Tragic Songs of Life | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1956 | |||
Recorded | May 2–4, 1956 | |||
Studio | Bradley's Recording Studios (later Columbia Studios Nashville) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 35:55 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Ken Nelson | |||
The Louvin Brothers chronology | ||||
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Alternative Cover | ||||
Singles from Tragic Songs of Life | ||||
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Tragic Songs of Life is the debut album by American country music duo The Louvin Brothers, released in 1956. " Knoxville Girl" was released as a single three years later and reached number 19 on the Billboard Country Singles chart. [1]
Having previously recorded one single for Apollo Records and a series of sides for Decca, the Louvins signed with Capitol Records in 1952. They recorded over ten singles for Capitol, with the earliest all Gospel songs, before "When I Stop Dreaming" became their first secular release in 1955. Tragic Songs of Life was their Capitol debut, [3] and served as somewhat of a concept album, drawing heavily on artists they admired such as Bill Monroe, The Monroe Brothers, The Blue Sky Boys, and The Callahan Brothers. [2] [4] The majority of the songs are tragic heartbreak and misfortune songs and classic murder ballads.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
No Depression | (A) [2] |
Mark Deming stated in his Allmusic review "...this is a landmark of traditional country music that remains powerful more than fifty years after it was recorded." [1] Don Yates of No Depression magazine singled out the Louvins' version of “ In The Pines” writing "It’s perhaps their most powerful rendering of traditional folk music’s bleak vision of a dark and forlorn land, where love is absent and death is the only certainty. It’s the centerpiece of what is arguably the Louvins' finest album." [2] The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [3]
Production notes: