"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" | ||||
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Single by Charlie Daniels Band | ||||
from the album Million Mile Reflections | ||||
B-side | "Rainbow Ride" | |||
Released | May 21, 1979 | |||
Studio | Woodland (Nashville, Tennessee) [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:34 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | John Boylan | |||
Charlie Daniels Band singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" on YouTube |
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and recorded by American music group Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections . [4]
The song is written in the key of D minor. Although uncredited, Vassar Clements originally wrote the basic melody an octave lower, in a tune called "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" released on Clements' self-titled 1975 album on which Charlie Daniels played guitar. The Charlie Daniels Band moved it up an octave and put words to it. The song's verses are closer to being spoken rather than sung (i.e., recitation), and tell the story of a young man named Johnny, in a variant on the classic deal with the Devil. The performances of the Devil and Johnny are played as instrumental bridges. The song was the band's biggest hit, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, prevented from further chart movement by "After the Love Has Gone" by Earth, Wind and Fire and "My Sharona" by The Knack. [5]
Daniels was inspired to write the song when he realized that the album he and his band was recording was lacking a song that featured fiddle. He wrote the song on the spot at the Woodland Sound Studios where the band was recording. [6]
The song tells a story about the Devil's failure to gain a young man's soul through a fiddle-playing contest. The song begins as a disappointed Devil arrives in Georgia, apparently "way behind" on stealing souls, when he comes upon a young man named Johnny who is playing a fiddle, and quite well. Out of desperation, the Devil, who claims to also be a fiddle player, wagers a fiddle of gold against Johnny's soul to see who is the better fiddler. Although Johnny believes taking the Devil's bet might be a sin, he fearlessly accepts, confidently boasting "I'm the best that's ever been."
The Devil plays first, backed by a band of demon musicians. When he has finished, Johnny compliments him ("Well, you're pretty good, old son.") and takes his own turn, rendering at least four old-time songs, named (though not played) in the Charlie Daniels Band recording—the third of the four being identified not by title, but by an excerpt of its lyrics:
Realizing he has been defeated, the Devil lays his golden fiddle at Johnny's feet. Johnny then invites the Devil to "c'mon back if y'ever wanna try again" before repeating his claim to be "the best that's ever been".
Cash Box praised the "engaging narrative story line" and said the song has "thundering piano", "screaming fiddle work", "pounding drums and screeching guitar". [9] Record World said that Daniels "administers heavy doses of both [storytelling and fiddle-playing] with producer John Boylan capturing the excitement like no one else can." [10]
In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #120 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking. [11]
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 stations continued to use the unaltered version.
The ballad's story is a derivative of the traditional deal with the Devil motif. Charlie Daniels has stated in interviews, "I don't know where it came from, but it just did. Well, I think I might know where it came from, it may have come from an old poem called 'The Mountain Whippoorwill' that Stephen Vincent Benét wrote many, many years ago (1925), that I had in high school." [12] [13]
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" | ||||
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Single by Nickelback | ||||
Released | August 14, 2020 | |||
Recorded | 2016–2017 | |||
Venue | Little Mountain View Studio | |||
Length | 3:58 | |||
Label | Nickelback II Productions Inc. | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Nickelback | |||
Nickelback singles chronology | ||||
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"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" | |
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Song by Primus | |
from the EP Rhinoplasty | |
Released | August 11, 1998 |
Studio | Prairie Sun (Cotati, California) |
Genre | Alternative rock, funk rock |
Length | 4:35 |
Label | Interscope, Prawn Song |
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Primus, Toby Wright |
The original version of the song spent fourteen weeks on the Hot Country Singles charts in 1979, peaking at number 1 and holding the position for one week. It spent two weeks at a peak of number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. [37] The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA on December 20, 1989, for sales of over one million copies in the United States. [38] In 2003, the song was ranked at #69 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music, and #5 on CMT's 20 Greatest Southern Rock Songs in 2006. Since it became available as a download in the digital era, it has also sold 2.49 million digital copies in the US as of November 2019. [39] In June 1998, Epic Records re-released the song to country radio, but accidentally sent out the version in which the line "son of a bitch" was uncensored. This error was quickly corrected, and the song re-entered the country charts at number 62 for the chart dated June 20, 1998. [40] It spent seven weeks on the chart and peaked at number 60. [37]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [53] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [54] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
"The Devil Comes Back to Georgia" | |
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Single by Mark O'Connor featuring Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt | |
from the album Heroes | |
B-side | "This Can't Be Love" |
Released | September 14, 1993 |
Genre | Bluegrass, country, country rock |
Length | 4:13 |
Label | Epic |
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Mark O'Connor and Jim Ed Norman |
In 1993, a sequel to the song, "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia", was released by master violinist Mark O'Connor on his album Heroes. The song featured Daniels on fiddle, with Johnny Cash as the narrator, Marty Stuart as Johnny, and Travis Tritt as the devil. The song peaked at #54 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1994.
In the sequel, the devil, still furious ten years after being beaten, decides to take up Johnny's challenge to "c'mon back if y'ever wanna try again". Johnny is now grown with a wife and infant son, and the devil believes that Johnny's sinful pride will be his undoing, so he takes back the golden fiddle, forcing Johnny to practice with his old fiddle before their rematch – the same one he played when he defeated the devil.
Though the song reiterates Johnny's bold claim that he is "the best that's ever been", the lyrics do not reveal who won the rematch. But in the video, the devil is shown defeated by Johnny again.
