The Devil Went Down To Georgia

Zoo Freaks, your hippie DJs at THE ZOO are cranking up the turntable with The Charlie Daniels Band's fiery classic, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," from their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections. This tune almost didn’t make the cut! Charlie Daniels himself recalled in a 2007 Songfacts interview that the band realized they lacked a fiddle song for the album. After a quick break from the studio, Daniels had a spark of inspiration, saying, “I just had this idea: the Devil went down to Georgia.” The song’s roots dig deep into a poem he read in high school, Stephen Vincent Benét’s “The Mountain Whippoorwill,” which likely shaped its storytelling vibe. Fun fact: the track’s iconic fiddle melody was inspired by an uncredited tune called “Lonesome Fiddle Blues” by Vassar Clements, which Daniels played on in 1975, shifting it up an octave and adding those devilish lyrics.

The song’s recording had its own wild energy. To create the Devil’s chaotic fiddle solo, Daniels layered seven different fiddle parts to give it that “dark, ominous, intimidating sound,” as he wrote in his 2017 memoir, Never Look at the Empty Seats. The band’s keyboardist, Taz DiGregorio, came up with a killer lick that sealed the deal for the Devil’s part. Daniels noted in a 2008 News-Press interview, “It’s kind of our signature song,” though he believed other tracks were just as strong. The song’s bold lyrics also stirred some radio waves—Johnny’s line, “I done told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been,” was swapped for “son of a gun” in the radio edit, both recorded the same day to ensure airplay, as clarified on The Charlie Daniels Band’s official site. It soared to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart on August 25, 1979, and hit #3 on the Hot 100, snagging a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance.

Zoo Freaks, this song’s legacy is massive! It’s been covered by everyone from Jerry Reed to Nickelback, and even The Chipmunks took a swing at it. The band’s site boasts over 290.6 million streams across major platforms, and the music video has racked up over 60 million views as of July 2023. A 1993 sequel, “The Devil Comes Back to Georgia,” featured Johnny Cash narrating and Travis Tritt as the Devil. Posts on X from the band’s account highlight its milestones, like going gold in 1979 and being the #1 downloaded song across all genres on iTunes the day Charlie passed in 2020. It’s no wonder this track remains a rally cry for fiddle-playing rebels everywhere!

Let’s rewind to how Charlie Daniels got his start. Born October 28, 1936, in Wilmington, North Carolina, to teenage parents William and LaRue Daniel (the “s” in Daniels was a birth certificate typo), Charlie grew up soaking in Pentecostal gospel, bluegrass, and rhythm and blues from the radio, plus Western films that fueled his songwriting. Moving between North Carolina and Georgia, he faced childhood challenges like measles, which left him needing glasses and dealing with school bullies. By his teens, he was a multi-instrumentalist, mastering guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. In the 1950s, he joined the bluegrass band Misty Mountain Boys, but by the ‘60s, he was rocking out with his band, the Rockets, later renamed the Jaguars after their instrumental hit “Jaguar.”

Daniels’ big break came as a session musician, playing on Bob Dylan’s 1969 album Nashville Skyline and later with Leonard Cohen and Ringo Starr. Inspired by the Allman Brothers Band, he formed The Charlie Daniels Band in the early ‘70s, blending rock, country, blues, and jazz into a Southern sound that defied labels. His 1973 hit “Uneasy Rider” cracked the Top 10, paving the way for the band’s rise. By 1979, Million Mile Reflections and “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” catapulted them to superstardom, with Daniels insisting his music was simply “American,” as he told Stereo Review in 1980. Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2008 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016, Daniels left a legacy as a patriot and musical pioneer until his passing in 2020.

Zoo Freaks, connect with The Charlie Daniels Band at their official website, where you can grab merch and read Charlie’s “Soap Box” musings. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and X for updates and throwback posts. For fan love, check out the Charlie Daniels Band Fans group on Facebook, where Zoo Freaks share stories and celebrate the band’s legacy. Keep those dials locked on THE ZOO, and let’s keep fiddlin’ with Johnny and the Devil!