ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Mel McDaniel

(Sep. 6, 1942 ~ Mar. 31, 2011)

Career Highlights

Grand Ole Opry Member 1986

Awards

• Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame (2006)

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

• Austin City Limits, 4
• Billy Bob's Texas, 2
• Ernest Tubb’s  Midnight Jamboree, 3
• Gilley’s Club, 2
• Nashville Now, 4
• Pop Goes the Country, 4

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV 

Billboard Chart Data 

• No. 1 Singles: 1
• Top-10 Singles: 9
• Crossover Singles: 0
• Charted Singles: 41
• Chart Years Active: 1976-1989

Career Label:

• Capitol (1976-1989)

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1. Louisiana Saturday Night -1981
2. Right in the Palm of Your Hand
3. Take Me to the Country -1982
4. Big Ole Brew
5. I call It Love -1983
6. Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On*# 1984
7. Let It Roll (Let It Rock) 1985
8. Stand Up
9. Real Good Feel Good Song -1988

*-No. 1 Chart Single

#-Biggest Chart Single

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stand Up: The Mel Mcdaniel Story

Mel McDaniel was a husky-voiced country music singer-songwriter was a native of Checotah, Oklahoma (OK), the same hometown as Carrie Underwood, McDaniel's voice is best known by country fans on classics such as Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans on and Louisiana Saturday Night. He was a regular on the Grand Ole Opry beginning in 1986.

The son of a truck driving father, McDaniel grew up in Okmulgee, Ok. Mel was inspired to play music after seeing Elvis Presley on television. At age 14, he taught himself the guitar chords to Frankie and Johnny and performed at a high-school talent contest.

After marrying his high school sweetheart, McDaniel began performing in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas. From there, he had an unsuccessful trip to Nashville, followed by quite a bit of success in Anchorage, Alaska, where he sang oil field workers. After two years there, he returned to Nashville and landed a job as a demo singer and songwriter with Combine Music. With the help of music publisher Bob Beckham, Mel signed to Capitol Records in 1976 and released his first single, Have a Dream on Me, which just narrowly missed the top-50.

Mel's career finally took off with Louisiana Saturday Night (No. 7, 1981) and Right In the Palm of Your Hand (No. 10, 1981). His other major hits, most in the early and mid-1980s, included Stand Up (No. 5, 1985), Big Ole Brew (No. 4, 1982) and Let It Roll (Let It Rock) (No. 6, 1985). His final top-10 single, Real Good Feel Good Song, charted in 1988 (No. 9, 1988). While associated with Capitol Records, Mel charted fourteen top-20 singles.

In June 2009, he suffered a heart attack. The following month, Mel was back in a Nashville-area hospital in a medically induced coma according to news reports. The Grand Ole Opry performer had a history of health troubles, many of which originated with the singer's 1996 near-fatal fall into an orchestra pit during a concert in Louisiana.

McDaniel was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006, along with induction classmate Leon Russell.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, written and compiled by Richard Bell. Roots of Country Music. Oct. 5, 2011.