."
Although they got their start in Seattle and have become global phenomenons, Ann and Nancy owe much of their success to Hollywood which is where they lived when they recorded the songs at the landmark Capitol Records building that earned them their first string of #1 singles, and where they filmed all of their hugely successful videos.
Along the way, music by Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band Heart has sold more than 35 million albums, sold out arenas worldwide, and found its way into the soundtrack of American life through radio, motion pictures, television, and associations with branded sponsors. Today, songs made famous by Heart are heard in every aspect of contemporary culture.
Steve Miller band
July 31
Opener: Jamie Holka Trio
Following last year's number one blues album, "Bingo!," the Steve Miller Band followed that success with a second new album, "Let Your Hair Down," released this April by Space Cowboy/Roadrunner/Loud & Proud Records. "Let Your Hair Down" features the last recordings by harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo, Miller's "partner in harmony" for thirty-three years. Noted Pink Floyd album cover artist Storm Thorgerson, who also did the wonderfully whimsical cover to "Bingo!," returned to "Let Your Hair Down" with one of the great album covers of his career. The new album caps one of the busiest years of Miller's accomplished career. In addition to the release last year of the acclaimed first new Steve Miller Band album in seventeen years ("cause for celebration," said The Huffington Post), Miller not only led a sold out tour across the United States and Canada, but returned to Europe for the first time in more than twenty-five years for a triumphant round of dates culminating in a sold out Royal Albert Hall concert in London, filmed for DVD release. One of rock music's all-time greats, the Steve Miller Band has sold more than 30 million records in a career spanning more than 40 years. His trademark blues-rock sound made him one of the key artists in classic rock radio. The Steve Miller Band is brand name rock that millions have come to trust. For more information, please visit www.stevemillerband.com
Peter Frampton
August 7
Opener: Mick Hayes Band
Peter Frampton's "Grin and Bear It Tour" will perform at Artpark's Outdoor Amphitheater August 7.
Grammy® winner Peter Frampton remains one of the most celebrated artists and guitarists in rock history. At 16, he was the lead singer and guitarist for British band the Herd. At 18, he co-founded one of the first super groups, seminal rock act Humble Pie. His session work includes such legendary artists as George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, David Bowie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ringo Starr, John Entwistle and many others. His fifth solo album, the electrifying Frampton Comes Alive!, is one of the top-selling live records of all time.
Visit Peter Frampton online at http://www.peterframpton.com
Sheryl Crow
August 14
Opener: TBA
Free-spirited, fearless and fierce, Sheryl Crow has garnered nine Grammys, performed duets with musical luminaries such as Sting and Mick Jagger, released seven studio albums which sold more than 35 million records worldwide, saw the launch of her very own clothing line Bootheel Trading Co., is a cancer survivor and passionate humanitarian and has performed for President Obama! From humble beginnings as a jingle and back-up singer, Crow has reached the pinnacle of professional solo success.
Crow's debut, the seven times platinum Tuesday Night Music Club ,hit #3 and earned three Grammys--Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the classic "All I Wanna Do." The album also featured "Strong Enough," "Can't Cry Anymore," and "Leaving Las Vegas."
1996's triple platinum Sheryl Crow (#6) earned the Grammy for Best Rock Album and, for "If It Makes You Happy," Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. 1998's platinum The Globe Sessions (#5) also garnered the Best Rock Album Grammy, as its "Everyday Is A Winding Road" and "My Favorite Mistake" both reached the Pop Top 20.
The new millennium brought 2002's platinum C'mon C'mon (#2), whose gold "Soak Up The Sun" peaked in the Top 20 and "Steve McQueen" again nabbed her a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy. The 2003 greatest hits compilation, the four times platinum The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow, was also a #2 charter, featuring a new recording, a cover of Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is The Deepest." 2005's platinum Wildflower (#2) featured the duet with Sting, "Always On Your Side." On her 2008 release, Detours Crow explores both personal and global issues. Produced by Bill Bottrell (who last worked with Crow on her 1993 debut, the seven-times platinum Tuesday Night Music Club). Crow unveiled her soul stylings on her seventh studio set 100 Miles From Memphis. Growing up in Kennett, Missouri, 100 miles from Memphis, Crow grew up listening to the irresistible soul sounds on the radio coming out of Memphis in the late 60s; Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Booker T, Aretha Franklin and early 70s; Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone and Aretha Franklin, all of which shaped the artist Sheryl Crow is today.
Crow is a passionate supporter of a variety of environmental and health-related charities, including The NRDC, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and The World Food Program. This year saw the opening of the Sheryl Crow Imaging Center in the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Los Angeles.
