This one's for you, Tim . . .
(Tim hails from Georgia).
-----------ooOoo-----------
THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA
__________
Summary:
Satan pays a visit to Georgia when running low on collecting souls 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.
__________
Lyrics:
The song’s verses are closer to being spoken rather than sung.
The Devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin' for a soul to steal
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind
And he was willing to make a deal
When he came across this young man
Sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot
And the Devil jumped up on a hickory stump
And said "Boy, let me tell you what"
"I guess you didn't know it, but I am a fiddle player too
And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due
I'll bet a fiddle o' gold against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you"
The boy said, "My name's Johnny, and it might be a sin
But I'll take your bet and you're gonna regret 'cause I'm the best there's ever been"
Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard
'Cause Hell's broke loose in Georgia and the Devil deals the cards
And if you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold
But if you lose the devil gets your soul
The Devil opened up his case and he said, "I'll start this show"
And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow
And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made a evil hiss
And then a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this
[Fiddle Solo]
When the Devil finished, Johnny said
"Well, you're pretty good ol' son
But sit down in that chair right there
And let me show you how it's done"
"Fire on the Mountain," run, boys, run
The Devil's in the house of the risin' sun
Chicken in the bread pan pickin' out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no
[Fiddle Solo]
The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet
Johnny said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again
I done told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best there's ever been"
He played "Fire on the Mountain," run, boys, run
The Devil's in the house of the risin' sun
The chicken in the bread pan pickin' out dough
Granny, will your dog bite? No, child, no
__________
Videos:
Charlie Daniels Band:
Audio only, with lyrics:
Other versions:
Nickelback (animated, guitar version):
Jerry Reed (guitar version):
__________
About:
Written by Charlie Daniels (1936 – 2020) and recorded by the Charlie Daniels Band.
Charlie Daniels:
"We had gone in and rehearsed, written, and recorded the music for our Million Mile Reflections album, and all of a sudden we said, 'We don't have a fiddle song.' I don't know why we didn't discover that, but we went out and we took a couple of days' break from the recording studio, went into a rehearsal studio and I just had this idea: 'The Devil went down to Georgia.' The idea may have come from an old poem that Stephen Vincent Benet wrote many, many years ago. He didn't use that line, but I just started, and the band started playing, and first thing you know we had it down."
Daniels plays the fiddle for both the Devil and Johnny, and it was also Daniels who dreamed up what they both would sound like: "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."
Johnny’s fiddling refers to 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:
"Fire on the Mountain," the name of an early 19th-century fiddle tune, and also the name of Daniels' 1974 album,
"The House of the Rising Sun," a traditional American southern folk song,
"Chicken in the bread pan peckin' out dough," which was famously used in Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys' song "Ida Red, and
"Granny Will Your Dog Bite."
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.
__________
See the re-match sequel, "Devil Comes Back to Georgia" featuring Mark O'Connor with Daniels, Johnny Cash, Tritt and Marty Stuart:
__________
BTW:
"Cross Road Blues" (commonly known as "Crossroads") is a song written by the American blues artist Robert Johnson (1911-1938).
He performed it solo with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues style.
Hear it:
The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for musical genius. This is based largely on folklore of the American South that identifies a crossroads as the site where Faustian bargains can be made, as the lyrics do not contain any references to Satan.
According to legend, as a young man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Johnson had a tremendous desire to become a great blues musician. One of the legends often told says that Johnson was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large being (the Devil) who took the guitar and tuned it. The Devil played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. This story of a deal with the Devil at the crossroads mirrors the legend of Faust. In exchange for his soul, Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.
-----------ooOoo----------
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.