Doc Roberts recorded The Devil in Georgia at a Richmond, Indiana, session on Friday, March 15th, 1929. It was released on the Gennett label as #6942, paired with Rocky Mountain Goat.
The tune bears striking resemblance to Buck Creek Girl, a track he recorded for the same label two years earlier.
There are a few interesting quirks that bear mention:
- The ‘A’ strain is modal.
- Roberts plays a raised 4th in the ‘B’ strain (C# rather than C natural). He employs the same device in some of his other recordings, notably New Money.
- His accompanist, Asa Martin, sometimes delays the V chord in the ‘B’ strain by a beat, to good effect.