Song of the Week 19: Just As The Sun Went Down

Arkansas native Luther G. Presley (1887-1974), the writer of “Just As The Sun Went Down,” wrote more than 1000 gospel songs including “When The Saints Go Marching In” and “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” He was a graduate of the University of Arkansas music department in Fayetteville and afterward taught music for several years. He gravitated to music publishing and spent most of his life as a song administrator with the Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company from 1930 until his death.

“Just As The Sun Went Down” has become a staple of southern gospel quartets with the best-known version recorded by The Kingsmen Quartet. Later, bluegrass gospel groups began performing the song with a definitive version released by vocalist-guitarist James King. The simple melody and vivid description of the Crucifixion is translated in our “western” style on our “God Must Be A Cowboy” album.