Their characteristic close harmonies came from the four-tone Sacred Harp singing of their mother's church, and that religious influence was reflected in their music, said author Ben Whitmer, who was working with Louvin on his autobiography when he died.  "Charlie described himself as the idea man," Whitmer said. "Lyrically, he would give Ira the ideas, and Ira would flesh them out."  Charlie Louvin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in mid-2010, and doctors soon determined his condition was inoperable -- but he continued performing as late as December, his manager, Brett Steel, told CNN.  The singer was treated for dehydration in early January, "and when he came back out, he just never rebounded," Steel said. He died at his home in Wartrace, Tennessee, south of Nashville.  "When he started to decline, he went quickly," Steel said.  The brothers had played together for more than 14 years, interrupted briefly by Charlie Louvin's military service during the Korean War, before they hit the Nashville big time, Whitmer said. Johnny Cash cited them as an inspiration, and one of their opening acts included Elvis Presley. They split up in 1963, driven apart by Ira's heavy drinking and abusive behavior.  "He was real rough on Charlie," Whitmer said. "Charlie a lot of times would calm him down, and it came out bad for him." They split up because Charlie Louvin, who was three years younger than his brother, "just couldn't handle it any more."  Before his death in a 1965 car accident, Ira survived being shot multiple times by his third of four wives during a fight in which he was trying to strangle her with a telephone cord. His wife told police that if he survived, "I'll shoot him again," Whitmer said.  In contrast to his brother's turbulent life, Charlie Louvin was married to the same woman for 61 years. His wife, Betty, and three sons survive him.
Country music pioneer Charlie Louvin, whose duets with brother Ira swung from murder ballads to earnest warnings about Satan and the atomic bomb, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer, his