Traditional Country Music: The Louvin Brothers
Bluegrass-Inspired Gospel Duo Became Country Music Legends
Alabama-born brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk (April 21, 1924-June 20, 1965) and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk (July 7, 1927), with their unmatched harmonies and vocal interactions, have been credited as the connection between the Delmore Brothers and the Everly Brothers.
Even more impressive, the now-legendary siblings—who changed their stage name to the Louvin Brothers in 1947 because it was easier to say and spell—have been called “probably the most influential harmony duet in country music history.”
Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, high-tenor Ira and low-tenor Charlie grew up poor in a farming family in northeastern Alabama. The brothers, who are first cousins to fellow Hall of Fame singer-songwriter John D. Loudermilk, first played under the Radio Twins moniker in ’42 before officially becoming the Louvin Brothers while working at Knoxville, Tenn., radio station WROL.
Gospel Music Duo Become Country Music Pioneers
Commonly referred to as an American-roots group, they began their duo career as gospel players in the 1940s before making the foray into secular music with their first commercially viable song, The Get Acquainted Waltz, which they cut with guitar legend Chet Atkins.
Initially, they recorded for a string of record labels such as Apollo (’47), Decca (’49) and MGM (1951-52). Also during this time, Charlie fulfilled his military obligations overseas; namely, in Korea, causing the pair’s studio time to be somewhat on and off. Nonetheless, once reunited on a regular basis, the brothers achieved their most significant recording successes as a duet after signing with Capitol Records in ’52.
The Louvin Brothers: From Hit Country Songs to Music Icons
Under the Capitol umbrella, the Louvins—guitarist Charlie and bluegrass-influenced mandolin master Ira—garnered their career’s best-known commercial hits with top-10 country songs such as Cash on the Barrelhead and When I Stop Dreaming. They also caused a stir with their 1959 Satan is Real LP and its ever-controversial cover, which featured a 12-foot-tall red devil that Ira crafted himself from plywood. The still-analyzed cover has become one of the all-time greatest iconic pieces of LP artwork.
Referring to the pair, music historian Jimmy Guterman has noted, “Although the duo’s biggest hits for Capitol were released in 1955 and 1956, during the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, their musical style was already defiantly anachronistic. Their high, lonesome harmonies, punctuated by Ira’s stirring mandolin solos, were closer to country music of the 1930s than the honky-tonk or country-pop of the mid-1950s.”
While rock’s rebelliousness igniting music fans and mainstream radio, the Louvins continued focusing on their longstanding gospel-meets-country themes, including family and the responsibilities that come with love. Moreover, as an added signal to the industry about where their collective allegiance rested, Ira and Charlie demonstrated their dedication to traditional country and its values by cutting three top-10, drum-free hits, When I Stop Dreaming, I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby and Hoping That You’re Hoping.
Traditional Country Singers Pursue Solo Careers
Although the brothers made their Grand Ole Opry debut in 1955, their good fortune began to wane in the late ‘50s, because of what has been described as ”erratic, tempestuous behavior” on Ira’s part, coupled with a then-changing music landscape
Per Guterman, producer Ken Nelson “made several attempts to update the duo’s deeply traditional sound, including an ill-fated series of recordings without Ira’s trademark mandolin, but 1959’s My Baby's Gone served as their last top-10 hit” and personal tensions led to their 1963 disbandment.
Next, the brothers pursued solo careers, but tragically, Ira was killed in a car crash, making 1964's The Unforgettable Ira Louvin—with its “modernized” electric mandolin and electric guitar sounds—his lone solo LP. Charlie, meanwhile, began his solo career with two top-10 singles, I Don’t Love You Anymore and See the Big Man Cry. And in the ‘70s-‘80s, he was most visible as a staple on Grand Ole Opry broadcasts.
Country Music Legends Find Favor with Country-Rockers
Many came to know the Louvins via the country-rocker Gram Parsons, who injected their songs in the rock realm, including through duets with Emmylou Harris. Harris, as a solo artist, also reintroduced their music to new country audiences with her 1975 version of If I Could Only Win Your Love, a cut that became her first top 10.
Through the decades, Charlie has recorded his own music and also revisited the music he made with his beloved brother, whom he recently paid tribute to with his Ira music video and song that’s now on Country Music Television.
Charlie Louvin Going Strong: New Country Music in 2008
Notably, Charlie, in 2003, recorded I Will Go Sailing No More for the smash-movie, Toy Story, and also was convinced to tour with rockers Cake and Cheap Trick on their ’03 national outing. That same year, a who’s who of artists, including James Taylor, Patty Loveless, Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton, recorded a tribute to the unforgettable duo, Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers, that took the 2004 Grammy for Best Country Album.
In 2008, Charlie, now 81, released not one but two thematic CDs for the New York-based Tompkins Square label: the critically acclaimed Steps to Heaven, a 10-song collection of traditional sacred songs, and Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, which is due out Dec. 9. Charlie’s 2007 self-titled CD was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Folk Album category.
To learn more about Charlie Louvin's CD-signing and promotional dates slated for December 2008 in Nashville, please access the writer's related blog post.
Sources
Guterman, Jimmy. The Louvin Brothers Story. Adapted from the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s Encyclopedia of Country Music, Oxford University Press.
Louvin Brothers, Wikipedia entry. Accessed Nov. 27, 2008.
Personal communication, Josh Rosenthal, Nov. 25, 2008.
Ira and Charlie Louvin
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Louvin Brothers' controversial LP cover.
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Charlie Louvin, Oct. 28, 2008, in N.Y.
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Steps to Heaven CD by Charlie Louvin, 2008.
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Charlie's Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs CD, 2008
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