Charlie Daniels Band – Devil Went Down to Georgia

The Devil Went Down to Georgia” – Single by Charlie Daniels Band from the album Million Mile Reflections. Released May 21, 1979.

In this song, Satan himself pays a visit to Georgia and challenges a boy named Johnny to a fiddle duel: If Johnny can play the fiddle better than the devil, he gets a golden fiddle, but if he loses, the devil gets his soul. After a sinister performance by the devil, complete with histrionics like fire and demon backup singers, Johnny plays as if he was possessed, nailing a performance inspired by his roots in the Deep South and winning the golden fiddle when the devil concedes defeat.

It was Daniels who played the fiddle for both the Devil and Johnny, and it was also Daniels who dreamed up what they both would sound like. He explains, “The Devil’s just blowing smoke. If you listen to that, there’s just a bunch of noise. There’s no melody to it, there’s no nothing, it’s just a bunch of noise. Just confusion and stuff. And of course Johnny’s saying something: You can’t beat the Devil without the Lord. I didn’t have that in the song, but I should have.”

This song took The Charlie Daniels Band out of a Southern rock music style and into the world of pop music. The song was a #1 hit on the Country chart, but also crossed over to the pop chart, climbing to #3 on the Hot 100. The song drove the album to sales of over 3 million, but the band had trouble following up until 1989. The years after the song was released, The Charlie Daniels Band spent more time on the rock-crossover charts then on the Country chart where they began.

Johnny’s final boast, from the album version of the song, goes, “I done told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been”. But to accommodate radio airplay for Country and Top 40 formats, Daniels changed the lyric for the single release to, “‘Cause I told you once, you son of a gun, I’m the best that’s ever been”, though AOR (Album-oriented rock) stations continued to use the unaltered version.

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The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia

The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia05:19

Devil Went Down To Georgia este o melodie lansată la 21 Mai 1979

Aceasta este melodia care a propulsat grupul southern rock The Charlie Daniels Band de la un grup cunoscut în lumea muzicii country, la nivel mondial. Melodia a luat premiul Grammy în 1979 pentru cea mai bună melodie Country interpretată de un Duo sau Grup. (Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal).

Charles Edward Daniels s-a născut la 28 Octombrie, 1936 în Wilmington, North Carolina. A început activitatea muzicală în 1958 și a continuat să fie activ până în urmă cu câteva luni. A încetat din viață la 6 Iulie 2020.

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