The great gospel and country music singer Charlie Louvin passed away at 1:30 this morning, according to Paste Magazine, due to complications of pancreatic cancer. He was 83.
Louvin was best known for his work with his brother Ira, the hard-drinking and on-again-off-again born-again member of the Louvin Brothers duo, who was killed in a car crash in 1965. Charlie went on to build a successful solo career and his music had undergone something of a resurgence in the 1990s with the popularity of Americana, becoming the idol of such musicians as Jeff Tweedy, Marty Stuart and Elvis Costello, all of whom recorded with him. In 2001, the Louvin Brothers were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Paste Magazine has a great profile here.
I got to see Charlie Louvin in 2006 in a little bar in Nashville. While his voice was a little shaky, the man could still harmonize beautifully. I knew at the time I was witnessing a piece of gospel and country-music history and with it, an important piece of American history. He will be missed.
A sample:
