Soap Box

On August 12, 2015, The CDB will revive a Tennessee tradition that had its beginning on October, 4 1974 in a 2,200 seat venue called War Memorial Auditorium, an historic old hall that hosted the Grand Ole Opry for a few years before it moved to the Ryman Auditorium.

The first Jam was actually a result of necessity in that The CDB was nearing completion on an album titled FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN and lacked only the two live tracks, we wanted to do �No Place To Go� and �Orange Blossom Special,� to finish it up.

By far, the best following the band had at the time was in our hometown of Nashville and it seemed the feasible course of action was to do the live recording where we stood the best chance of drawing a crowd.

A date was set, mobile recording equipment was scheduled, War Memorial Auditorium was secured, an opening act called Flat Creek Band was booked, and I wish I could remember who came up with it (but I can't) because I would like to pay them the credit due for coming up with the classic name �Volunteer Jam,� and we were ready.

There was a buzz about the show as soon as it was announced. At that time WKDF-FM in Nashville was an album oriented rock station and Ron Huntsman, Carl P. Mayfield, Moby, Dave Walton and the rest of the guys at the station talked it up constantly and the show sold out well in advance and arrangements were made to broadcast it live over the station.

I casually invited some of our musical buddies to come to the show for a jam session after we took care of our recording and Toy Caldwell, Paul Riddle and Jerry Eubanks of The Marshall Tucker Band and Dickey Betts who was with The Allman Brothers showed up.

Both Tucker and Allman Brothers were as hot as a firecracker in Nashville and nobody in the crowd had any idea the guys were backstage.

Flat Creek Band came on stage with two of the hottest guitar players Tennessee has ever produced, Tommy and Billy Crain, and knocked the crowd's socks off before CDB ever took the stage.

The crowd was stoked by the time we took the stage and the whole set was like a dream, one of those special times in the life of a musician when you're pouring your heart into every note you play and the crowd is just eating it up, the music rolling off the stage and the crowd loving every note.

We finished our set and I told the crowd to hold on.

When I walked on stage with Dickey Betts and the three Tucker guys, it was like throwing gasoline on an already burning fire, the place went nuts as we had the jam to end all jams.

By the time the next year rolled around the Volunteer Jam was the hottest ticket in town and it was moved to the 13,000-seat Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, TN.

We would never announce who our guests were going to be and the crowd never knew who we might call on stage.

Over the years the list of guests runs the gamut from Bill Monroe to Little Richard, from Willie Nelson to Ted Nugent, from Pat Boone to James Brown, from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Woody Herman's Big Band, from The Judds to George Thorogood and The Destroyers, from Dwight Yoakum to Stevie Ray Vaughan, from Alabama to B.B. King.

It crosses all lines of musical genres, we even had classical violinist, Eugene Fodor one year.

The Volunteer Jam is about music, about entertainment, about having a one of a kind event every time it is presented, and so far we have been able to accomplish that.

I remember so many special things that happened at the Jam.

Seeing Roy Acuff standing on the side of the stage grinning at me.

The night the Skynyrd band made their first appearance after the plane crash and played an instrumental version of �Free Bird� with a spotlight shining on Ronnie Van Zant�s empty microphone.

The night Billy Joel just showed up and came on stage and sang �Great Balls of Fire.� 

The very first live performance of a little song called �The Devil Went Down to Georgia.�

The original Jams were also international, broadcast on the Voice of America. Jam XIII in 1987 coincided with Jerry Lewis� MDA Labor Day Telethon, and performances from Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughan and others were broadcast on the telethon. The Jams produced numerous TV specials, and the second Jam was filmed and released theatrically as �The First Full-Length Southern Rock Motion Picture.�

So many nights, so many one of a kind experiences and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart that the 40th Anniversary of the Volunteer Jam has the potential to be the most special one we've ever done.

The guest list is spectacular and growing, the excitement is building and a buzz is beginning and by the time August rolls around, lower Broadway in Nashville will be crackling and popping, and there will be lots of surprises.

I hope some of you folks can make the trip to Nashville and experience the Jam.

I promise you, you'll never forget it.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem. 

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels