Satan is Real - Louvin Brothers

[Darren Bailey]

Just finished reading Satan Is Real and I'm grateful to the Cafe for the heads up on this one. A great read. There's a side to Bill Monroe that comes though that I've never read about before - the image of him chuckling away with Ira Louvin is just terrific. Also - the way he lends him his mandolin is very touching. Johny Cash also comes out of it very well. At the end of the day it's not a life I'd swap mine for but they certainly lived through it.

[bookmn]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the reminder. I look forward to reading it...

[Bill Baldridge]

Charlie comes across as an honest man. A good read.

[fatt-dad]

Just arrived to the beach (Frisco, NC). Will begin the read soon. . .

f-d

[jim simpson]

I love the story on how they created the cover the Satin Is Real album (and now the book) cover.

[vegas]

I first learned about the book in a review at either The New York Times or The New Yorker, two publications not normally associated with anything Louvin brothers and most likely, dismissive of all things in their world. The review gave high praise which those publications rarely give to anything. Typically, their reviewers are critical, pointing out what was not done correctly as literary reviewers in the northeast mostly do to even the best writers. I think part of the success of this book is how well it introduces an outsider to early country music in its' infancy so the reader experiences the changes which took place to create the industry we know today.

It is a very moving book, written in an intimate, down to earth style without literary fireworks. It is like sitting in a room hearing the story first hand. Ira's alcoholism only gets worse as time goes on, as untreated alcoholism always does, eventually resulting in the brothers going separate ways. The moment when Charlie visits Ira's grave nearly brought me to tears and I am far from being a sentimentalist. In fact, had it not been written with the simple honesty Charlie brings to the story, I probably would have stopped reading at that point.

Mostly, though, it is an incredible tale of two brothers, how they loved one another, fought, made some great music, played with some of country music's icons and how alcoholism eventually tore it all apart. The parts where Ira smashes his mandolin in frustration and then spends days gluing it back together are both funny and horrifying. The first appearance of a very young Johnny Cash at a country church when they were playing the gospel circuits was a special moment for me. Many of the early country greats were the real deal, having lived lives of hard work and poverty which helped propel them away from that life into the music they first learned from family and neighbors. For a Yankee like me, reading this book was a powerful experience.

[jimmy powells]

I thought it was a great read. A real inside to an "on the road" lifestyle. Charlie must have been to hell and back so many times and yet he kept playing through brotherly love no doubt more than anything else. One the opposite of the other. I can't imagine the state of Ira's mandolin after "glueing it back together" because no doubt it was in a right old state and they are fragile things to start with.

Nothing quite like reading fact on a musician's life. Can't wait to read Kentucky Traveler-Ricky Skaggs. Can't find how to pre-order the Kindle version.

Jimmy Powells
UK

[Spruce]

One the opposite of the other.

I hung out with Charlie for an evening when he was on tour 5 or so years ago, and he completely dispelled the myth (in my mind, anyway) that he was the "straight" man to Ira's alcohol-drenched insanity...
Ira must have been one hellova piece-of-work...

I loved the George Jones cure for his drinking problem...

A must-read by one of the most interesting characters that ever graced the stage...

[TheMandoKit]

My loving and long-suffering (because of me ) spouse gave me this as a gift about a year ago. It is an engaging story, and a well-written/edited memoir. Even if you are not a Louvin Brothers fan--I suppose they exist--this is a great book to sit back and read through. Unfortunately, it is fairly short, and you will breeze through it much more quickly than you would like to. Interesting insights into Charlie, Ira and a fair number of other musicians of the day.

Seriously, get it.

[Elliot Luber]

Great book. Read it straight through non-stop.

[fatt-dad]

Yes a great book. What stories!

f-d

[Denny Gies]

An A+ read.

[vegas]

Excellent review of this book here:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/en...-Satan-Is-Real

[Bill Foss]

The part where Charlie visits Ira's grave at night and hears mandolin music, is beautiful, sad and a bit spooky. A very nice touch is that they included lyrics to some of their best songs. We are blessed that Charlie took the time to write the book and share his life with us.

[ccravens]

I also considered it a good read.

Was lucky enough to see Charlie a few years back.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Today is the anniversary of the publication of this great book. Always happy for an excuse to tell everyone about it.

[JeffD]

Yes a great great book. It is a quick read so it won't interrupt your life gigantically, but it is over too quickly which made me sad. The book will stay with you for ever.

The above reviews might give the impression Charlie was bragging about who he knew and who he met, like many other celebrity autobiographies. Not the case. Not at all. The Louvin Brothers were around making it happen and intersected with the lives of many others who were around making it happen.

[A 4]

I also really liked this book; I read it not long after it came out.

If you are on the fence, the Amazon.com web page for the book has a "look inside" feature, so you can click on those words right above the picture of the cover and read the beginning of the book. The first chapters are only a few pages each, and after reading those, I was hooked.

[music man]

Growing up in the sixties my dad had a lot of the Louvin brothers records.we would play them for hours.I never saw Ira play an F style mandolin apparently he favored the A style

[Elliot Luber]

I enjoyed the book. They really were a talented pair, too.

[Mandoplumb]

Growing up in the sixties my dad had a lot of the Louvin brothers records.we would play them for hours.I never saw Ira play an F style mandolin apparently he favored the A style

F style are so much harder to put back together after you smash them for not tuning.

[music man]

Point well taken on trying to fix an F style mandolin that's been shattered!!

[blind road]

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforu...8#.WHA_PCwzXug

[JeffD]

My experience:

Reading the book gives the context in which you can even like the cover!

[brunello97]

Glad I caught this thread the second time around. Thanks to all for the recommendation.

I'm really enjoying the book. What a story--and storyteller.

Mick