Alton Delmore
Musician · Elkmont, Alabama
Best known for
Guitar
Songwriter
Alton Delmore was an Alabama-born singer, guitarist, and songwriter who, with brother Rabon, formed the Delmore Brothers and co-wrote more than a thousand songs — primary songwriter of the duo's "Brown's Ferry Blues" and a 2001 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.
- Born December 25, 1908 in Elkmont, Alabama; older brother of Rabon Delmore.
- Half of the Delmore Brothers; played standard acoustic six-string guitar in close harmony with Rabon's tenor guitar.
- Primary songwriter of the duo; the brothers co-wrote more than 1,000 songs together.
- Grand Ole Opry regular from 1933 to 1938; within three years they were the most popular act on the show.
- Co-wrote and recorded "Brown's Ferry Blues" (1934) and helped pioneer the country boogie sound (e.g. "Blues Stay Away from Me").
- After Rabon's death in 1952 turned to prose; his autobiography "Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity" was published posthumously in 1977.
- Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
- Died June 9, 1964.