Mountain Fiddler

U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (Author) | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl
• Label: County Records
• ASIN: B001XUF5U6
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,616 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Red Bird

Turkey In The Straw

There's More Pretty Girls Than One

Cripple Creek

Forked Deer

Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die

Cumberland Gap

Rye Whiskey

Durang's Hornpipe

Roving Gambler

Old Joe Clark

Wish I Had Stayed In The Wagon

Come Sundown She'll Be Gone

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sen. Robert Byrd's "Mountain Fiddler" Re-Mastered, July 25, 2010

By 

Diane E. Amov "The Bluegrass Gospel Blog" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mountain Fiddler (Audio CD)

Robert Byrd was a self-taught fiddler who learned traditional fiddle tunes while growing up in the hill country of West Virginia. Eventually, he became the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, and the longest-serving member of the Senate, but he never gave up playing the fiddle.

In 1977, Sen. Byrd recorded this album in his office, backed by members of The Country Gentlemen -- Doyle Lawson on guitar, James Bailey on banjo, and Spider Gilliam on bass.

The result was an album filled to the brim with true, traditional mountain music -- joyful, authentic, and totally raw. Some of the tracks are introduced by Sen. Byrd's anecdotes recounting the first time he heard these age-old tunes, the musicians he learned them from, and the places and occasions where they were played. It's fascinating stuff from a born raconteur.

The band jelled seamlessly, and it shows, especially on the instrumentals, "Forked Deer" and "Red Bird".

One of the most intriguing things about "Mountain Fiddler" is that Sen. Byrd provides a lead vocal on many songs that are played as instrumentals these days. "Cripple Creek", "Turkey In the Straw", "Old Joe Clark", and "Cumberland Gap" are among these.

Sen. Byrd's vocal delivery is just as raw and untutored as his fiddle playing on these songs. By contrast, he gives moving, inspired readings on story songs like "Wish I Had Stayed In the Wagon Yard", "Rye Whiskey", and the album's countrified standout, "Come Sundown She'll Be Gone".

Sen. Byrd also takes some bluegrass standards out for a spin, including "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die", "There's More Pretty Girls Than One", "Roving Gambler", and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".

Both old-time and bluegrass have largely strayed away from this sound, and lost a lot of their emotional impact in the process. "Mountain Fiddler" is a study in the real deal for musicians and fans those genres.

5.0 out of 5 stars byrds the best, August 30, 2010

By 

Zane Metz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mountain Fiddler (Audio CD)

Im from wv and knew byrd played fiddle but never heard him. this is a really great cd. sorry hes gone. one of a kind