For more information, visit www.sherylcrow.com
Roger Hodgson: The Legendary voice of supertramp
August 21
Opener: Stacy Clark
Roger Hodgson is recognized as one of the most gifted composers, songwriters and lyricists of our time! As the legendary voice, writer and arranger of most of Supertramp's greatest hits that led to more than 60 million record sales, he gave us amazingly enduring songs like: "Give a Little Bit," "Dreamer," "It's Raining Again," "Take the Long Way Home," "The Logical Song," "Breakfast In America," "Fool's Overture" and so many others that have become the sound track of our lives.
Hodgson co-founded the progressive rock band Supertramp in 1969 and was with them for 14 years. He wrote and sang most of the classic hits that brought Supertramp worldwide acclaim. Roger recently received 2 awards from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) for his songs being in the top played songs in their repertory, proving that they have indeed stood the test of time.
Visit Roger Hodgson online at: www.rogerhodgson.com
The Machine performs pink floyd with the interstellar multimedia & light show
August 28
Opener: There will be no opener for this show. The Machine will start at 7pm.
THE MACHINE, America's top Pink Floyd show, has forged a 20 year reputation of excellence, extending the legacy of Pink Floyd, while creating another legacy all their own. Over the years, The Machine has touched the hearts and souls of many, selling out large clubs and theatres across North and Central America, Europe and Asia. They have also appeared at renowned music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Riverbend, and Germany's Rock of Ages.
The New York based band focuses on making every show an authentic Floydian experience for their fans. Known for performing a diverse mix of The Floyd's extensive 16-album repertoire (complete with faithful renditions of well known hits as well as obscure gems), The Machine's stellar musicianship, dramatic lighting and video, and their passionate delivery sets them above and beyond the rest.
In the classic tradition, The Machine explores collective improvisation paralleling and even rivaling that of an early 1970's Pink Floyd mentality. Their use of expanded theatrical elements and elaborate stage displays continues in the spirit of the later Floyd lineups of the1980's. The band is also known for recreating entire albums as a part of their show.
Visit The Machine online at http://www.TheMachineLive.com
The Charlie Daniels Band
September 4
Opener: Little Mountain Band
Charlie Daniels is partly Western and partly Southern. His signature "bullrider" hat and belt buckle, his lifestyle on the Twin Pines Ranch (a boyhood dream come true), his love of horses, cowboy lore and the heroes of championship rodeo, Western movies, and Louis L'Amour novels, identify him as a Westerner. The son of a lumberjack and a Southerner by birth, his music - rock, country, bluegrass, blues, gospel - is
quintessentially Southern. In fact, even his bent for all things Western is Southern, because his attire, his lifestyle and his interests are historically emblematic of Southern working class solidarity with the "lone cowboy" individualism of the American West. It hasn't been so much a style of music, but more the values consistently reflected in several styles that has connected Charlie Daniels with millions of fans. For decades, he has steadfastly refused to label his music as anything other than "CDB music," music that is now sung around the fire at 4-H Club and scout camps, helped elect an American President, and been popularized on a variety of radio formats.
Like so many great American success stories, The Charlie Daniels saga begins in rural obscurity. Born in 1936 in Wilmington, North Carolina, he was raised on a musical diet that included Pentecostal gospel, local bluegrass bands, and the rhythm & blues and country music emanating respectively from Nashville's 50,000-watt megabroadcasters WLAC and WSM.
He graduated from high school in 1955 and soon enlisted in the rock .n' roll revolution ignited by Mississippian Elvis Aaron Presley. Already skilled on guitar, fiddle and mandolin, Daniels formed a rock .n' roll band and hit the road.
While enroute to California in 1959 the group paused in Texas to record "Jaguar," an instrumental produced by the Bob Johnston, which was picked up for national distribution by Epic. It was also the beginning for a long association with Johnston. The two wrote "It Hurts Me," which became the B side of a 1964 Presley hit. In 1969, at the urging of Johnston, Daniels moved to middle Tennessee to find work as a session
guitarist in Nashville.
Among his more notable sessions were the Bob Dylan albums of 1969-70 Nashville Skyline, New Morning, and Self Portrait. Daniels produced the Youngbloods albums of 1969-70 Elephant Mountain and Ride the Wind, toured Europe with Leonard Cohen and performed on records with artists as different as Al Kooper and Marty Robbins.
Daniels broke through as a record maker, himself, with 1973's Honey In the Rock and its hit hippie song "Uneasy Rider." His rebel anthems "Long Haired Country Boy" and "The South's Gonna Do It" propelled his 1975 collection Fire On the Mountain to Double
Platinum status.
