My Ten Favorite Girl Songs: The Girls Don't Worry My Mind (#7)

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Good evening. I am a hillbilly music fan, and I'm about to prove that with this next song in my countdown of ten favorite "girl" songs, a theme started by the great music geek @teamfreak16 . Today's selection comes from one of my all-time favorite country acts....and you've probably never heard of them. #7: The Girls Don't Worry My Mind - Delmore Brothers The Delmores are my second favorite brother duet, behind only the Louvin Brothers (who idolized the Delmores growing up). Both pairs of brothers hailed from the Sand Mountain region of Alabama, and both were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. And both were phenomenally influential on country and bluegrass music. While a lot of people have heard of the Louvins, at least superficially (if nothing else, thanks to a recent cover of "When I Stop Dreaming," the Louvins' breakthrough hit, by Don Henley [yeah, that Don Henley]), the Delmore Brothers' name has pretty much been buried. But not their music. The list of people who've done their best-known song, "Blues, Stay Away From Me," reads like a who's who: the Louvins, Doc Watson, Mark Knopfler (with his country band the Notting Hillbillies), k.d. lang, Merle Haggard, and even Bob Dylan, who once said that the Delmores "influenced every harmony I ever tried to sing." The Delmore Brothers had two careers: in the 30s, when they were the first duet on the Grand Ole Opry and were credited with helping Roy Acuff get to the Opry; and, after Alton served in the Navy in World War II, the post-war success on King Records. "The Girls Don't Worry My Mind" came from the first career, in the early 1930s, when the brothers recorded sparsely, accompanying themselves on tenor guitar (younger brother Rabon) and six-string (Alton) while singing harmony together throughout the song. Rabon died the day after his 36th birthday of lung cancer in 1952. In 1964 elder brother Alton died at age 55 of alcohol-related liver disease. In addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame, they are in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame for the incredible songs they gave the world (an estimated 1,100, according to Alton's autobiography Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity). The Girls Don't Worry My Mind Written by Alton Delmore Recorded by the Delmore Brothers Released as a single, 1934 (yes, 1934) Simple and beautiful harmonies from the Delmore Brothers: