1st Live Version of ‘Devil Went Down …’

You’ve never heard the Charlie Daniels Band’s “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” quite like this. In fact, until this week no one has.

Charlie Daniels’ son Charlie Jr. has worked with StarVista Music to restore and release the very first live performance of the iconic country song. The younger Daniels isn’t wrong in saying his father hadn’t quite gotten it all figured out yet.

“You can almost feel how hesitant they are at first as they listen to the song and then the energy grows as they realize that something special is happening,” he shares.

• “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” was a No. 1 country hit in 1979.
• This live performance comes from Volunteer Jam V in January 1979.
• Daniels died on July 6, 2020.

Taste of Country Readers are getting a chance to hear the song first. Listen, and then compare to the record you’ve come to know and love. The structure of the two versions match but the powerful fills and solos that make this fiddle-led track so memorable are only in nascent form.

Related: The Charlie Daniels Band’s 10 Best Songs of All Time

The recording will be released to all digital streaming platforms on April 10.

Fans know this to be a historic Volunteer Jam for several reasons. Not only was this the first time the public heard what would become CDB’s signature song, it was a reunion of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s surviving members, just months after the fatal plane crash.

Of course the Charlie Daniels Band headlined, as they did with every Volunteer Jam. That means fans were hyped to hear new music. You can literally hear the enthusiasm for “Devil,” even as Daniels messes up a lyric.

“Because of its condition and the fact that magnetic particles were literally shedding off the tape, only small segments of the song could be transferred at a time, so constant breaks were needed to stop, clean the equipment heads, rewind, record and start all over again until it was completely reassembled,” Daniels Jr. shares of the painstaking preservation process.

“I’m very proud of my dad and everything he accomplished, and this recording is something that’s exciting for his fans to experience and helps keep his legacy strong.”

In the nearly 50 years since its release, “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” has become one of the most recognizable country songs of all time. It’s often covered but never replicated.

Daniels recently ranked at No. 25 on our list of 50 classic country artists today’s fans should know.