The Charlie Daniels Band

Charlie Daniels was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He married his wife, Hazel, in 1963, and was with her until his death in 2020 (Daniels died at 83 after having a stroke). The couple had one son, Charlie Daniels, Jr.

In 1962, Daniels co-wrote "It Hurts Me" alongside songwriter Bob Johnston (although Johnston was credited under his wife's name, Joy Byers). Elvis Presley would record and release this song in 1964. In a Songfacts interview, Daniels said he never got to meet Elvis, but he did meet his daughter, Lisa Marie: "I just got to tell her, I said, 'Your dad picked one of my songs. I was a big fan.' But she was just as sweet as she could be. I like meeting people like that who are nice, and she was just a really nice little lady. But she sure is spooky. She had her shades on, and it's just kind of spooky to look at her because she looked so much like Elvis in his younger days."

Daniels got some high-profile work as a session musician; he played bass and guitar on three Bob Dylan albums. He spoke to Melody Maker about the experience: "I did three albums with Dylan, Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait and New Morning. It was great doing that. Dylan has always treated me very friendly and with the utmost respect and his sessions were always nice and loose. I forgot who he was when I was playing. I just got so wrapped up in the music that playing with Bob Dylan didn't really occur to me. It was just a bunch of guys playing music." Daniels also recorded and toured with Leonard Cohen. He played the Isle of Wight Festival alongside Cohen in 1970. "That was real nice but we played second to last before Richie Havens came out and closed the show after three solid days of music," he said. "Leonard's music is so fragile that if there are a lot of people hollering and carrying on, you can't concentrate on it properly. If people aren't almost reverently quiet, then it just destroys it and that's what happened at some festival we played in France right after the Isle of Wight." Daniels explained to Melody Maker why he ultimately quit sessions to pursue his own music: "I was satisfied doing that kind of thing and sessions for a while. There money was real good, and being part of a Dylan album or a Cohen album is always something to be proud of. But I had things of my own that I wanted to do, and you're never happy until you get that done if it's in you to start with."