Rocky Top – song
Released December 25, 1967
Genre Bluegrass, country
Length 2:35
Label Decca/MCA
Songwriter(s) Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
“Rocky Top” is an American country and bluegrass song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1967 and first recorded by the Osborne Brothers later that same year. The song, which is a city dweller’s lamentation over the loss of a simpler and freer existence in the hills of Tennessee, is one of Tennessee’s ten official state songs and has been recorded by dozens of artists from multiple musical genres worldwide since its publication. In U.S. college athletics, “Rocky Top” is associated with the Tennessee Volunteers of the University of Tennessee (UT), whose Pride of the Southland Band has played a marching band version of the song at the school’s sporting events since the early 1970s.
The Osborne Brothers’ 1967 bluegrass version of the song reached No. 33 on the U.S. Country charts, and Lynn Anderson’s 1970 version peaked at No. 17 on the U.S. Country charts. In 2005, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ranked “Rocky Top” number seven on its list of 100 Songs of the South.
“Rocky Top” was written by married songwriting duo Boudleaux Bryant (1920–1987) and Felice Bryant (1925–2003) in 1967. At the time, the Bryants were working at The Gatlinburg Inn in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on a collection of slow-tempo songs for a project for Archie Campbell and Chet Atkins. Writing the fast-paced “Rocky Top,” which took about 10 minutes to write, served as a temporary diversion for them.
While the song became a staple of the Osborne Brothers concerts in the late 1960s, the song did not achieve mass popularity until the early 1970s, when Lynn Anderson’s version reached number seventeen on the Billboard Country Top 100. In 1972, UT’s Pride of the Southland Band first played the song as part of one of its drills, the idea and arrangement being primarily the work of band arranger Barry MacDonald. The song was deemed popular enough to be played at a halftime country music show at a game against Alabama in October 1972, gaining fans’ attention. UT recognized the song’s appeal and the band started playing Rocky Top at every game. Longtime band director W.J. Julian stated that if Rocky Top was ever not played, then there would be a mutiny among Vol fans, reflecting the song’s deep-rooted foundation in UT sports.
The song was officially adopted as the fifth Tennessee state song in 1982. In the 1970s, the song achieved such popularity among bar crowds that the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based old-time band the Red Clay Ramblers’ national tours included a crowd-pleasing satire informally titled “Play ‘Rocky Top’ (or I’ll Punch Your Lights Out.)” The Bryants’ children currently own the rights to the song under the corporate name “House of Bryant,” and the song’s original sheet music is on display at the Rocky Top Village Inn in downtown Gatlinburg.
Notable covers
Phish played “Rocky Top” regularly from 1987 to 2003 and, after reforming, again in 2009. There have been additional cover versions of the song by artists such as The Schwag, Dillard and Clark and country artists such as Buck Owens, Lynn Anderson, Dolly Parton, John Denver, Albert Lee, Conway Twitty, Billie Jo Spears, and John Stewart. Columbus, Ohio-based all-female rock trio Scrawl, included a cover of the song on their Nashville-recorded 1988 album “He’s Drunk”. Many contemporary groups and artists have performed the song while performing in Knoxville, including Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, and Dierks Bentley. The country rock group the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band tackled the song on their 1976 compilation album Dirt, Silver and Gold. The 2011 pilot episode of NBC’s sitcom Up All Night featured Christina Applegate and Will Arnett singing “Rocky Top.”
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