The Devil Went Down to Georgia Olympic Style

     It might have been divine inspiration that brought the devil down to Georgia-or it might have been a high school literature class. Either way, Charlie Daniels admits that writing his 1979 hit was a rush job.  When Daniels and his been went in to record their album Million Mile Reflections, “we realized we needed a fiddle song,” Daniels says. “It was a fast process, and this thing came into my mind.”

His story of a fiddler named Johnny, who bests the devil, nods to classic tales like Faust and The Devil and Daniel Webster but likely owes a debt to a Stephen Vincent Benet poem “The Mountain Whippoorwill” that Daniels read in high school.  “It had to do with a fiddle contest in the mountains with a young player who went up against legends and won,” he says. “I was very impressed with it because I was a young fiddle player at the time, and it affected me personally.”

Daniels played seven different fiddles to create the devil’s tune, which he has described as “just a bunch of noise.” “The devil’s just blowing smoke.” Meanwhile, the verse lines recited between Johnny’s licks drew from old Appalachian square-dancing refrains (“Fire on the Mountain/Run boys run”).

More than three decades after the song hit No. 1 on the charts, “I never get tired of it,” says Daniels. And one thing never changes: “I can play it 10,000 times and the devil never wins.”

Click Hereto read Stephen Vincent Benet’s Poem

The Mountain Whippoorwill

In Honor of the Olympics~ here’s a fun reminder of the Women’s Gymnastics Team in the 1996 Atlanta Georgia Games. Dominique Moceanu used The Devil Went Down to Georgia as the music for her floor routine.

We all remember the Magnificent Seven! The The Magnificent Seven is the name given to the  United States Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team that won the first ever Gold Medal for the United States in the Women's Team Competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The seven members of the team were Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps. The accomplishment was considered phenomenal because the Soviet Union had won the event in every Olympics it had entered since the 1950s. Furthermore, the United States had never won the event in the Olympics - or the World Championships. Yet, in Atlanta, they fielded the deepest U.S. team in history and upstaged both the Russians and the Romanians, then reigning as World Champions for the second time. Who could forget Keri Strug’s moment of Glory.

Today was a great day in Olympic History. For the First time since the 1996 Atlanta Games the Women’s Gymnastics team took Gold in the Team Competition. It was such a proud moment! And just a shout out to Jordyn Wieber. Her floor routine was amazing.

And in other breaking news Michael Phelps has won his 19^th Olympic Medal making him the most decorated Olympian of all time. The record was previously held by Larissa Latynina, a Soviet gymnast who competed in 1956, 1960, and 1965.

Go USA!