Daniel O'Donnell's 'Country Boy' The album features two duets with his childhood heroes – Loretta Lynn and Charley Pride, I Wanna Be Free with Lynn and Crystal Chandeliers with Pride. In many ways the album marks a return to the Irish star’s roots, as he explained.
As the youngest of five children, Daniel’s childhood was the stuff country stars are made of: a large, close-knit family living a lifestyle of almost 19th-century simplicity, crammed with picturesque details such as cooking over an open peat fire. It’s no wonder that the O’Donnells produced not one but two huge country stars.
Daniel’s older sister, Margaret, known as Margo, was already a successful singer when Daniel was a youngster, and he credits her with having introduced him to the music of the American country greats.
“She was singing a similar type of music when I was a child at a time when American records wouldn’t have been readily available,” he explained. “But because she was in the business she would have found them all somewhere and that’s how I got to listen to Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, Kitty Wells and Jim Reeves, all the traditional country singers.”
The young Daniel was originally bound for a career in business. But he longed to be a singer, although he was initially worried about making the leap. “For a time before I started I was very hesitant,” he says, “I always think that in this kind of business, be it music, acting or whatever, as well as talent you need to be lucky. There are wonderful, wonderful singers that may be much better than I am, but for whatever reason they just don’t get whatever break is needed.”
Having a successful sibling didn’t necessarily reassure him. “I thought Margaret had been so successful, I wondered if two people could be that lucky in the family. But then I thought ‘well I’d rather try and fail than never try and always wonder’.”
Lucky for his many fans, he did. However the appreciation goes both ways in this relationship and Daniel, who at one time used to hold yearly ‘open days’ when fans could meet the star in his home town, expresses his gratitude again and again, saying, “I’m very grateful for the support of people that have come to my shows over the years. Once people find the music there’s a tremendous loyalty there and they never miss a thing - they’re very supportive. I would like to say thank you to them for that and just hope that they continue to enjoy it.”
Long-standing fans are often amazed to discover that Daniel can remember so many of their names. When I asked him about this, the modest star simply said: “I’ve been singing for almost 28 years, and many of the people have been coming since we started doing concerts in 1987, and maybe even before that, so you do get to know people.
“It’s good for me - I enjoy meeting people and it’s a wonderful way to spend your life, doing something you enjoy and getting to know people in the process.
“Sometimes people want to come and see where I come from and to meet me there. I went a few times to where Loretta Lynn lives, but if you happen to meet them while you’re there, it makes it more special. Her original home where she lived with her husband and where they brought their children up, that’s open to the public so it’s a more structured thing because you can go any day of the year and visit the house and there’s tours but I kind of understand, from going there and meeting her there, what it meant to me.
“If you can get a picture or some record of your visit, that’s really what the open days were about. People would be sure that I would be at home and we used to have a cup of tea and that sort of thing. We haven’t done it since 2000, but we do intend to it again one day.”
Daniel names Lynn his favourite singer of all time, and cites Pride as his favourite male country artist. So when he started working on Country Boy a couple of years ago, he said to his manager, “if I could ask at least, if Charley and Loretta would be willing to record with me, it would be wonderful. I was thrilled when a positive reply came back from both of them.”
Of his latest classic country album Daniel adds: “All of the songs were hits. Crystal Chandeliers was one of Charley’s, Lucille was a big hit for Kenny Rogers, Ring of Fire was Johnny Cash’s. I think they’re all associated with one singer or another.”
Does Daniel have any other names on his dream duet list, after singing with Lynn and Pride? “There are loads of great singers that I admire - but for me, Charley and Loretta, there’s just nobody to touch them.”
Daniel has given so much to his fans, and also to the Romanian children who benefit from his fundraising for the Romanian Challenge Appeal. So his loyal following will be delighted to hear Daniel's own childhood dreams coming true on Country Boy.
His acute sense of his good fortune comes over again and again in our conversation. He says: “It’s great to do something you enjoy and to be successful at something you enjoy. There’s only a very limited number of people as fortunate as I am, who actually choose what they do, you know, who do what they love.
“Many people work to exist and I’m not one of them. I do it because I enjoy it. I can never say or feel that I’ve found it hard work. Of course sometimes you get tired, but it’s only a physical tiredness, it’s never tired of it.”