David Bruce Murray
Dec 12, 2007
CD Review|You Tube|audio
Obscure Brown’s Ferry Four CD Review Coming Soon
When the Carolina Quartet performed today in Hendersonville, NC at the Blue Ridge Mall, I drifted down to the Christian bookstore where I found an obscure CD by the Brown’s Ferry Four. The CD is a re-release of Sixteen Sacred Songs, Volume 2, originally released on the King record label of Cincinnati, OH. I could not locate a year of original release on the packaging, unfortunately…though I’ve seen it listed elsewhere with a release date of 1958. That can’t be correct, though, because Rabon Delmore died in 1952. The re-release on CD was in 1988 by a company called Highland Music.
The Brown’s Ferry Four formed in 1943 and included Louis Marshall Jones (later famously known as Grandpa Jones), legendary guitar picker Merle Travis, and brothers Alton and Rabon Delmore (already well known as the Delmore Brothers by 1943 due to their popularity in the 1930s). Red Foley also sang in the group after Travis left.
Since writing my book, I’ve always had an interest in finding out more about this particular group. The trivia behind the name and the singers made me wonder what sort of sound they had. I never had an idea I’d get to actually find out.
I’ll try to get a review of the CD posted in the next couple of weeks. Until then, here’s a clip for your listening pleasure.
Also, here’s a link to a modern version of the 1930s era Delmore Brothers song (on YouTube) that was the inspiration for the group name. It’s not a gospel song. In fact, one verse is “two old maids sittin’ in the sand, each one wishing the other was a man.” Make of that what you will!
