Charlie Louvin passed away on January 26, 2011. Our interview transpired in 2007 during his reemergence on the music scene, and experienced well-deserved accolades for a lifetime of music. This interview excerpt proves Charlie Louvin knew how to tell a story. What a soulful gentleman, and a true American legend. The title Insured Beyond The Grave is from a Louvin Brothers song of the same name…
The Louvin Brothers legendary songs transcend time. Born Ira (April 21, 1924) and Charlie (July 7, 1927) Loudermilk, the brothers were raised poor in Henagar, Alabama, and began singing gospel music early in their lives. A few years later they played mostly in Tennessee and Alabama. They changed their last name, and Charlie and Ira began recording in 1949. They cut records for Decca, MGM, and Capitol Records. Their music never strayed from a pure gospel-country path. Once heard, their harmonizing remains hard to forget. Their music dealt with grave matters of the soul…the perilous tightrope between light and dark.
In time, musicians such as Merle Haggard, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton recorded Louvin Brothers songs. After a prodigious career, the brothers went their separate ways, and in 1965 Ira Louvin was killed in a car accident. Brother Charlie forged on, and dedicated a song on his latest album to Ira. Charlie Louvin’s last album appeared a decade ago. His latest, self-titled, release include special guests George Jones, Bobby Bare, Tom T. Hall, Jeff Tweedy, Marty Stuart, and Will Oldham.
Talk a little about the classic record the Louvin Brothers recorded in 1960, Satan Is Real. What do you remember about that record?
CL: Well, my wife and I were living up on a little farm in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and about a half a mile from us was a rock quarry—it wasn’t active anymore and Ira and I had written this song. We wanted it to be the name of an album. So, my wife Betty and I—our oldest son had a Lionel train and it was on a sheet of plywood. We were so tight with money, so close to going under that we didn’t have the money to go buy another sheet of plywood. So we took the train off that one and ripped it in two which made it 16 feet tall and together we built what we were told what the bogeyman would look like. He’d have a pitchfork and he’d have horns—very scary looking.
We painted it up and Capitol Records sent a photographer Ken Veeder from Hollywood to take the pictures. So we took car tires and filled them full of kerosene—had it all ready, and it started sprinkling’ rain. Well, this Ken Veeder got very nervous and didn’t want his camera to get any water on it. We’ll do this later, he said. We’ve got two weeks of work in this already. If we can stand out here and play like we’re enjoying it you can go ahead and shoot that camera. So, he did. The rest of it is history. A couple years back somebody asked this rock and roll artist to choose the top 50 album covers of all time, and Satan Is Real came in fifth. I thought that was phenomenal. We just looked at that book today.
I discovered your music through Gram Parsons…
CL: I never met Gram. I credit him with introducing Louvin Brothers to (you) and to Emmylou. He told Emmylou I want to play you something. He got her to sit down and listen, and she asked who’s that girl singing the high part? And he said that’s not a girl, that’s Ira Louvin. So, that’s how she met the Louvin Brothers music. She was very kind to us she cut four or five (songs). We’re still friends today, Emmylou and I. Her first number one song, the first release she had “If I Could Only Win Your Love” was a Louvin Brothers song. Gram introduced the Louvin sound to a lot of people because they tell me—it’s an Emmylou story—that Gram would pay people in California to go around to all these old record stores and pawnshops to see if they could find any Louvin Brothers music. He’d pay them for their trouble. I wish I could have met him…
Read the entire interview in Insured Beyond The Grave.
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