Three Chords And The Truth: Essential Country Music Songs: “Rocky Top”- The Osborne Brothers. This song was written by the great songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant- who are most remembered for all the hits they wrote for the Everly Brothers. At the time they wrote “Rocky Top” they were staying in Gatlinburg, Tennessee writing slow paced songs for a project by Archie Campbell of Hee-Haw fame and Chet Atkins- as a diversion they knocked off “Rocky Top” in ten minutes! The song was written in 1967 and the Osborne Brothers one of the great bluegrass bands covered it the same year. As a single it peaked for the Osborne’s at #33 on the country chart.. A few years later Lynn Anderson covered it and it went to #17 on the country chart. It is one of those songs that wasn’t a huge hit but just grew in popularity in time. In the early 1970’s the University of Tennessee’s marching band began playing it at the university’s sporting events and continue to until this day. In 2015 it was named the #1 college football fight song. It is also one of the state songs of Tennessee.