1974: The CDB issues Way Down Yonder, which will be reissued in 1977 by Epic as Whiskey.

Recording Fire on the Mountain, including "The South's Gonna Do It Again," which hits the Top 30, and "Long Haired Country Boy," which peaks at #56. Daniels decides to record several songs live in concert and chooses an auditorium in Nashville. In a nod to the Volunteer State, the CDB calls the concert the Volunteer Jam and invites friends from the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, and others to join them. "We had such a good time, we decided we should do this once in a while."

"Once in a while" becomes almost every year. Before its first run ends in 1986, the jams are broadcast nationally and internationally (by the Voice of America); guests range the world of music and include Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, Ray Price, Roy Acuff, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Crystal Gayle, James Brown, Emmylou Harris, Amy Grant, George Thorogood, Kris Kristofferson, Little Richard, Tammy Wynette, and Boxcar Willie, along with Alabama, Black Oak Arkansas, the Dirt Band, the Oak Ridge Boys, and in 1986, a reunion of the Allmans.

1975: CBD issues the Night Rider album.

A second Volunteer Jam in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will result in an album, Volunteer Jam.

1976: With the album, Saddle Tramp, the CDB joins Epic Records.

Daniels aligns himself with presidential candidate Jimmy Carter. "I didn't think he had a chance. When I was asked about doing something for him, he was like 'Jimmy Who?' But he called me one night. I read some clips about him, and I felt good about him. We'd come out of a catastrophic political time...Carter personified honesty and goodness." When "Jimmy Who?" becomes President Carter, the CDB are among performers at his inaugural.

1977: The CDB issues two albums, High Lonesome and Midnight Wind.

1978: More Volunteer Jams result in a two-record set, Volunteer Jam III and IV.

1979: Million Mile Reflections yields "Devil Went Down to Georgia," which reaches #1 and for which Daniels wins the Grammy for Best Country Vocal.

1980: The CDB appears in the film, Urban Cowboy; another Jam brings another VJ VI album. CDB's Full Moon includes "In America," Daniels' response to the Iran hostage crisis and the renewed patriotism it ignites. The record reached #11 in Billboard. "We'd just come through the sixties and the backlash of Watergate and Vietnam," says Charlie. "I got the feeling that patriotism was almost dead. But then they took the hostages. I travel a lot, and everywhere I went, people were saying, 'How dare that S.O.B. take our people! We oughta go over there...' I never thought I'd see somebody standing up and saying 'Damn, we're America man. How dare they do that!"

The CDB also hit the charts with "The Legend of Wooley Swamp."

1981: Yet another VJ and album (VII).

1982: In the Windows album, the CBD's version of Dan Daley's "Still in Siagon" reaches #22.

1983: The CDB issues a compilation, The Charlie Daniels Band-A Decade of Hits.

1985: Me and the Boys album is released.

1987: The Volunteer Jams have continued non-stop since 1977, but a combination of business and financial difficulties--along with the time and energy required of the CDB staff--take their toll, and the 13th will be the last for a few years.

The CDB releases its Powder Keg album.