Alton Delmore

American country singer, guitarist, fiddler and songwriter. Born December 25, 1908, Elkmont, Alabama - died June 8, 1964, Huntsville, Alabama. With his brother, Rabon Delmore, they performed as the Delmore Brothers. Alton did most of the lead singing and played six-string guitar for the Delmore Brothers. He did the bulk of the songwriting and also wrote a partial autobiography, Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity, which was published by the Country Music Foundation Press in 1977. He wrote or co-wrote “Beautiful Brown Eyes,” “Brown’s Ferry Blues,” “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar,” and “Freight Train Boogie.” The brothers recorded extensively at Cincinnati’s King Records in the 1940s. They 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.