This morning I have listened to a radio show with a Charlie Louvin interview at NPR – World Cafe Looks Back: Country And Bluegrass. The Louvin Brothers were very popular between 1955 and 1963, Ira Louvin played mandolin and Charlie played the guitar. The harmony singing of this duo was great.
The interview was recorded in 2007 when Charlie Louvin had published a new CD with songs in the classical Louvin Brothers style. One of the most popular song of the Louvin Brothers is Knoxville Girls that can be heard in the NPR broadcast with Charlie Louvin.
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/11/141233587/world-cafe-looks-back-country-and-bluegrass
I have selected three great early videos with the Louvin Brothers from youtube. Ira Louvin did obviously prefer the Gibson A model mandolins with an oval soundhole as can be seen in those videos and on the picture on the NPR site.
Louvin Brothers – I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby (1956)
Louvin Brothers I Can’t Keep You in Love with Me
The Louvin Brothers Love Thy Neighbor
In the following video you can see and hear Charlie Louvin talk about the beginning of the Louvin Brothers.
Charlie Louvin’s Last Interview, I see a Bridge
Playlist – Louvin Brothers
World Cafe Looks Back: Country And Bluegrass
Today, World Cafe takes a trip through the world of bluegrass and country. As one half of the famous 1950s duo The Louvin Brothers, Charlie Louvin was inspired by Appalachian folk-music performers like the Delmore Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys. Joining Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry in 1955, the Louvin Brothers stayed there until 1963, when they broke up amid the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll. Two years later, in 1965, Charlie’s brother Ira died in a car crash.
In 2007, Louvin put out his first new studio album in more than 10 years. The self-titled record featured a number of songs in classic Louvin Brothers style. In this 2007 session, Louvin talks about the Southern gospel tradition of “shape note singing.” He died in January at 83.
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/11/141233587/world-cafe-looks-back-country-and-bluegrass
Additional Information
Wikipedia about the Louvin Brothers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Louvin_Brothers