Satan is Real - Hardcover

"One of the most important and illuminating memoirs ever written by a country singer." -- Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal "I think I've already found my favorite book of 2012." -- Chris Talbott, Associated Press "Satan Is Real has the best-designed book cover of 2012 ." -- Paper Magazine "The anecdotes alone offer significance to any person interested in the anthropology of Americana music. Magnanimous without feigning and brusque without malice, Charlie Louvin's clear-eyed commentary is straightforward and unapologetic." -- Oxford American "Masterful [and] graceful." -- Alec Solomita, Wall Street Journal "Raw honesty, genuine grit, common sense, and smokin' down-home flavor." -- Publishers Weekly "A real classic of Americana." -- Booklist "The mix of light and darkness that filled their music was mirrored in their lives." -- Ian Crouch, The New Yorker "[A] chilling portrait of a brilliant musician intent on self-annihilation." -- Kirkus "Grand themes of life, death, religion, salvation, damnation, human choices and, sometimes, joy." -- Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times "Simple and plain-spoken, yet powerful and resonant." -- Daily Journal "There was something scary and washed in the blood about the sound of the Louvin Brothers." -- Emmylou Harris "Charlie...was a true punk, in the best sense of the word." -- Lucinda Williams "You can't find anybody, I don't think, that was not inspired by them." -- Vince Gill "They influenced everybody." -- Phil Everly "The Burritos' favorite artists." -- Gram Parsons "The Louvin Brothers were my favorite when I was young and growing up in the business." -- Dolly Parton "Probably the greatest traditional country duo in history." -- Grove Dictionary of American Music "The most influential harmony team in the history of country music." -- Los Angeles Times "One of the pre-eminent brother acts in country music and an inspiration to several generations of rock musicians." -- New York Times

Charlie Louvin was a good, god-fearing, church-going Christian gospel singer. His brother Ira was not. A hard drinker, Ira was known for frequently smashing his mandolin onstage; he was banned from performing at the Grand Ole Opry for several weeks after a scandal in which his wife shot him five times when he tried to choke her with a telephone cord; and he got into an altercation with Presley while they were on tour together after calling the young rock-and-roller's music trash. Ira lived fast and died young, and his brother Charlie recalls visiting his grave, hearing his brother's voice, and singing one last duet with him. "Satan Is Real" is the incredible tale of the sixty-plus-year career of Charlie Louvin, the timeless murder ballads of the Louvin Brothers, and an epic tale of two brothers bound together by love, hate, alcohol, blood, and music.