login | Register

Swampland Sanctuary...Musical Lineage From "Land of the Trembling Earth" To Charlie Louvin's Latest CD...

As the narrator of Swampland.com, perhaps I should paint a picture of my background before I guide you to the latest recording by the great Charlie Louvin. I grew up on the Georgia Coast--about sixty miles from the Okefenokee Swamp, or "Land of the Trembling Earth"--and graduated from the University of Georgia. Always fascinated with how literature and music influenced American culture, I became lucky enough to meet and become friends with the great writer Stanley Booth.

A Waycross, Georgia, native, like Gram Parsons, Booth's books True Adventures of the Rolling Stones and Rythm (sic) Oil rank as indelible tomes on southern music. Booth knew almost all the musicians he wrote about including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, the Rolling Stones, Furry Lewis, Gram Parsons, Al Green, Bukka White, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Aaron Neville, Hank Crawford, Fred Ford, Bobby Rush, James Brown, William Bell, Sam Phillips, Janis Joplin, Phineas Newborn Jr., Rufus Thomas, Ray Charles, Carla Thomas, Otis Redding, Charlie Freeman, Duane Allman, Jim Dickinson, Alex Chilton, and Mose Allison to name more than a few. 

Through Booth I became exposed to musicians like Gram Parsons (Booth's mother taught Parsons in grade school), The Dixie Flyers, and a plethora of obscure blues, jazz, gospel, and country music. Through Gram Parsons I discovered Charlie Louvin and James Burton--my two most recent Swampland interviews. I searched for all the Louvin Brothers music I could find, and Mr. Booth even allowed me to tape those albums from his extensive vinyl collection. In those days, I viewed the Louvin's music as the epitome of harmonizing country-gospel. However, 21 years later, after suffering slings and arrows of time, those heart-rending Louvin Brothers songs hit me on another, more profound, level.

In keeping time with heavyweight artists one gains a serious frame of reference as well as gritty truths concerning the nature of art and business. The great artists create regardless of circumstance and this latest Charlie Louvin interview reveals the life of a man who began making music over 50 years ago in an era when the music business was nothing like it is now. In this Swampland interview, Mr. Louvin tells stories about Fred Rose Jr., Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and even Elvis. Louvin's latest CD serves as testimony to an artist's perseverance and talent through time. The Louvin Brothers represent an honest, close-to-the-earth, musical force that transcends generations and trends that endure to this day, and beyond...

I'd like to personally thank Mr. Louvin for his grace and time. His latest, self-titled, CD proves worth hearing for anyone interested in traditional gospel-country music. This definitive interview provides a clear insight into one of America's greatest singer/songwriters.   James Calemine

JCalemine@swampland.com

related tags

Mystery and Manners,
Georgia,
Music,

Related Dispatches