“Satan Is Real” is their story as told by Charlie to Ben Whitmer, a writer with roots in the Yellow Springs/Dayton area. Ira, the older brother, died in 1965. Charlie didn’t live to see the publication of his story. And what a story he has told here.
The brothers were quite different. Ira had a bit of the devil in him. Charlie recounts that when they were boys Ira lacked the patience to wait for the persimmons on their father’s tree to ripen. He recalled that “even though a whipping was a sure thing, Ira’d convinced me how bad I wanted a persimmon, even if they weren’t quite ripe yet. So I walked all the way up to the house, and fetched the axe back. And when I gave it to Ira, he lit into that persimmon tree, chopping it about halfway through so we could pull it over and pick as many of those persimmons as we could reach.”
This pattern of Ira causing trouble lasted until he died. We learn how as small boys they harmonized together. They were shy, so they sang from the relative safety afforded by hiding beneath the bed if their father asked them to perform for neighbors.
They shared a dream to one day be stars of the Grand Ole Opry. They realized their dreams after many struggles and hardships. These Loudermilk brothers changed their last name to Louvin — the rest is country music history. Their songs “When I Stop Dreaming” and “If I Could Only Win Your Love” are considered classics.
They took a dark, tragic road. Ira loved his whisky. Charlie was a teetotaller. Ira married four times. Charlie mediated drunken brawls between Ira and one wife or another. One of Ira’s wives shot him six times. He didn’t die. Charlie had married his Betty and stayed with her all his life.
On these pages we encounter music icons: Elvis, Roy Acuff and Charlie’s lifelong friend, Johnny Cash. A drunken Ira said something rude to Elvis Presley. Charlie says the incident cost them a lot of money. Elvis loved their music, but never recorded their songs. Charlie thought “that one statement from Ira cost the Louvin Brothers music catalog two or three million dollars.”
By 1964 Charlie had had enough. The brothers broke up their act. A year later Ira was dead — killed in a car wreck. Charlie was convinced that Ira had wanted to straighten out his life and become a preacher. After this tragedy, Charlie soldiered on and had a successful solo career.
Whitmer did a fabulous job sculpting Charlie’s recollections into a lively tale that soars with all the beauty of those heavenly harmonies the Louvin Brothers created together. Their influence remains strong. Emmylou Harris said “there was something scary and washed in the blood about the sound of the Louvin Brothers.” You can take that as gospel.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Friday at 1:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 11 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, go online to www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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