Louvin Brothers Close Harmony CD - Import

8-CD box set of orig. Capitol recordings, 1st record for Apollo, rare Decca session from 1949 & MGM sides cut 1951-52 + 52-pg. LP-size book, priced as CX-9

Personnel: Charlie Louvin (vocals, guitar); Ira Louvin (vocals, tenor guitar, mandolin); Faye Cunningham, The Jordanaires (vocals); George McCormick (baritone, guitar); Hank Garland (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Odell Martin, Jimmy Capps (guitar, electric guitar); Ray Edenton (guitar, tenor banjo); Eddie Hill (guitar, fiddle); Paul Yandell, Smiley Wilson (guitar); Harold Bradley (acoustic guitar); Chet Atkins (electric guitar); Don Helms, Jerry Byrd & the String Dusters, Pete Drake (steel guitar); Shot Jackson (dobro); Grandpa Jones (banjo); Paul Buskirk (mandolin); Thomas Lee Jackson Jr., Dale Potter (fiddle); Jimmy Riddle (harmonica); Marvin H. Hughes (piano, organ); Floyd Cramer (piano); Owen Bradley (vibraphone); William Paul Ackerman, Buddy Harman (drums).
Audio Mixer: Larry Walsh.
Liner Note Author: Charles K. Wolfe.
Recording information: Bradley Film & Recording Studio, Nashville, TN (12/18/1947-09/12/1963); Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel (12/18/1947-09/12/1963); Columbia Recording Studio, Nashville, TN (12/18/1947-09/12/1963); Music City Recording, Nashville, TN (12/18/1947-09/12/1963); Nashville, TN (12/18/1947-09/12/1963); Sam Phillips Recording Studio, Nashville, TN (12/18/1947-09/12/1963).
Illustrators: Charles K. Wolfe; David Freeman ; Manfred Bersebach; Brad Benedict.
Photographers: Charles K. Wolfe; David Freeman ; Manfred Bersebach; Brad Benedict.
While the Bear Family label in Germany has accomplished many formidable feats -- four Johnny Cash box sets, six Hank Snow boxes, four Flatt & Scruggs boxes, and on and on -- the accomplishment in putting together this eight-CD 219-track collection of Louvin Brothers recordings may be the label's finest hour. If there were ever a duo that embodied the entirety of the country tradition from its folk music and gospel roots through the development of bluegrass and into honky tonk music, it was the Louvins, who have inspired virtually everyone who has come after them. Charlie and Ira took harmony singing to a new level and the creation of full-length albums far out of the sphere of one or two singles and filler. Whether it be in the duets of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, or the alt-country band Freakwater, the Louvins are in the stem. Here are contained all of their Capitol, Decca, MGM, and Apollo sides. All of the concept recordings, such as Satan Is Real, Tragic Songs of Life, and the rest, are here in chronological order, with complete session notes. In merely listing the personnel, the reader will be awed at who performed with them: Owen Bradley, Pete Drake, Don Helms, Chet Atkins, Grandpa Jones, Dale Potter, Buddy Harman, Jimmy Capps, and the Jordanaires, to name just a few. Fred Rose was their producer, along with Bradley. And then the songs -- whether they be traditional Christmas songs like "O Little Town of Bethlehem," broken-hearted love songs such as "I Hear You've Been Cheatin' on Me" and "Love Is a Lonely Street," patriotic anthems such as "I Died for the Red, White and Blue," or gospel songs like "Mother I Thank You for the Bible You Gave Me," the restless, lonesome ghostly sound of sweetness itself is present. It's true that this is mainly for the fanatics, but it's also for libraries and historians of the music, and for those who can't get enough of Gram and Emmylou or real country music. This set is a treasure. Period. ~ Thom Jurek
If ever there was an act deserving of a lovingly compiled eight-disc retrospective, the Louvin Brothers are it. In a genre defined by passionate singing, the Louvins are the undisputed masters of two-part harmony. Their repertoire, largely self-penned, is equally impressive: perhaps only Hank Williams Sr. wrot