My musical listening preferences tend to shift with the seasons, and since Autumn is in full swing, I had to pack away my lighter-hearted Summer sounds and bring out the more bitter, colder tunes of Fall. And falling into that category is one of my all-time favorite musical groups, The Louvin Brothers. Don't get me wrong, they are always on rotation in my musical library, but they tend to take the helm in Autumn and steer my ship into winter.
If you don't know The Louvin Brothers, you are missing out on one of the most beautifully harmonizing brotherly country duos of the mid-20th century who sang songs of (sometimes) joy and (more often) lament. I once described them, after a late night of taking up company with their more heart-wrenching songs, as being like two angels singing my heart straight out of my chest and taking it on a sad waltz to Heaven.
© Rick Beerhorst via http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiobeerhorst
The Louvin Brothers consisted of Ira and Charlie and were known before their musical fame as the Loudermilks. They were born in Appalachia Alabama in the 1920's and were encouraged by their parents to play music from a young age. Ira, the more tempestuous of the the two, played mandolin, and Charlie, the guitar. They started building a name for themselves by playing for various radio stations around the south with gospel songs in the 1940s, and it was around then that they changed their last name to Louvin. They began writing, recording, and performing more secular music in the mid-1950's and started taking their place on the Top Ten charts. They also joined the Grand Ole Opry where they performed to much success until 1963 when they broke up.
An album from my collection that I recommend for an appropriate and gental introduction to the Louvin Brothers is "20 All-Time Greatest Hits." You get the likes of their hits "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" (written by Autry Inman), "When I Stop Dreaming," the darker-themed "Knoxville Girl" and "I Love You Best of All." Packed with songs about love, loss, heartache, anger, sin, regret, hope, despair, reverence for their home, and patriotism, I think it provides a nice span, in one album, of everything they sang about in the secular realm.
One of the best Louvin Brothers albums, in my opinion, is "My Baby's Gone." The most notable song on there for me is "Lorene" -- a frustrating song of despair where the anguished singer is begging his lover to write to him after he hasn't received her response to any of his recent letters to her. And he waits, seemingly knowing that when he does finally receive her letter, it's going to break his heart.
Two other songs on the album that particularly stick out to me are "I Wish It Had Been A Dream" and "My Baby Came Back". The first line of "I Wish It Had Been A Dream" can probably give you an idea of the jist of the song: "We were alone last night pretending wrong is right." And it goes on to say "It's easier to awake from a dream and cry than to walk away and say goodbye." I reckon that might be true. After a slew of other heart-wrenching ballads made all the more powerful with the brothers' tight harmonies, the album ends with "My Baby Came Back"... For which I am thankful, because it provides some relief to end on the hopeful account that even though the singer's woman left him for another man, she finally returned to him, her true love. I'm not sure how much heartache I can take in one album... But I keep taking it in this one because they make it sound so good!
Ira and Charlie went on to pursue solo careers after parting ways with each other, Charlie garnering more success of the two. He is still alive today and has been performing faithfully since, although he is currently battling pancreatic cancer. Ira, who seemingly had problems with alcohol, died in a car wreck in Missouri along with his 4th wife in 1965 after performing a week of concerts together with her in Kansas City. However, the Louvin Brothers' music lives on, through their own name, and through many artists that they would and continue to inspire and influence.
For a more detailed biography of this duo, check out: http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/louvin_brothers/bio.jhtml.
(Thanks Angie!)
1 comment:
oh its another Music vs Monday and delight to see the guest review!This was a wonderful invite to open up new music and have it become part of the collection. I ushered in the album "My Baby's Gone", and yes, exactly as Angie Pickman aka Rural Pearl describes, a heartache in an album, but a wonderful exit song! I want to call the local radio station and put in my request just to grind their gears and see if they'll be able to play it. The Louvin Brothers will be buzzing thru my ears, and i thank you for the introductions
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