Following stints with Capitol and Kama Sutra, Epic Records signed him to its rock roster in New York in 1976. The contract, reportedly worth $3 million, was the largest ever given to a Nashville act up to that time. In the summer of 1979 Daniels rewarded the company's faith by delivering "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," which became a Platinum single, topped both country and pop charts, won a Grammy Award, became
an international phenomenon, earned three Country Music Association trophies, became a cornerstone of the Urban Cowboy movie soundtrack and propelled Daniel's Million Mile Reflections album to Triple Platinum sales levels.
The album's title was a reference to a milestone in The Charlie Daniels Band's legendary coast to coast tours. Including two drummers, twin guitars, and a flamenco dancer, the CDB often toured more than 250 days a year and by this time had logged more than a million miles on the road. On the Million Mile Reflections Tour, transported in a convoy of busses and gleaming black tractor-trailer rigs - a show that stopped traffic
all over the country - the band now included a full horn section, back-up singers, a troupe of clog dancers and sometimes a gospel choir. By 1981, the Charlie Daniels Band had twice been voted the Academy of Country Music's Touring Band of the Year.
Daniels' annual Volunteer Jam concerts, world-famous musical extravaganzas that served as a prototype for many of today's annual day-long music marathons, always featured a variety of current stars and heritage artists and are considered by historians as his most impressive contribution to Southern music. Among the artists "Jam Daddy" has hosted at 16 of these mega musical samplers are Roy Acuff, Don Henley, Tanya Tucker, Amy Grant, Leon Russell, Billy Ray Cyrus, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, James Brown, Duane Eddy, Pat Boone, The Outlaws, Dwight Yoakam, Steppenwolf, Bill Monroe, Exile, The Judds, Orleans, Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Link Wray, Ted
Nugent, Billy Joel, the Marshall Tucker Band, Solomon Burke, Little Richard, B. B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eugene Fodor, Woody Herman, and Bobby Jones and the New Life Singers.
"I used to say, .I'm not an outlaw; I'm an outcast,'" says the Grammy Award winning star. "When it gets right down to the nitty gritty, I've just tried to be who I am. I've never followed trends or fads. I couldn't even if I tried. I can't be them; I can't be anybody but me."
When you hear a classic Charlie Daniels Band performance like "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," you hear music that knows no clear genre. Is it a folk tale? A southern boogie? A country fiddle tune? An electric rock anthem? The answer is, "yes" to all of that and more. And the same goes for "In America," "Uneasy Rider," "The South's Gonna Do It," "Long Haired Country Boy," "Still in Saigon," "The Legend of Wooley
Swamp," and the rest of a catalog that spans 50 years of record making and represents more than 20 million in sales.
His resume includes recording sessions with artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Flatt & Scruggs, Pete Seeger, Mark O'Connor, Leonard Cohen and Ringo Starr. His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley and Tammy Wynette. This touring legend has been documented by ABC Newsmagazine 20/20.
In April 1998, top stars and two former Presidents paid tribute to Daniels when he was named the recipient of the Pioneer Award at the Academy of Country Music's annual nationally televised ceremonies.
"In his time he's played everything from rock to jazz, folk to western swing, and honkytonk to award-winning gospel", former President Jimmy Carter said. "In Charlie's own words, .Let there be harmony, let there be fun and 12 notes of music to make us all one.'."
"Charlie's love of music is only surpassed by his love of people, especially the American people," former President Gerald Ford said. "He's traveled this land from coast to coast singing about the things that concern the American people. The Academy of Country
Music's Pioneer Award is presented to a supremely talented compassionate and proud American, and a fair to middlin' golfer, too!"
On Saturday night, January 19th, 2008, Charlie's life long dream became a reality. He was inducted as a full-fledged member into the Grand Ole Opry. "It is an honor that I can't begin to articulate, there is no way I can express what it means to me", says
Daniels. "And to make it special, I was joined on stage by Russell Palmer, the man who taught me my first guitar chords all those years ago." "I pursued my dream in music and by the goodness of God have been able to have a wonderful career, which has spanned
fifty years".
"I have been blessed with Gold, Platinum and Multiplatinum albums, I have appeared many times on network television, even in moving pictures. I have won multiple awards from The Country Music Association, The Academy of Country Music, The Gospel
Music Association and even a Grammy. I have even played on the Grand Ole Opry many times. But I was always on the outside looking in. I was always a guest, never a member."
"Ain't God good"!!!!!!!!!!
Visit The Charlie Daniels Band online!
