The brothers were born into poverty in Elkmont, Alabama, United States,[1] as the sons of tenant farmers amid a rich tradition of gospel music and Appalachian folk.

The Delmores blended gospel-style harmonies with the quicker guitar work of traditional folk music and the blues to help create the still-emerging genre of country.

During a recording session in 1937 for Bluebird, Alton had a cold forcing him to sing lower which ended up damaging his vocal chords.

"Someday You'll Pay," "Remember I Feel Lonesome, Too," "Going Back to the Blueridge Mountains," and "The Last Old Shovel" were released under Alton's Pseudonym "Jim Scott".

The sides were recorded in Indianapolis, Memphis, Chattanooga, Jackson, Mississippi, Athens, Alabama, Covington, Fort Smith, Del Rio, and Houston.

Their best-known song, "Blues Stay Away From Me" (also on King, 1949), was covered by Johnny Burnette and The Rock and Roll Trio, Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, The Louvin Brothers, The Browns, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Doc Watson, The Notting Hillbillies, Marshall Chapman, and The Everly Brothers.

Some of the most popular were "Brown's Ferry Blues," "Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar" and "Fifteen Miles from Birmingham.

[7] Following Rabon's death, Alton suffered a heart attack, the loss of his father and his daughter Susan, all within a three-year period.

He wrote a series of short stories and his autobiography, Truth is Stranger than Publicity, published posthumously in 1977 by the Country Music Foundation.