Editor’s note: We’ve met and visited with a lot of wonderful people in the bluegrass world in the past few years, and especially in the last six months that we’ve been involved in our Web site. We asked a handful of some memorable people we’ve visited with over the past year and invited them to share a bluegrass Christmas memory. Today’s Christmas memory is from the legendary Bobby Osborne.

Bobby Osborne photo by Senor McGuire

Bobby Osborne never hestitated when BluegrassJournal.com asked him to share one of his favorite bluegrass Christmas memories.

“l would like to share a Christmas story that has meant more to me than any other story I could ever think of,” he said. “The song ‘Rocky Top’ was released on Christmas Day of 1967 on then-Decca Records (later MCA) by The Osborne Brothers.

“l could never ask for a better Christmas present than ‘Rocky Top.’”

The iconic bluegrass anthem, however, had a bit of a rocky start (pun intended) for Bobby and banjo-playing brother Sonny, who didn’t have any idea about the song’s long, bright future when they recorded it.

“Neither one of us or any one else in the studio had a clue as to what the song would do,” Bobby recalled. “In fact, “My Favorite” was to be the A side and “Rocky Top” the B side of the 45rpm. Ralph Emery had the all-night show on WSM at the time and one night he turned it over and played ‘Rocky Top,’ and it really all started from there.”

“The rest is history.”

And the song, indeed, has compiled quite a history. It’s now one of seven official state songs of the the State of Tennessee.

According to information at Wikipedia.com, famous country tunesmiths Felice and Boudleaux Bryant wrote the song in only 10 minutes. The Osbornes’ versions climbed high in the charts in 1968, and it went skyward again in 1970 when Lynn Anderson recorded the tune. In 1972, the University of Tennessee marching band began using it for one of their routines, and in 1982, the Tennessee legislature adopted it as an official state song.

According to Wikipedia, a real Rocky Top exists — it’s one of three peaks of Thunderhead Mountain in the Smokies, located along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina.

The rock jam band Phish put “Rocky Top” in its set lists from 1987 to 2003. Cover versions of the tune have been recorded by Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty and Billie Jo Spears.

In 2005, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution placed the tune at No. 7 on its list of 100 Songs of the South.

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