Review Summary: others find pleasure in things I despise.
Ira Louvin lived the life it seems so many rock ‘n roll stars are doomed to. He lived fast: Going through women as fast as he went through lines of cocaine, he died young: Killed in a fiery automobile crash, and his legacy lives on through the many musicians he inspired. Louvin was even known to destroy his mandolin on stage in drunken rages. Ira Louvin was the world-class sinner trying his damndest to keep himself and the rest of our dying world from Satan’s clutches. Ira never did save himself but the music he and his brother, Charles, made probably led a few sinners to put away their heroin and gin.
“She fell down on her bended knees for mercy she did cry / ‘Oh Willy dear don't kill me here, I'm unprepared to die’ / She never spoke another word, I only beat her more / Until the ground around me within her blood did flow.”
Those lyrics, from
Tragic Songs of Life’s “Knoxville Girl”, may not be on
Satan is Real but I think they give you a good idea of how dark The Louvin Brothers can get. Something you may not notice through all the simple, upbeat harmonies and beautiful melodies. The Louvin’s songs are more "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" than Willie Nelson’s hippie Jesus.
There’s a moment in the title track where the music dies down leaving only an organ, then Ira begins a telling a story in his very thick Southern draw (you can hear The Byrds try-but fail-to mimic him in their cover of “The Christian Life”) of an old man recalling peaceful days that were interrupted when Satan came into his life destroying “his happy home.” Knowing Ira’s story the song is heartbreaking as Ira ended up just like the old man, destroyed by his sins. Dying a lonely drunk with is probably the end Ira saw in his future. Every song on
Satan is Real could be seen as warnings not really to the lost world but to Ira, who was closer to Satan then most.
Satan is Real isn’t all sullen tales of men crushed by Satan’s temptations however, “There’s a Higher Power” is an explosive blast of rock n’ roll influenced gospel, with call and response vocals and riotous shouts of “AMEN!!!” “The Christian Life” is the brothers singing the joys of being a Christian, the life Ira wished he could live. Although not quite as upbeat the hopeful “He Can Be Found” could be a contemporary Christian praise song if it wasn’t so twang-y (and good.)
Satan is Real was recorded and released in a tumultuous time in the brothers careers. It had been almost three years since they had a hit song and rock ‘n roll was just beginning to take hold, ending many country artists commercial success. The brothers were told by record execs that they needed to modernize their sound and maybe drop the God thing and the mandolin. Also Ira’s alcoholism was just starting to get serious leading to violent fights between the siblings. It’s real easy to see why the Louvin Brothers would release a record like Satan is Real. Their professional lives were collapsing around them and in the midst of the cold war and the debauchery of rock music well who other than Satan was pulling the strings. The real magic to
Satan is Real though is beyond the fire-and-brimstone there’s beauty and some actual hope, which must’ve been hard for the brothers to scrounge up.
“But now my steps are growing weary / Lord I’m ready, I’m ready to go home.”
