Charlie Daniels will probably forever be best known for his tale of a wager and music contest between a young man named Johnny and the Prince of Darkness. He may not have been the best fiddler in modern country, southern rock, gospel or bluegrass music, but it's hard to imagine anyone else who's in the top 10 in all four of those categories.
Here, performing at a church conference in Jerusalem in 2013, he opens by playing the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah" before segueing into a blistering performance of "I'll Fly Away." We thus have the spectacle of an audience singing along in Hebrew accompanied by one of America's proudest rednecks, proof that music bridges a lot more divisions than do politicians, activists, screaming in people's faces and pulling down statues because they can't fight back.
Daniels closes the Alfred Brumley classic with a little call-and-response testimony about how "one of these mornings" he's going to spread his wings and fly away. The little chuckle and grin this promise brings to his face makes this clip a highlight listen on YouTube today as the fast fiddle is stilled and the crown of an enormous hat breaks through the clouds at the Pearly Gates.
Daniels was 83.
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