Joel DiGregorio

William Joel "Taz" DiGregorio (January 8, 1944 – October 12, 2011) was a longtime member and keyboardist for the Charlie Daniels Band. He was born and lived in Southbridge, Massachusetts until 1962 when he went on the road. He was self-taught on the keyboards, practicing from tunes by Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, and Little Richard following his attendance at a Ray Charles concert.

Musical career

He learned the Fats Domino song "Blue Monday" at the age of sixteen. Once, he just started playing and singing the entire song and his sister asked him "How did you do that?" and he replied "I don't know" and that kickstarted his career. He once played with a band at The Golden Nugget in Worcester, Massachusetts and played with Fay Adams & The Drifters.

He fulfilled his goal of becoming a professional musician, initiating his career with his first band, the group Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds, best known for their minor hit "Shortnin' Bread" (1960). They sold about 250,000 copies of their album in 1959. He was on the album at the age of seventeen and he didn't know a lot about life and music, but he knew 8 chords and he recorded the song, Shortnin' Bread, and it became a hit.