The musician was an especially devoted activist on behalf of America’s military, founding the veterans’ assistance non-profit the Journey Home Project with his manager David Corlew (and contributing $300,000 for the charity from the 2015 Volunteer Jam) and making regular appearances before U.S. troops — sometimes in combat zones like Iraq.
“I’ve played for them in bases in this country, overseas, on ships at sea, in Greenland, and Cuba, all over the place,” he told Forbes magazine in 2019. “And the main reason is to let them know somebody cares.”
Daniels, who joined the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016.
He was born Oct. 28, 1936, in Wilmington, N.C. Adept on fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, he broke in playing bluegrass music with an act called the Misty Mountain Boys, and later branched into playing rock ‘n’ roll.
A major professional break came in 1964, when “It Hurts Me,” a song he co-authored with his friend Bob Johnston, was recorded by Elvis Presley for the flip side to his No. 12 single “Kissin’ Cousins,” the title song for his then-current movie.
Daniels remained close to Johnston, who became a staff producer for Columbia Records in Nashville. After the musician moved to Music City in 1967, Johnston employed him as a session player on three Bob Dylan albums, the singer-songwriter’s 1969 country debut “Nashville Skyline” and the 1970 releases “Self Portrait” and “New Morning.”
Daniels also played fiddle behind Leonard Cohen, another of Johnston’s production charges, at the Canadian singer-songwriter’s chaotic 1970 appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival. He branched into production in 1969 with work on the Youngbloods’ “Elephant Mountain.”