I mean he absolutely cheated by having a band to assist. Of course it was going to sound better. Thankfully, he realized it wasn’t as good without the band included.
I’m pretty sure that CDB meant for the Devil’s solo to sound discordant and unmemorable. What I hear though sounds aggressive, passionate, and daring compared to Johnny’s “safe” catchy, melodic solo. Also they gave Johnny a call-and-response with vocalists so I’m not gonna hold the Devil’s backup band against him. Either way the Devil gave up that contest way to easily.
Given the Devil’s history, he really should have had him sign a legally binding (and easily misinterpreted) contract in blood and he would have had it easy.
I feel like deep down we all know this:
The Devil’s fiddle solo in “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” was actually better than Johnny’s.
Edit: thanks to these responses I’m gaining a whole new appreciation for the musical and spiritual symbolism in this song.
It’s clear in the Primus cover.
Oh somehow the existence of this has escaped me up to now. That was incredible.
I mean he absolutely cheated by having a band to assist. Of course it was going to sound better. Thankfully, he realized it wasn’t as good without the band included.
I’m pretty sure that CDB meant for the Devil’s solo to sound discordant and unmemorable. What I hear though sounds aggressive, passionate, and daring compared to Johnny’s “safe” catchy, melodic solo. Also they gave Johnny a call-and-response with vocalists so I’m not gonna hold the Devil’s backup band against him. Either way the Devil gave up that contest way to easily.
Given the Devil’s history, he really should have had him sign a legally binding (and easily misinterpreted) contract in blood and he would have had it easy.