In 2006, when Mel McDaniel was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, there was more to celebrate than just the recognition of a lifetime of work from a country music legend. It was the turning of a page. While his home state acknowledged him for his past endeavors, Mel was working on his future. His brand new CD “Reloaded” was just being released worldwide and his touring schedule was stronger than ever.
A major reason to celebrate was the return of Mel McDaniel to the touring circuit. A nearly fatal accident in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1996 put a sudden halt to a man who had spent most of his life doing what he loves best, entertaining people with his music. While Mel spent years recovering from his injuries, his music was a constant mainstay in country music radio. The quality of his deep voice, mixed with well written songs have kept his songs active in country music radio rotation even today.
Mel has spent years fine tuning his music. He started in local bands in high school, performed around the Tulsa, Oklahoma music scene, made his way to Nashville but found success performing in the clubs around Anchorage, Alaska. Soon word got back to Nashville about this singer in Alaska packing in clubs alone with just his guitar and he was invited back to Music City.
This return trip to Nashville would be his last. He honed his skills by writing songs for Conway Twitty, Kenny Rogers and Bobby Goldsboro. At night he performed at the Holiday Inn and during the day he found work as a singer for demo sessions. His big break finally came in 1976 when he signed a deal with Capital Records.
He worked hard learning his trade at Capital Records. He released many singles in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. His first top ten hit came with “Louisiana Saturday Night” off of the “I’m Countryfied” album. He found his way to the charts many times with songs like “Big Ole Brew,” “Hello Daddy, Good Morning Darlin’,” and “Take Me to the Country”. In 1983, he produced the album “Mel McDaniel with Oklahoma Wind” that scored the top ten hit “I Call It Love”.
All of that hard work would pay off big time when he found success in 1984 with the release of “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On”. In a matter of weeks Mel found himself with a number one song and life as he knew it changed forever. “That song was a surprise to everybody including myself” Mel said, “It went up the charts so fast that we didn’t even have time to make a video.” In 2007, “Blue Jeans” scored on top of the charts again when it was ranked number one country music ringtone in the cell phone market. Around the world blue jean contests are still being held because of the popularity of Mel’s number one hit.
His next two releases “Let It Roll” and “Stand Up” were not only top ten hits for Mel but also some of the most played videos of the 80’s. In 1985 he was nominated by the Academy of Country Music for the “Male Vocalist of the Year” award. The hits continued for Mel throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s. His proudest moment in music was when he became of member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1986. During the 60th anniversary party of the Grand Ole Opry the theme music was written by Mel titled “The Grandest Lady Of Them All”.
Mel has spent a lifetime devoted to his music and his fans. He is known throughout the music industry for his high energy shows. Showing his support for our troops, during his performances of “Stand Up” on the Grand Ole Opry, a United States flag is displayed and Mel encourages everyone to “Stand up for the U.S.A.”. Mel walks off the stage with the flag waving, everyone in the opry house standing up with a patriotic spirit, as he walks arm in arm with his wife Peggy back to the bus. The boy from Okmulgee, Oklahoma has shown again that he is a master of his craft.
PROUD MEMBER OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY!!
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