Send "Charlie Louvin " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Countryweekly |
 In the mid-1950s, Charlie Louvin began a brilliant career as one-half of the now-legendary Louvin Brothers (with brother Ira). But for Charlie, who set music aside to serve in both WWII and the Korean War, military duty came before personal success. Now 83, Charlie has long outlived the era of gung-ho patriotism and pervading Christian beliefs that characterized the Louvins’ 1962 album, Weapon of Prayer. But his staunchly traditional values—musical and otherwise—haven’t wavered. His new collection is a partial remake of Weapon of Prayer, armed with other mostly vintage-era songs that unapologetically champion the American way and pay tribute to military personnel past and present.The album’s emphasis on war’s human losses, shot through with spiritual themes, rescues it from becoming an oversimplified flag-waver, and Charlie’s weakened but spirited voice is affecting, ably supported with traditional-styled accompaniment. While war is the primary subject behind The Battles Rage On, Charlie fights his own battle here for old-fashioned ideals. In today’s America, that’s a valiant effort in itself....full text |
| Popmatters |
| A living American legend, albeit late in life, releases a self-serious album. Often, an esteemed producer and/or black and white photography are involved. Famous, respected artists whom the legend has influenced line up to lend helping hands and pay respects. Critics are right behind them. Johnny Cash’s exhausting American Recordings series is the prime example, but this trend has been applied to many othersl including, recently, Neil Diamond and Levon Helm. It’s quite easy to view this phenomenon as a version of the de facto lifetime achievement Oscars that the film industry occasionally doles out. Martin Scorcese’s Best Director for The Departed and Al Pacino’s Best Actor for Scent of a Woman come to mind. Neither effort was undeserving, but the awards really seemed to be more in appreciation of entire careers, for the awards that hadn’t been awarded in the past. And that’s kind of the feeling you get with Charlie Louvin’s recent resurgence, if you will. Louvin was half of the country-gospel duo the Louvin Brothers. Charlie and Ira Louvin had a handful of country hits from the mid-1950s to the early ‘60s, but they were never superstars by any means. Ira, an alcoholic, died in 1965. The Louvin Brothers’ legacy has basically been their strikingly literally cover interpretation for their 1959 album, Satan Is Real. But they have, over time, emerged as cult figures. All the Beard Rock / “y’all-ternative” acts out there trafficking in close harmonies owe something to the Louvins. Maybe that helps explain why in 2007, Charlie Louvin broke a 25-year retirement from recording and released a self-titled album which featured members of Wilco and Bright eyes, among others. The album garnered mixed reviews and hardly generated a groundswell of attention (you have to hire Rick Rubin to do that), but it was generally well-received. Even better-received were the live shows Louvin began playing, where people who probably never thought they’d get the chance were able to hear a legendary figure perform in person...full text |
| Bbc |
| Country singers are rare among practitioners of popular music in having reason to look forward to growing older: age, far from wearying their voices, tends to confer further gravitas. Johnny Cash made his best records in his last decade. Conversely, there is no more heartbreaking what-if in 20th century music than the depths, as a singer and writer, that Hank Williams might have reached had he lived past 29. Mid-80-something Charlie Louvin would be first to admit that he isn’t the singer he was, more than half a century ago, when he and his late brother Ira made peculiar, haunting classics of gothic country gospel. The decades have reduced his crystalline trill to a husky drawl, but this isn’t necessarily regrettable. On this album of songs about war, and related matters, Louvin’s obvious frailty makes The Battles Rage On less offputtingly bellicose than it might have been if delivered by a younger artist: the raging battle, in this context, seems as much against the proverbial dying of the light as against America’s foes. Not that Louvin is shy about naming names. The opening track, Red Foley’s wilfully menacing 1944 hit There’ll Be Smoke On The Water, updates the enemies list: Osama bin Laden in for Hirohito, Saddam Hussein substituted for Mussolini (Hitler keeps his place, weirdly)....full text |
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