“Going Back to the Blue Ridge Mountains” was written by Alton Delmore and first recorded by The Delmore Brothers in 1949. The song was released as the B-side of the duo’s hit single “Blues Stay Away From Me,” one of the Delmore Brothers’ most successful recordings of their late-1940s King Records period.
The Delmore Brothers — Alton (1908–1964) and Rabon (1916–1952) Delmore — were Alabama-born country singers and songwriters whose tight close-harmony singing and forward-thinking writing made them one of the most influential acts of pre-bluegrass country music. Alton was the principal songwriter; his catalog includes “Brown’s Ferry Blues,” “Blues Stay Away From Me,” “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar,” and many other songs that crossed into the bluegrass repertoire.
“Going Back to the Blue Ridge Mountains” is a classic homesick mountain song in the Delmore mode — the narrator declaring his return to the home country he never should have left. The song crossed firmly into the bluegrass canon and has been recorded by Norman Blake, the New North Carolina Ramblers, the Country Gentlemen, and many others. It remains a regular at jam sessions where pickers want a Delmore-tradition piece with strong harmony singing.
