Robert Byrd - “Come Sundown She'll Be Gone” (1978 County Records)
w Kristoffer Kristofferson; from Mountain Fiddler, County Records – County 769
Long-serving U.S. Senator from West Virginia, amateur old-timey fiddler, and (mostly) reformed Klansman Robert Byrd recorded this Kris Kristofferson song for a one-off album while in office during 1978. Quite literally - Mountain Fiddler was recorded in his Capitol Hill chambers, live and with understated accompaniment including guitar from Doyle Lawson of the Country Gentleman and later Quicksilver fame, after a traditional studio setting proved uncomfortable for the Senator. Afterwards Byrd and co. made appearances on both Hee Haw and the Grand Ole Opry in support of the album - here's a clip from the latter featuring the traditional song "Cripple Creek":
Mountain Fiddler is full of old-time and folk numbers from Byrd's youth in the Appalachians, such as "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "Turkey in the Straw", alongside today's song, a hit for Country performer Bobby Bare in 1970 (Kristofferson, who just turned 87 yesterday, also made a great recording of it himself). Byrd reportedly knew a lot of the lyrics by heart, including for songs that would typically be played as instrumentals...
Byrd remains the longest-serving U.S. Senator at just under 51-and-a-half years and is unlikely (knock on wood) to be surpassed by upstart challenger Chuck Grassley, who's 90 this year and on whom Byrd has a good decade in the Senate. For more fun facts, see the whole leaderboard here and also consider this article on other musical politicians. And of course, before you go...
Also Check Out:
By Tracy Newman:
"Cripple Creek (live)" (this video just passed six million views and I don't know why but here):
"This Little Light of Mine (live)" (incidentally, this deserves like 12 million):
By the Gregory Brothers (and Joe Biden):
