The narratorprotagonist of "Uneasy Rider" is a long-haired marijuana smoker driving a Chevrolet with a "peace sign, mag wheels, and four on the floor." The song is a spoken-word description of an interlude in a trip from a non-specified location in the Southern United States to Los Angeles, California. When one of the narrator's tires goes flat in Jackson, Mississippi, he stops at a "Redneck" bar and calls a gas station to come repair it. He is alone at first, to his relief, but several local residents soon arrive and question his manners, physical appearance, and choice of car. In order to extricate himself from a potential physical altercation, the narrator accuses one man of being a federal agent working undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan, who removes George Wallace bumper stickers, voted for George McGovern, and has a Communist flag on his garage wall. As the others begin to believe the narrator's story, the man defends himself by saying he has lived in Jackson all of his life, has no garage, is a faithful Baptist, and adheres to the teachings of "Brother John Birch". The distraction lasts long enough for the narrator to escape just as his tire is repaired. After chasing the rednecks around with his car for a short time, he speeds away quickly and resumes his journey to Los Angeles; already on a northward track to Arkansas, he decides on the fly to reroute through Omaha, Nebraska.
Cultural references
The lyrics reflect cultural divisions in the Southern United States in the early 1970s between the counterculture of the 1960s and more traditional Southern culture. Unlike with most country music of the time, Daniels' protagonist is a member of the counterculture.
The song's title, which does not appear in the lyrics, is a play on the film Easy Rider, which follows two counterculture motorcyclists on a journey in the opposite direction, from Los Angeles to New Orleans, Louisiana and eventually to Florida.
Daniels' counterculture attitude was consistent with that of others in the outlaw country music movement but is in contrast to his later right-wing attitudes expressed in songs such as 1989's "Simple Man".
Two men decide to travel to New Orleans to party, but on the way get pulled over by a police officer for speeding. They decide to stop at the Cloud 9 Bar and Grill in Houston, Texas. The narrator reacts violently to sexual harassment from a customer, which instigates a fight with the locals.
His friend joins in, and learns during the fight that the good-looking gal he had been dancing with was a crossdresser. The narrator and his friend struggle to leave the bar amid the fight, get into their vehicle, and speed away—and get pulled over by the same police officer who stopped them earlier. They end up in a county jail where the narrator swears off drinking and partying.
↑ Later releases from Charlie Daniels are credited to "the Charlie Daniels Band" including compilations featuring "Uneasy Rider" but the single and the album were originally credited to "Charlie Daniels."
↑ Otfinoski, Steve, The Golden Age of Novelty Songs, Billboard Books, New York, NY, 2000 p.163
Easy Rider is a 1969 American independent road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal. The success of Easy Rider helped spark the New Hollywood era of filmmaking during the early 1970s.
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculates the term "southern rock" may have been coined in 1972 by Mo Slotin, writing for Atlanta's underground paper, The Great Speckled Bird, in a review of an Allman Brothers Band concert.
John Henry Creach, better known as Papa John Creach, was an American blues violinist who also played classical, jazz, R&B, pop and acid rock music. Early in his career, he performed as a journeyman musician with Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Stuff Smith, Charlie Christian, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Nat King Cole and Roy Milton.
Charles Edward Daniels was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Much of his output, including all but one of his eight Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, was credited to the Charlie Daniels Band.
"Promised Land" is a song lyric written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song. The song was first recorded in this version by Berry in 1964 for his album St. Louis to Liverpool. Released in December 1964, it was Berry's fourth single issued following his prison term for a Mann Act conviction. The record peaked at #41 in the Billboard charts on January 16, 1965.
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections.
"Rednecks" is a song by Randy Newman, the lead-off track on his 1974 album Good Old Boys.
"As Good as I Once Was" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Toby Keith that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. This song and his 2003 single "Beer for My Horses" are both his longest-running number one hits, each having spent six weeks at number one. "As Good as I Once Was" was released in May 2005 as the second single from Keith's album Honkytonk University. Keith wrote the song with Scotty Emerick.
Longhaired Redneck is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1976 on Columbia.
"Johnny 99" is a song written and recorded by rock musician Bruce Springsteen, which first appeared on Springsteen's 1982 solo album Nebraska.
This is a detailed discography for American musician Charlie Daniels. Much of his output, including all of his studio albums from 1974 to 1989, is credited to the Charlie Daniels Band.
Simple Man is the sixteenth studio album by Charlie Daniels and the thirteenth as the Charlie Daniels Band, released on October 17, 1989. The album's most memorable song is the titular song, "Simple Man", which is not related to the Lynyrd Skynyrd song of the same name. "It's My Life" is a shorter version of a jam song previously released on their 1976 album, Saddle Tramp.
"Mississippi", is a song written by Charlie Daniels and first released on the Charlie Daniels Band's 1979 album Million Mile Reflections. It was also released as a single in September 1979 as the follow-up to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." It reached the top 20 on the country singles charts in both the U.S. and Canada.
Homesick Heroes is the fifteenth studio album by Charlie Daniels and the twelfth as the Charlie Daniels Band, released on August 15, 1988. The album is known for the band's cover of the Jimmy Dean classic, "Big Bad John," which also includes guest harmony vocals by The Oak Ridge Boys, and for the song "Uneasy Rider '88" which is musically and thematically similar to their renowned 1973 song "Uneasy Rider" but with a story set in a Houston, Texas gay bar.
Honey in the Rock is the third studio album by American musician Charlie Daniels, released in 1973, appearing on the record label Kama Sutra Records. It was re-released on Epic Records in 1976 under the title Uneasy Rider.
Land That I Love is a compilation album by American musician Charlie Daniels. Released on August 8, 2010, the album consists of Daniels' previously recorded patriotic work, as well as two new songs, "Iraq Blues" and "(What This World Needs is) A Few More Rednecks 2010". Charlie Daniels felt that "it was the perfect time for a compilation of patriotic music". Charlie Daniels said in an interview that the album is called Land That I Love because the United States of America is the land that he loves.
Essential Super Hits is a compilation album by American musician Charlie Daniels. Released on July 27, 2004, the compilation consists of a compact disc of Daniels' hits, and a 5-song DVD video.
Redneck Fiddlin' Man is an album by American musician Charlie Daniels. It was released on July 23, 2002 and peaked at number 40 on the Top Country Albums chart.
Charlie Daniels is the debut album of American musician Charlie Daniels. It was released in 1970 courtesy of Capitol Records.
Rick Monroe is an American country music artist based in Nashville. He has released four albums, three EPs, and several charted singles.
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