As the slick, overproduced country sounds of the 1980’s transitioned into the insufferable cubicle pop of the 1990’s and beyond, traditional country music was pushed to the AM radio fringes and then mostly forgotten by mainstream radio. LOST COUNTRY will take a look back at obscure and overlooked artists from country music’s heyday of the 1960’s through 1970’s. The Lure of The Louvin Brothers There might not be a sweeter, more pure sound escaping from a set of speakers than [...]
Though we share videos and other streaming singletons over at the Cover Lay Down FaceBook page throughout the week, a critical mass of open tabs has made it needful to share the most recently discovered crop of one-shot releases, recordings, and new finds all-at-once, if only just to clear the air and move on. Read and click below to hear why we collected these top-notch songs and songwriters in the first place. The Chapin Sisters , who we've previously featured filtering Britney Spears and Madonna [...]
Christmas music: It ain't for everyone. But then, it is for some. In later years, I’ve gravitated more towards the solemn, poetic hymns that predate by a matter of centuries the sentimental oom-pa-pa of most Christmas music. (Though, that being said, I’m a total sucker for “Jingle Bell Rock”; forgive me.), and Christmas With the [...]
I almost titled this Sunday Mixtape Number 288. Apparently in my mind I've already run the Veas marathon, and it's late-night Decmeber 2nd and I'm ready to compile a mix tape. Silly me, I've still got two weeks to go! Of course, there's no way in hell I'm going to finish running 26.2 miles and [...]

A garage band with grand sonic ambitions from Venice, California, The Doors - Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger - is the toast of Greil Marcus’s latest book, The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years . It’s a brisk sweep through the history of the strangely endlessly influential yet condemned by perennial popularity rock group from the revolutionary rumors of “Light My Fire” on El Lay stations in 1967 to the Marat-like finish of the lead singer in New Orleans in 1971. Marcus is certainly a scholar, he’s [...]
Legendary duo The Louvin Brothers have influenced everyone from Gram Parsons to Wilco. A recently issued double disc includes their "Satan Is Real" and a second disc...

The Louvin Brothers: When I Stop Dreaming [ Purchase ] Charlie Louvin: "What Are Those Things (With Big Black Wings)?" [ Purchase ] The grand arbiter of what's popular and significant in music (a/k/a Billboard ) would have us believe the Louvin Brothers were a minor act in country music. The Louvins scored just one number one hit and had only 11 other charting singles. (About the same [...]

Two fine tracks by the always amazing Louvins, from a Pet Milk -sponsored Grand Ole Opry broadcast back in '59. "Blue you found me, blue you left me, and blue I will be from now on..." My point exactly. Louvin Brothers - Curly Headed Baby Louvin Brothers - Blue From Now On
You know what they never address on the Survivor season finales? What happens to the digestive systems of the last three contestants after 39 days of near-starvation, when they get that final breakfast delivered to them. Because I know if I lived off of only rice and fruit for over a month, the first time [...]

Seeing as the History of Country series is proving so popular, let us put on a Santa-red Stetson and have a country Christmas. This lot is old-skool: Ernest Tubb riffs (badly) on his 1941 honky tonk classic, Loretta Lynn socks it to it disagreeable Santa, while Brenda Lee aims to lassoo him, yee ha. George Jones goes X-Mas twisting, and Buck Jones provides some serious pathos. And if you had to choose one man to sing Little Drummer Boy, it would have to be Johnny Cash, right? Hey, even horrid old Jingle bloody Bells sounds good here! [...]
Legendary country masterwork gets the reissue and bonus disc treatment. It has been said countless times before that the Beatles' harmonies were influenced by the Everly Brothers, who in turn molded their voices from that of the Louvin Brothers. If that is the probable case, then a good portion of the history of popular music can be traced back to the rural red clay of south Alabama where brothers Ira and Charlie Louvin were born and raised amongst a family of five other siblings and...

On surface, The Louvin Brothers ’ recipe of God-bothering country music is the ultimate hard sell for the modern music fan. Don’t run off screaming just yet, though. This excellent double CD package contains material from a bygone era (1955 –1962), way before country mutated into outsized-hat sporting ridiculousness that would break out in a rash if it were to be hauled too far beyond the point where the pavement ends. As for religion, anyone familiar with the life and times of, for example, Johnny Cash can tell that the soul-shaking stuff of sin and salvation is just as elemental for music with country roots [...]

Worst. Black. Metal. Album. Ever.
It's a short mix this month—I didn't hear a lot that got to me—and it's a bit somber, too, starting with the stunning version of "Cotton Eyed Joe" by Terry Callier. Terry Callier: Cotton Eyed Joe [via The Rising Storm ] Fennesz Sakamoto: 0318 [via Pitchfork ] The Louvin Brothers: Knoxville Girl [via For the Sake of the Song ] Grapefruit: Phase Accidents [...]
The Louvin Brothers are a true mix of yin and yang; they manage to be one of the most un-hip groups of all time, while at the same time influencing a whole roster of bands and artists across a wide spectrum of music with their gospel old timey close harmony country music. Their album covers regularly pop up in the ‘worst covers of all time’ lists with their literal takes on heaven and hell and God and Satan (Google ‘Satan Is Real’ for an example). On the flip side there is no cooler name to drop into the [...]

"She warbled and keened at an extreme pitch of emotion unattainable by the young, and the verses of the songs went on and on toward a receding conclusion. They were dark-night songs. Knocked-up girls got stabbed or shot or hit in the head, and then buried in the cold ground or thrown into the black deep river. Pretty Polly. Little Omie Wise. Go down, go down, you Knoxville Girl. Sometimes reproduction did not even factor into the narrative. The man snuffed the girl out because he could not own her, a killing offense if the girl's opinions ran counter to [...]
I have a long list of restaurants in Los Angeles that I need to try. Actually it's a Google Document that expands by several rows each week. And the rate at which I'm able to cross places off my list is embarrassingly low. I mean, how often do I hear about a fantastic dish or [...]

Las colaboraciones masivas y los discos tributo parecen estar de moda en el mundo de la música. Ahora le llegó el turno a The Louvin Brothers , un duo de country formado por dos hermanos americanos. Handpicked Songs 1955-62 es el nombre del album homenaje en el que participan Beck , Zooey Deschannel y M. Ward ( She & Him ) y Devendra Banhart , entre otros. [...]

Beck , Devendra Banhart , and She & Him 's Zooey Deschanel and M Ward , are among the artists who contributed to a forthcoming new compilation album by country music duo, The Louvin Brothers. The compilation album, titled ' Handpicked Songs 1955-62 ', is set for release November 7 and features hand picked songs by the duo covered by artists including Dolly Parton , Kris Kristofferson , and Graham Nash . Also set to be reissued on November 7 will be the duo's 1959 album, ' Satan [...]
On this day in country music history - July 14, 1973 - Phil Everly threw a dang old fit, smashing his guitar after performing the song, "('Till) I Kissed You" and walking off the stage, effecti