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Ira and Charlie Louvin
recorded “When I Stopped Dreaming” on May 25th, 1955 and was
the real beginning of the Louvin Brothers country sound. It
was their first non-gospel recording for Capitol Records and
would mark the beginning of what would become the famous
“Louvin Brothers country harmony.”
According to Charlie, Ira
began writing “When I Stop Dreaming” while Charlie was serving
the U.S. Army in Korea. When Charlie returned home, they
finished the tune and began performing it around Birmingham,
Alabama. Charlie says “We probably sang that song for at
least a year before we recorded it and everywhere we sang it,
people seemed to like it. Believe everybody liked it because
everyone’s a dreamer, at one time or another. And then there
are some people who seem to dream all the time!”
“But if it wasn’t for all the
people who dream, I think the world would be a lot worse off!
And I think another reason the song was a success was because
it was a waltz. Waltzes were real hard to sell, but if you
ever got a waltz to hit, it lasted a lot longer! So we
decided if any song would help us make the change from gospel
music to country music, “When I Stop Dreaming” would be that
song! And it did! Charlie says that over a hundred artists
have recorded the song and it was their first release on
Capitol Records after they joined the Grand Ole Opry.
“When I Stop Dreaming” entered
the country music charts September 10th, 1955 and peaked at #
8. It was on the charts for 13 weeks.
Doug
Davis
Country
Music Classics
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