Charlie Daniels Band--Uneasy Rider (1973)

     Charlie Daniels had been performing since the 1950's, and spent much of the 60's as a Nashville session musician and songwriter, being mostly known for co-writing the song, "It Hurts Me" which Elvis recorded. As his name started to grow outside of the country genre, he was featured as a bass player on recordings by Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohan.
      As he began to explore his musical options, he began not only to perform with his own band, but help mentor other southern rock groups, most notably the Marshall Tucker Band. Being in his late 30's when the album, "Honey in the Rock" was released with it's single, "Uneasy Rider", his spot in the genre was one of a father type figure.
     "Uneasy Rider" told a universal story of cultures clashing. In this case, it was the 60's hippie culture meeting the 'good old boys' from the deep south. As exaggerated as the song was, anyone who lived south of the Mason-Dixon line could relate to elements of the song (or better or worse), as could those who were a part of the 60's culture.
      As opposed to his more political strident and mawkish stance later in his career, he was at his best during the 70's showing off his fiddling prowess and telling stories through his songs, it's apex being in 1979 with, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"