The World Famous Ultimate Twang: Classic Album Review-The Charlie Daniels Band "Full Moon"

Classic Album Review-The Charlie Daniels Band “Full Moon”

Back to 1980 for today’s Classic Album Review, as we remember The Charlie Daniels Band’s “Full Moon” release. A follow-up to their hugely successful “Million Mile Reflections”, “Full Moon” didn’t do quite as well, but still was a top five country album, and a top fifteen pop album. It also yielded three singles, “The Legend Of The Wooley Swamp”, “Carolina (Remember You)”, and “In America”.

The album kicks off in style with one of the best known titles on the album, “The Legend Of The Wooley Swamp”, telling the tale of the greed and eventual demise of Lucious Clay. As a single, it barely cracked the country music charts, never climbing out of the 80’s, but it did make the pop top forty. A great cut, particularly if you like story songs, and it’s a good one to use at Halloween, as well. The spookiness it has is very effective.

The most laid-back this album will get is on the track “Carolina (I Remember You)”, where Charlie reminisces about his home state (he was born in Wilmington, North Carolina). Another great track that reflects and remembers, but not to the point of where it gets sappy. Charlie is so effective that by the end of the song, you’re missing Carolina, even it you’ve never visited. By the way, take it from this transplanted Hoosier, it is a great place to live. As a single, “Carolina” just missed the country top forty, but was a decent hit in Canada.

Many times on these reviews, I use the term country-rock, meaning the music is country, with some rock thrown in. This album tends to be more rock-country, more rock with some country thrown in. Either way, track 3, “Lonesome Boy From Dixie” continues the line-up of good music that starts out this disc. Charlie does not sing lead on this track, the only possible negative, as I think his vocal would have been a bit better.

“No Potion For The Pain” is another track that Charlie does not do the vocals. It’s more of a blues-rock track. I really like the intro, but the rest of the song is average, again, I think it would be better to have Charlie singing the lead.

And thus, ends side 1. Side 2 begins with a mix of some rock ‘n roll, country, and Tex-Mex for a rollicking composition titled “El Toreador”. For me, it’s one of the better tracks on the disc. Charlie is always at his best, when he’s just cutting loose, as he does here, be it a rocker, a pure country release, or bluegrass, as long as he’s playing his music at breakneck speed, it’s awesome.

“South Sea Song” is rather forgettable. Sounds like he’s trying to copy the mellow top forty sound of the post-disco era that was prevalent, at that time.

If you think that a fiddle can only be used in country and bluegrass and has no use in anything else, then listen to “Dance Gypsy Dance”, then try to tell me that. Again, a good example of rock-country, with to-be-expected flawless fiddle work from the master, himself. Other than maybe Johnny Gimble, has there ever been a better fiddle player than Charlie Daniels? Uh, no. Gimble and Daniels would be 1 and 1A, I’ll let you decide which one is which.

“Money” is another rocker, pretty much in the same vein as the rest of the album. It’s not a bad song, but nothing particularly special.

“In America” was the album’s most successful single, climbing into both the country and pop top fifteen. A song that was fitting for the times, as America was in the midst of pulling itself out of a recession, as well as still recovering from all of the scandals and general unrest of the 1970’s. While it may sound dated to those who are too young to remember that time, it still speaks volumes for those who were there and do remember.

It’s interesting to note that this album is no longer available on CD, but it is available as an MP3 download. I did find 2 still-new copies of the CD for sale on Amazon, for ONLY $74! I think I’d go the MP3 route for a more modest $8.99. There are numerous used vinyl copies still out there, as well. I even found a couple of 8-track version for sale on Ebay.

Overall, it’s a decent album, from a great entertainer, who puts on a better show in the few seconds of a Geico ad, than some acts do in an entire 2 hour concert. The only reason I don’t rate this album higher is because of the 2 tracks that Charlie doesn’t sing lead on, plus “South Sea Song” just seems out of place. I rate it a 3.5 out of 5.

Of course, this is my opinion. Your opinion counts, as well. So, please take a moment or two and leave a note agreeing with me or telling me I’m crazy.