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The Louvin Brothers

Ira and Charlie Louvin, an Alabama brother duo whose close harmony shaped the Everly Brothers, the Byrds and Emmylou Harris, and who made both Satan Is Real and "When I Stop Dreaming".

Origin
Sand Mountain, Alabama
Years active
1940-1963
Genres
country, bluegrass, gospel
Labels
Apollo, MGM, Capitol
Also known as
The Loudermilk Brothers

Sand Mountain

Ira and Charlie Louvin were both born Loudermilk, Ira on April 21, 1924 and Charlie on July 7, 1927, on Sand Mountain in northern Alabama; the family moved to Henagar, in DeKalb County, in 1929. Their parents had come from North Carolina after the First World War, and their father played banjo and fiddle while their mother sang traditional songs; they farmed 23 acres without electricity. Ira bought his first mandolin at 19, with Bill Monroe the main influence, and gave his guitar to Charlie. Their music was shaped by shape-note singing and their Baptist faith. Their cousin was the songwriter John D. Loudermilk. Charlie's birthplace is given as Section, Alabama by American Songwriter, and sources disagree.

They played their first paying gig, at a birthday party, in 1940, and began appearing on WDEF radio in Chattanooga in late 1942. After Charlie's army service they performed on Knoxville radio, adopted the name Louvin Brothers in the mid-1940s, and spent 1946 to 1950 at WMPS in Memphis. Their first commercial recordings, for Apollo in 1947, included "Alabama".

Capitol and the Opry

A publishing deal with Acuff-Rose ran from 1948 to 1952, and Fred Rose helped with auditions at Decca in 1949 and MGM in 1951. In late 1952 they moved to Capitol, dissatisfied with MGM's promotion. Charlie was drafted in June 1953, was in Korea from December 1953 and returned in 1954. They joined the Grand Ole Opry in February 1955 and stayed until 1963. In May 1955 they recorded secular songs over the objections of the label and the producer, including "When I Stop Dreaming".

Their first number one, "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby", came in 1956, with the Capitol debut album Tragic Songs of Life. They placed ten songs in the country Top 20 in all. Satan Is Real, released in 1959 by Wikipedia's date, has a cover showing the brothers in a rock quarry before a 12-foot plywood devil, with kerosene-soaked tires burning. The last hit single was "Must You Throw Dirt in My Face" in the fall of 1962, and the duo split in 1963, with Wikipedia citing Charlie's weariness with Ira's drinking.

After the split

Charlie's solo debut "I Don't Love You Anymore" reached number four in 1964. Ira died on June 20, 1965 near Williamsburg, Missouri, in a car crash, and Charlie died on January 26, 2011 at home in Wartrace, Tennessee. The brothers were inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1979, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, and Rolling Stone ranked them fourth on its 2015 list of the 20 greatest duos.

Their harmonies, in which the singers swap lead and harmony mid-song, influenced the Everly Brothers, and Gram Parsons got the Byrds to record their "The Christian Life" on Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968). They wrote "Are You Teasing Me", number one for Carl Smith in 1952. Charlie called himself the idea man and title streamliner, with Ira the melody man, telling American Songwriter in 2010 that he believed songwriters are born. A 2003 tribute album, Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers, produced by Carl Jackson, is reported to have won the 2004 Grammy for Best Country Album.

Members

Records

Songs

Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons

Where to go next

Reference

Writing and criticism

Interviews

Sources

  1. The Louvin Brothers, Wikipedia
  2. Louvin Brothers, Encyclopedia of Alabama
  3. Louvin Brothers, Alabama Music Hall of Fame
  4. The Louvin Brothers: Charlie, the idea man, American Songwriter (2010-01-26)
  5. Ira Louvin, Wikipedia