Recalling the Delmore days

By Jean Cole
jean@athensnews-courier.com

September 30, 2008 10:40 pm

— The daughter of one of the Delmore Brothers – the Elkmont brothers whose music inspired Bob Dylan, the Everly Brothers and many others – has donated her remaining memorabilia to Athens State University.
Debby Delmore, youngest child of Alton, decided to donate her Delmore Brothers collection – their Grammy, hall of fame medallions, plaques, photographs, records, posters, programs, sheet music and newspaper articles – to the college where Alton and Rabon Delmore won their first fiddlers convention. At that contest, the two sang “Brown’s Ferry Blues,” which led to an audition with Columbia records in 1931. That song along with “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar” and “Blues Stay Away from Me” became country standards and are still heard today.
“It was important that we find a place for anyone who is interested in the Delmore Brothers, Debby said. “It is fitting that the collection should go to Athens State because this is where they started their careers. So, they have come full circle back to home.”
Debby and her sisters, Billie Anne Dampier and Norma Gail Weimer, were surprised at this year’s Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention when an ASU official announced the university would offer a $15,000 scholarship each year in honor of the Delmore Brothers.
The first public viewing of the collection will be Friday and Saturday at ASU’s Founders Hall, Room F1, toward the rear of the building. The collection will be temporarily housed there and eventually housed permanently in McCandless Hall. Debby will be on hand at 2 p.m. both days to answer questions for memorabilia viewers and to share stories about the Delmores.
“It is a relief to have a place for it,” Debby said. “And I want people to be able to come here if they want to do research or to hear a song by the Delmores.”
Mayor Dan Williams, who is a cousin of the Delmore Brothers, remembers the two as accomplished musicians, from their guitar work to their delicate harmonies.
“They understood the intricacies of music,” said Williams, who is a singer himself. “Alton had an in-depth knowledge of theory.”
He was happy to see the memorabilia exhibit go to ASU.
“This will create a permanent place for it,” Williams said. “When she’s gone, there is no telling what might happen to it otherwise.”
The mayor has fond memories of the Delmore Brothers – both as musicians and as men.
He said they never forgot from where they came – a poor working-class upbringing that saw family as its greatest wealth.
“The Delmores were good people,” Williams said. “If you were in need, they would give until it was gone.”

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