Great Rock Albums of 1982: Charlie Daniels Band- Windows

If there was one song whose lyrics really made me think in 1982, it was the single by the Charlie Daniels Band, “Still in Saigon.” For those unfamiliar, it’s a very haunting song about a Vietnam Veteran and his struggles with the war ten years since coming home. Two lines that still stick in my mind and even more so since I listened to the 1982 “Windows” album are:

“All the sounds of long ago will be forever in my head,

Mingled with the wounded’s cries and the silence of the dead.”

Those lyrics make me glad that while I served, I never had to fire a live round at a living target nor had any live rounds fired at me. “Still in Saigon” was the first true song that I know of that showed true sympathy to those who served in Vietnam. At the time, some thought it was a bit contradictory to their previous patriotic 1980 hit “In America.” There is nothing unpatriotic about “Still in Saigon” and if America apologised to the Vietnam Veterans for they way it treated them every day until the last veteran died, it might just be enough. For me, the song would come to mind in unfortunate circumstances a year later when my old unit got blown up in Beirut.

Like I have said many times before, one song does not make a good album but there are plenty of good ones on “Windows.” Charlie Daniels seems to go more rock than country on this album although there is the country ballad type “We Had It All One Time” there’s nothing wrong with that song. “Ragin’ Cajun” is the other known single from the album which features some fiddle playing reminiscent of the old 1979 classic, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” It’s a good rock hoe down. The gem in the dark for me on this album is definitely “Partyin’ Gal.” I knew a few ladies who partied like that in those days so it should be a tribute to them. It is probably the most rock of all the songs on the album. If “We Had It All One Time” is the country ballad then “Blowin’ Along With the Wind” is the rock one. It’s not a power ballad, more of a progressive one but it slots in nicely with the rest of the line up. Whether you’re country or rock or both, you can’t go wrong with “Windows.”

Track Listing:

1. Still in Saigon

2. Ain’t No Ramblers Anymore

3. The Lady in Red

4. We Had It All One Time

5. Partyin’ Gal

6. Ragin’ Cajun

7. Makes You Want To Go Home

8. Blowing Along With The Wind

9. Nashville Moon

10. The Universal Hand

Charlie Daniels Band

Charlie Daniels- vocals, guitar, fiddle

Tom Crane- guitar, vocals

Joel “Taz” Di Gregorio- keyboards, vocals

Fred Edwards- drums, percussion

James W Marshall- drums, percussion

Charles Hayward- bass

One song made me think in 1982 but an entire album rocked the year away. “Windows” proved to many, especially many up North, that the Charlie Daniels Band were certainly not one hit wonders.

Next post: Johnny Van Zant- The Lat of the Wild Ones

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