Morning Song – The Devil Went Down To Georgia
“The Devil Went Down To Georgia” was the Charlie Daniels’ Band’s biggest hit, and a huge crossover song for them in 1979. It’s easy to see why. It’s an energetic, uptempo country/hillbilly song. It tells a classic tale: poor, young country boy battles Satan for his soul. The underdog/good guy wins. Charlie Daniels’ patter (the verses are more spoken than sung) is simultaneously impeccable, gruff and knowing. And it features some fine fiddle playing.
But check out what happens at 1:19 of this clip “when a band of demons joined in, and it sounded something like this“. Yep, the band starts playing disco (aka, the devil’s music).
1979 was also the peak of “the disco wars” in the USA, with the anti-disco (i.e., anti-black) backlash in full force. (Exhibit A is the riot that broke out at Comiskey Park when the White Sox staged a “Disco Demolition Night” promotion.) So if “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” is 5 parts exhilarating redneck country-rock, it’s also 1 part racist diatribe.
File under: Cultural References I Didn’t Get At The Time.
MassCommons 
Seems like the perfect time to offer up this list of questions from the great John Moe:
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/thirty-nine-questions-for-charlie-daniels-upon-hearing-the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-for-the-first-time-in-25-years
Why, yes, yes it does seem like the perfect time to offer up that list of questions….either that, or there’s never a good time to offer it up and I refuse to believe that.
Used to do sound for a band in the seventies that covered this song. Too bad it didn’t sound like the Charlie Daniels version. Nice post