Charlie Louvin

Kurt L Moore

The fields of the family farm in Henager, Alabama were hard to work. It took everything a man had to not succumb to the hardscrabble, downtrodden way of life. The depression was on and farm life was just plain hard and mostly fruitless, not allowing enough at the end of a day’s work to feed most families. Charlie Louvin and his brother Ira would work long hours on the farm during the day and then, after supper, they would listen to recording artists of the time, such as the Blue Sky Boys and the Delmore Brothers on the family Victrola. They also spent many nights listening to the static of WSM out of Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry.

Those long work days and the relaxing respites at night were to set the stage for one of the most successful brother duos in the history of country music.

Charlie and Ira Louvin took to music as if it were meant to happen all along.

The boys got their first start in show business by providing background music for a merry-go-round at the Flat Rock, Alabama County Fair. The pay was three dollars for each, Ira and Charlie. They considered themselves fortunate, considered themselves rich and were ready to go a few steps further in the entertainment industry. Three dollars a day was really something for two farm kids in 1941. Money was still tight, a car could be bought for $800.00, a loaf of bread was eight cents, a stamp three cents and gas was 18 cents per gallon. On their first job playing music, they did better than the average wage-earner of that day.

Charlie and Ira went out into the music world like the devil himself was chasing them. They recorded album after album to rave reviews and the public accepted them with open arms. Their gospel music was so unique that the Louvin Brothers were in demand everywhere.

One thing led to another and it happened. Brothers will be brothers and the Louvin Brothers were no exception. Squabbles and differences of opinion drove Ira and Charlie to go their separate ways. Charlie began his own successful recording career and Ira, also dealing with an alcoholic personality, went on tour wherever he could find a gig. On Father’s Day 1965, Ira, while driving near Williamsburg, Missouri, was killed in an automobile crash and Charlie was left to carry on the tradition of the Louvin Brothers as a solo act.

Charlie has forged a highly successful career out of bringing good solid, old fashioned, understandable music to the ears of the public. Accolades include induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, four nominations to the Country Music Hall of Fame and final induction in 2001. Then to add the whipped cream to the cake, Charlie has landed six Grammy Awards. Charlie is about to celebrate his 50^th year as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Not too many performers have ever made it that far. Many have succumbed to alcohol, drugs, accidents, murders and many have just plain worn out. The Opry, in its quest to remain the same, has changed many times over the last 50 years. The comment from Charlie about the changing face of the Grand Ole Opry: “There are now young inexperienced kids appearing on the Opry, we call them wannabes. But then, thinking back, we all started somewhere.”

Charlie, now in his sunset seventies, has cut back a bit, performing on the Opry only every other week, but he keeps a full road schedule throughout the year. Recently, Charlie Louvin, making a stop on his road trip, was a guest on the Gene Williams Show, being taped for television, in the Branson Music Mall Theater.

I remember the guys who used to come to Harold Fare’s Feed Store in the small town where I was raised. They would all come in their over-alls, galoshes, John Deere and Garst Seed Corn hats and each would be carrying a different opinion or two on the farm situation, the election or about the local basketball team. They were all friendly fellows who knew one another from many years association, therefore were comfortable in one another’s company as they played cards and dominoes.

I had the opportunity to visit with Charlie a bit before he left to go back to Nashville. Charlie reminds me of those guys who came to the feed store. The only exception being that he was dressed just a tad nicer than the northern Missouri farmers that I remember from so long ago. When I spoke to him, he was very pleasant and down to earth with just a twinkle of wiliness, or maybe it was orneriness, in his eyes. Incidentally, he does not use a bus to travel, neither does he have a driver to cart him around. Charlie, being the type of person he is, drives himself around the country in a big, bad, black pick-up truck. Charlie is a self-made individual who takes care of himself. He also takes pride in his accomplishments, but far from resting on his laurels, Charlie continues to break new ground with new songs and albums. His newest venture released earlier this year is a CD named “Charlie Louvin—Greatest Hits.”

Thanks to the generosity of Country Music USA at the Branson Meadows Mall, I was able to secure a copy of the “Charlie Louvin—Greatest Hits” to listen to while I was writing this article. I wondered exactly where Charlie’s mass appeal lay. Soon after putting the CD on my office player, I found out.

Harrison Ford’s popularity is due to many things but the one thing heard more often is that he is the everyday man who does extraordinary things, feats and so on. Well, Charlie Louvin is essentially the same only in a different way. Charlie is the everyday man’s voice. Every man can identify with his voice. Every woman can identify with her man and Charlie. Charlie also is the everyday man’s messenger. He sings songs of simplicity, love, tragedy and happier times. Every man and woman can identify once again with the message he is bringing to them. The message is easily understood because he sings it in simple, plain, down-to-earth lyrics along with simple melodies in his musical accompaniment. Charlie does a few songs with Melba Montgomery, a first class honky-tonk gal, a rebel who sings from the soul, much like Charlie. Charlie and Melba do as well as any country duo on the big dog market today. In fact, their duo has garnered a Grammy or two.

I feel that Charlie, far from being a complex individual, is as simple and straight forward in his life as his songs are. That is why he has been so successful in his singing career. If there were more Charlie Louvins in this world, there would be no wars, because we would all gather around the campfire, give our opinions, have a good fire roasted meal and sing songs of life, love, tragedies and happier times. Good attitudes, good from-the-bottom-of-the-soul music and full stomachs are the way to certain peace. Visiting with Charlie one knows he is at peace with himself and his world.

Editor’s note: I spoke with Charlie on the phone just before putting this article to rest. He tells me he will be return to Branson in October. Not often do we have a person performing in our fair city who has garnered six Grammy Awards. Check the Branson Daily Independent for date and time.

Branson Critic™

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