A local boy followed his dream and found fame
Howard Miller, The Huntsville Times

He was like the big brother I never had,'' said country singer John Anderson last week, his familiar, deep voice a little shaky over the phone.

The emotion was understandable, for he was struggling with the news that his close friend, fishing buddy and songwriting partner, Lionel Delmore, had died.
Delmore, a former Huntsvillian, died Monday night at 62 after a struggle with cancer.

"Lionel was one of the keenest observers I ever saw,'' Anderson said.
"I met Lionel back in 1973 when we were staff writers at a little publishing company called Golden Horn Music. That's where I learned some of the hard lessons about the music business. The best thing to come of it was that we eventually became our own publishers,'' Anderson said.

"Due to the fact his father and uncle were pioneers in country songwriting, he knew what to watch for,'' he said.

Delmore was the son of Alton Delmore, half of the Delmore Brothers, Elkmont natives elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame last October. The duo wrote such classics as "Browns Ferry Blues,'' "Beautiful Brown Eyes,'' "Midnight Special'' and "Blues Stay Away From Me.''

The string of hits Delmore wrote with Anderson included "It Ain't Pneumonia, It's the Blues,'' "I Wish I Could Write You a Song,'' "They Spent Forever'' and "Bad Weather.''

But the song Delmore may be most remembered for is "Swingin,''' which topped both the country and pop Billboard charts in 1983 and was named the CMA Song of the Year.

"We wrote a lot of my favorite songs together,'' Anderson said, citing "Bend It 'Til It Breaks'' as his favorite.

"Of course, 'Swingin''was very big. It has already outlived Lionel and it will outlive me, too,'' Anderson said.

"He and I have three brand-new songs never cut yet. They'll be things we'll be working on (in the studio) for the next year or two,'' he said.

Delmore said the greatest influence on his career was his daddy. "He was the only songwriter I knew back then,'' he said.

Delmore was born in Birmingham, but grew up in west Huntsville, living in a house on Larry Street. Family friends such as Merle Travis, Grandpa Jones and Red Foley visited there.

After graduating in 1958 at the old Butler High School, Lionel moved to Nashville to pursue his career in music. He was among the few who followed that dream successfully.

One of Delmore's three sisters, Debby Delmore of Huntsville, said, "He died at home and at peace. Lionel felt blessed with the life that he lived.''

Lionel Delmore's at rest in his native state now, in the old Athens Cemetery.

"We wanted to bury him next to Daddy,'' said sister Debby. "It's bringing him back home to where it all started and where the music began.''

E-mail Howard Miller at howardm@htimes.com.