Courtesy of Regal Resort
The career of Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Daniels will be memorialized at Goldston’s Beach at White Lake.
Daniels left behind a musical legacy that impacted the country music, Southern rock, and bluegrass worlds. His legacy features multiple hits including “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” and membership with the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and induction into the Grand Ole Opry.
Many fans don’t realize that the patriotic Daniels spent much of his life in Bladen County, and several of his songs have their roots in Southeastern North Carolina. For decades, Daniels fans have argued over whether “The Legend of Wooly Swamp” was based on Bladen County’s Crawley Swamp or Booger Swamp, or even the Green Swamp in Columbus.
Daniels spent many summers working on his grandfather’s tobacco farm in Bladen County and later graduated from Goldston High School in 1955. After high school he worked briefly at a creosote company in Wilmington and started playing at clubs in nearby Jacksonville. Daniels left Wilmington and eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1967, which he recalled being, “one of the best moves I’ve ever made”.
Daniels’ notoriety soared in 1979 when the Charlie Daniels Band released The Devil Went Down to Georgia. The song peaked at #3 on the charts and became his signature tune known around the world.
“Charlie loved Goldston’s Beach and visited there as a child. I can think of no better place for some of his most favorite memorabilia to be on display than in Bladen County at White Lake,” said Hazel Daniels, Charlie’s widow.
The Charlie Daniels Gallery at The Grand Regal at Goldston’s Beach will include many of Daniels’ ACM and CMA awards, his iconic guitars and fiddles, and many other items. Additionally, Mrs. Daniels has been invited to be the Grand Marshal at this year’s White Lake Water Festival.
“I met with his wife Hazel recently and we’re so excited to have these iconic pieces that are so dear to his family and fans on display here at Goldston’s,” said Jake Womble, Goldston’s Beach president. “The place was special to him and his family as it is to so many families. As a 100-year old family business, we’re honored to add the Charlie Daniels Gallery to our list of attractions here.”
One of the most treasured pieces that will be on display is a $5 check from Elvis Presley that was written to Charlie for writing his song, It Hurts Me.
Visitors will be able to purchase shirts from Daniels’ tour that never happened due to COVID and his passing in July of 2020. That memorabilia along with Charlie Daniels merchandise will be on sale in the Gallery’s gift shop. The Gallery is scheduled to open later this summer.
“I’m so honored to be part of this event and hopefully generate some excitement for the Charlie Daniels Gallery at Goldston’s Beach. People loved Charlie and his music. To know he has such a legacy is special to me and my family,” she added.
