Dozens of country singers have covered Louvin songs, as have folk and even rock groups: the Byrds had a memorable version of “The Christian Life,” and Nicolette Larson did a moving reading of “Satan’s Jeweled Crown.” Not surprisingly, the Louvins have been nominated for the Hall of Fame; also not surprisingly, as an act that sang its last notes forty-two years ago, they haven’t made it. But Charlie Louvin, still a soloist on the Opry, takes consolation in the fact that hardly a day goes by without somebody asking him about the times when he and Ira were riding the wild horse and changing the face of country music.
The long climb to the top started on Sand Mountain, in northeast Alabama. It is a huge plateau, running over a hundred miles into the central part of the state, with rough, steep sides that discouraged much contact with the outside world. The people who lived on the plateau had few radios, and were rich in older musical traditions like Sacred Harp singings and fiddling contests. In the 1920s one of these families was headed by a Colonel Monero Allen Loudermilk, an old-time banjo player who enjoyed a regional reputation as a pretty decent frailer.
The Colonel and his wife had a total of seven children, who needed to help with the cotton, the cane, and the corn; two of them were named Ira Lonnie and Charlie Elzer, born in 1924 and 1927 respectively. The brothers grew up hearing their father’s old-time music, but were just as interested in their mother’s ancient ballads like “The Knoxville Girl” and “Mary of the Wild Moor.” Their family was active in the Sacred Harp singings and knew of the newer shape-note gospel songs published by companies like James D. Vaughan and J. M. Henson. When the brothers were around eleven or twelve, the Colonel decided they would benefit from gospel singing lessons offered by an itinerant singing school teacher.