Wow, Charlie Louvin is eighty years old. And you know what? He don’t look a day over seventy. Must be all that clean, Christian living.
If you are unfamiliar with the Louvin Brothers, they are one of the most influential country groups in the history of music. Johnny Cash, Elvis, Gram Parsons, and The Everly Brothers all owe them a huge debt. One half of the pair, Ira, died in a car accident in 1964, but Charlie has continued to tour quite extensively, though he’s the first to admit that there will never be the magical Louvin harmony ever again.
Instead, he has amassed a great set of backing musicians, including his son Sonny on Rhythm guitar. On the day of their show, Sonny was wearing an Alien Sex Fiend T-Shirt. This seemed a bit odd, until you consider the all the weird and wonderful dichotomies of the Louvin brothers-- God and Satan, life and death, despair and rebirth. Some of their songs are downright violent, like “Knoxville Girl,” in which a cheatin’ gal gets beaten to death. “A lot of you have asked for us to play that song,” joked Charlie. “This must be a weirdo crowd!”
The band played a few of his best known songs, like “Great Atomic Power” and “The Christian Life,” all of which were delivered perfectly by Louvin, who hasn’t seemed to have lost his voice at all. He did the other obligatory and frankly satisfying country concert things, a few corny jokes (“The music biz is like crossin’ the street: you either C sharp or B flat”) and some anecdotes about other musicians, like Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. By the time he got to “Must You Throw Dirt in my Face?” he had the crowd eating out of the proverbial palm of his hand. They ended with a rollicking version of “Cash on the Barrelhead,” and people began to queue up for autographs. “Thank you,” he said with a Tennessee twang, seemingly grateful for our adulation. “Thank you very much.
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