A couple of months ago (for Halloween), I recorded The Devil Went Down to Georgia. It makes sense that I would record it. Devil Went Down to Georgia is one of the most popular, and most requested fiddle tunes of all time.
What most people don’t realize is that the main melodic theme in Devil Went Down to Georgia is actually Lonesome Fiddle Blues, which was written by Vassar Clements in 1948.
Vassar Clements is on of the most creative fiddlers of all time, and is one of my fiddling heroes. Vassar recorded with some of the biggest names in the world of music, but he always seemed like a humble and kind gentleman. I never saw him brag about his accomplishments, or tear others down.
To me, Vassar’s character makes him great every bit as much as his amazing creative and musical capacity. Here’s to Vassar Clements!
Lonesome Fiddle Blues according to Fiddler’s Companion
LONESOME FIDDLE BLUES. Bluegrass, Breakdown. D Dorian (‘A’ part), D (‘B’ part). Standard tuning. AA’BA. Composed by bluegrass fiddler Vasser Clements. Charlie Daniels “Devil Went Down to Georgia” seems to have been largely based on Clements’ tune. Source for notated version: Vasser Clements [Brody]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 173. Mercury SRM‑1‑1022, “Vasser Clements.” Rounder 0068, Mark O’Conner‑ “Pickin’ in the Wind.” United Artists 9801, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
Lovely musical performance !
interesting bit of trivia…never put the two together. I met Vasser once…I got his autograph on my fiddle
That’s really cool, Raymond. I never did get to meet Vassar, but I’m a huge fan of his fiddling. I’ve listened to every album of his that I’m aware of. 🙂
I went to one of O’Connor’s camps once and he was there one night as a guest
That’s really cool. I wish that I had gotten to meet him.
I had not heard of him until I got Mark’s Hero’s cd. I remember seeing his fiddle with the carved scroll and inlaid finger board. John Hartford was there that day also. I still have the cassette recordings I made of John and Texas Shorty playing that day in a class. He told about writing Gentle on My Mine. I knew of Shorty from a guy I worked with who was a fiddler and had played in contest with him…Ed Hensen….Ed’s dad was Claude Hensen, the first fiddler to be inducted into the Fiddler’s Hall of Fame
You really got a fantastic opportunity there!