The Live Record (Audium, 2001)

Some bands were made for live recordings. Listen to one of the Charlie Daniels Band's studio albums, and you get a band that's polished, though still unlike any other. Listen to CDB's brand new, 16-track strong "The Live Record," though, and you'll hear a band that's rugged, raw and as right as dusty Tennessee back road. See, for all the hoopla that surrounds Southern rock titans Lynyrd Sknyrd, CDB ranks as the best live band that Southern rock has ever known.

Think not? Check out Daniels as he digs into "Wooley Swamp." One of the most underrated musicians of the past 30 years (he played guitar on several Bob Dylan albums, including the classic "Blonde on Blonde"), the rotund Mt. Juliet, Tenn. tunester sings with the fire of a man whose flame burns, burns, burns. They don't make 'em like Ol' Charlie anymore. From an apropos-these-days "In America" to the common sense country of "Simple Man" right on through the boogie bounce of "Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye," Daniels dares to speak his mind come what may.

Ya gotta like that. Charlie Daniels is a man of convictions, talent and one who has the know-how to put 'em together flat on the mark for the year's best live album.