Delmore Brothers

Alton and Rabon Delmore were probably the most versatile of the brother duets. They did soft brother-style harmony in the 1930s, hillbilly boogie and pre-rockabilly in the 1940s, and blues in the 1950s. Their most significant contribution to bluegrass came when they were at Cincinnati’s WLW and King Records, where, with Grandpa Jones and Merle Travis, they formed the Brown’s Ferry Four which set the standard for gospel quartet singing for years to come. The Delmore Brothers were elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1989, the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, and received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the IBMA in 2014.