INDIE PUBLISHER WILL PROMOTE MUSIC AND LEGACY OF LEGENDARY DUO
NASHVILLE (August 25, 2020) – Mojo Music & Media is proud to announce that we have acquired a co-publishing interest in Kathy Louvin’s Movin Louvin Music. Kathy is the daughter of Ira Louvin, one half of the legendary Louvin Brothers, considered the most influential harmony duo in country music.
The deal spans the group’s entire catalog, including such country classics as “When I Stop Dreaming,” “If I Could Only Win Your Love,” “Cash On The Barrel Head,” “I’ll Take The Chance” and “The Knoxville Girl,” and religious standards including “Family Who Prays,” “I Like The Christian Life,” “The Angels Rejoiced Last Night” and “Let Us Travel, Travel On.”
Ira and Charlie Louvin, first cousins of Hall of Fame songwriter John D. Loudermilk, grew up in rural northeastern Alabama. With Ira’s mandolin virtuosity and the brothers’ preternatural gift for high tight harmonies, the Louvin’s became in-demand stage performers and won recording contracts with Decca, MGM and Capitol. Over the course of a relatively short 10 years – from 1953-1963 – the Louvin Brothers wrote, recorded, and performed a long list of gospel and secular hits, 12 of them landing in the upper reaches of the country charts. While the Louvin’s were, in their heyday, counted among country music’s most popular artists, their influence has loomed even larger as their songs have been covered in each successive decade by some of the best-loved voices in country (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill), R&B (Ray Charles, Etta James), and bluegrass (Alison Krauss, Jim & Jesse). The Louvin’s music was central to the birth of country rock when the Gram Parsons-era Byrds covered “The Christian Life” on their seminal 1968 release Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, followed by stunning covers by Linda Rondstadt, Nicolette Larson, The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Desert Rose Band. Emmylou Harris, one of the Louvin’s staunchest fans, took her 1975 cover of “If I Could Only Win Your Love” to number four on the country singles chart.
The Louvin Brothers joined the Grand Old Opry in 1955, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. They were given prominent mention in Ken Burns’ recent documentary on country music and are the subject of an upcoming feature film produced by and starring Ethan Hawke.
Kathy Louvin is an award-winning songwriter in her own right, having penned such hits as Ricky Van Shelton’s chart-topper “Keep It Between The Lines” and Confederate Railroad’s “Queen Of Memphis,” among others. Kathy also co-produced the 2003 tribute album, “Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: Songs Of The Louvin Brothers” featuring covers by Johnny Cash, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and other top country, folk and rock singers. The collection won the Best Country Album Grammy in 2004. Kathy’s children, Billy and Jacob, known professionally as The Louvin Boys, are carrying on in their grandfather’s footsteps, performing classic Louvin Brothers works alongside their originals.