CHARLIE LOUVIN - Charlie Louvin Review

The problem with the modern "duets" album—as pioneered by Frank Sinatra and other old-timers—is that there's rarely any real collaboration. Veteran singers belt out impersonal renditions of boring old standards while a young buck with commercial cachet awkwardly adds a few lines, most likely at a separate session....full text Listening to Charlie Louvin's new album of old songs is like hearing your grandfather sing hymns. The 80-year-old country music veteran has the warm and easy authority of someone who has spent his entire life with these songs; he knows every word, every melody, every implication by heart....full text On his umpteenth album, seventy-nine-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer Louvin turns out highly likable collabos with people such as Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Will Oldham. Well-penned and dustily tuneful, the songs -- many of them older than the guest stars -- benefit from some extra spice: Dig the dissonance between Louvin's crusty drawl and the nasal come-ons of Eef Barzalay on "The Christian Life."...full text