Carl Lee Perkins was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis in 1954. Among his best known songs are Blue Suede Shoes, Honey Don't, Matchbox and Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby.
Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People is a career-spanning retrospective DVD plus bonus EP by American band Primus, released on October 7, 2003. The title was inspired by a crayon-made story book written by guitarist Larry LaLonde's son, and the cover depicts a sculpture made by long-time Primus collaborator Lance "Link" Montoya. The DVD features all of the band's music videos to date, plus short films and live footage from as far back as 1986, whereas the bonus EP features five new songs written and recorded specifically for this release. When promoting the release, bassist Les Claypool remarked that "It seems of late that bands are adding supplemental DVD material to their album releases to promote record sales. We've done the opposite. We've added a supplemental audio recording of brand new music to an extremely comprehensive DVD of classic visuals."
Charles Edward Daniels was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Much of his output, including all but one of his eight Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, was credited to the Charlie Daniels Band.
Mark O'Connor is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards and was a member of three influential musical ensembles: the David Grisman Quintet, The Dregs, and Strength in Numbers.
"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a doo wop song composed by Buck Ram, the manager of the Platters, the group that made the song famous in the US, the UK and Belgium. The Platters's lead vocals are by Tony Williams.
"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a cowboy-styled country/western song written in 1948 by American songwriter Stan Jones.
The song "Ring of Fire" was made popular by Johnny Cash after it appeared on his 1963 compilation album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. Written by Cash's eventual second wife, June Carter Cash, and songwriter Merle Kilgore, "(Love's) Ring of Fire" was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter, on her 1962 album, Folk Songs Old and New.
"Jackson" is a song written in 1963 by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber. It was recorded in 1963 by the Kingston Trio, Wheeler, and Flatt and Scruggs. It achieved its most notable popularity with two 1967 releases: a country hit single by Johnny Cash and June Carter, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart, and a pop hit single by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 39 on Easy Listening.
"The Battle of New Orleans" is a song written by Jimmy Driftwood in 1936. The song describes the Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version, recorded at Bradley Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1959, it was very popular with teenagers in the late 1950s/early 1960s in an era mostly dominated by rock and roll music.
Countrified is the fifth studio album by Canadian country music band Emerson Drive. It was released in 2006 as their first issue for the Midas Records label. In the U.S., the album produced three singles on the Hot Country Songs charts: "A Good Man", "Moments", and "You Still Own Me". Two of the album's tracks are covers: "You Still Own Me" was previously a hit in Canada for Johnny Reid, and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a cover of a song made famous by the Charlie Daniels Band.
I Stoled This Record is the second album from country music parodist Cledus T. Judd. His highest-selling album to date, it has been certified gold in the United States, although none of its singles charted. As with his previous album, this one features parodies of several country songs, as well as some original tunes.
Million Mile Reflections is the tenth studio album by Charlie Daniels and the seventh as the Charlie Daniels Band, released on April 20, 1979. It is best known for the hit single "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". The title refers to the band having passed the million mile mark in its touring. The song "Reflections" is a tribute to Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, and Ronnie Van Zant. Daniels dedicated the album to Van Zant, who was killed in the CV-240 plane crash on October 20, 1977.
"Orange Blossom Special" is a fiddle tune about the luxury passenger train of the same name. The song was written by Ervin T. Rouse (1917–1981) in 1938 and was first recorded by Rouse and his brother Gordon in 1939. Often called simply "The Special" or "OBS", the song is commonly referred to as "the fiddle player's national anthem".
"You Better Move On" is a 1961 rhythm and blues song by Arthur Alexander. It reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1962. Versions by Billy "Crash" Craddock, George Jones and Johnny Paycheck were hits on the Country charts.
"The Legend of Wooley Swamp" is a song written, composed, and recorded by the Charlie Daniels Band. It was released in August 1980 as the second single from the album Full Moon, which was later certified platinum.
Stephen "Steve" Ouimette is a rock guitarist. He is known for performing a cover version of the hit song "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" for the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, in which the parts played on the fiddle are instead played on an electric guitar by Ouimette, Ed DeGenaro and Geoff Tyson. Aside from this track, Ouimette also recorded seven other songs for the game, and also made a version of the Christmas carol "We Three Kings" released as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III.
"Big River" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash. Released as a single by Sun Records in 1958, it went as high as #4 on the Billboard country music charts and stayed on the charts for 14 weeks. The song tells a story of the chase of a lost love along the course of Mississippi River from Saint Paul, Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana.
Simple Man is the sixteenth studio album by Charlie Daniels and the thirteenth as the Charlie Daniels Band, released on October 17, 1989. The album's most memorable song is the titular song, "Simple Man", which is not related to the Lynyrd Skynyrd song of the same name. "It's My Life" is a shorter version of a jam song previously released on their 1976 album, Saddle Tramp.
"Mississippi", is a song written by Charlie Daniels and first released on the Charlie Daniels Band's 1979 album Million Mile Reflections. It was also released as a single in September 1979 as the follow-up to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." It reached the top 20 on the country singles charts in both the U.S. and Canada.
"Cherokee Fiddle" is a song written by Michael Martin Murphey. Murphey's version of the song went to number 58 on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1977. The story is based on a fiddle player named "Scooter"; his real name was Dean Kirk. He was of Choctaw Indian and Irish descent. Having taken lessons as a child from Clayton McMichen, he played the fiddle his entire life. He once worked with the country music and movie star, Rex Allen. In his later years he played at the narrow gauge train station in Silverton, Colorado.
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