Mel McDaniel can’t slow down

By Brenda Neugent

Published: May 22, 2008

It was an Elvis sighting that gave Mel McDaniel his dream.
The Grand Ole Opry star, whose hits include “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On,” “Louisiana Saturday Night” and “Grandest Lady of Them All,” knew as a child, as soon as he saw Elvis Presley perform on television, exactly what he wanted to do with his life.
“I wanted to be a singer because I wanted to make people feel good with my music,” McDaniel said in his Web site biography.
The singer will perform May 31 at George Washington High School as part of a concert also featuring the bluegrass band Blue Highway.
Presented by the Danville Shrine Club, the event is a second annual fundraiser for the organization. Last year, Ralph Stanley and Gene Watson performed.
This year, McDaniel’s seasoned country will bring back memories of a musician who honed his skills writing songs for Conway Twitty, Kenny Rogers and Bobby Goldsboro before “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On” hit the charts.
“That song was a surprise to everybody including myself” McDaniel said of the 1986 hit in an interview with the Grand Ole Opry. “It went up the charts so fast that we didn’t even have time to make a video.”
Two years later, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and it looked like he was headed toward country music superstardom.
But it was a performance in Louisiana that would have the biggest impact on his life.
The singer was performing when he toppled off the stage, directly into the orchestra pit.
“It was totally dark and I had no way of knowing it was there.” recalled McDaniel in the Opry interview. “I had that big light in my eyes, and couldn’t see anything. I took about three steps, and then everything exploded. I’d never been in such pain. Tore me up pretty bad. Hurt my neck, my back, my leg, my knee, my arm, my elbow ... all of it. Probably, the Good Lord and my guitar breakin’ my fall saved me.”
“I just do the best I can,” he said of life after the accident. “But I’m still here, thank God.”