The Louvin Brothers Wrote This Classic In 1958 — 17 Years Later, Emmylou Harris' Cover Was A Hit

Back in 1958, sibling duo the Louvin Brothers wrote and recorded "If I Could Only Win Your Love," a plaintive and moving song in the classic country style about a profound yet ultimately unrequited love. Released on the Louvin Brothers' appropriately titled 1959 album "Country Love Ballads," it was never a single and didn't make the charts until 1975, when emerging modern country star Emmylou Harris took what was ostensibly a '50s flop song and turned it into a smash hit. Finally finding a wide audience after 17 years of relative obscurity, "If I Could Only Win Your Love" played a major role in breaking Harris, and it remained one of the biggest successes of her long, storied, and innovative career. It could even be argued that it's Emmylou Harris' best song.

Harris, previously best known for her collaborations with country rocker Gram Parsons, incorporated traditional and old-fashioned country elements into her pop, rock, and folk mix, which emphasized her affecting and versatile voice. Charlie and Ira Louvin's "If I Could Only Win Your Love," slightly revamped and modernized, was an effective song to demonstrate Harris' talents.

Emmylou Harris' debut album was 1970's "Gliding Bird," credited to "Emmy Lou Harris" and issued by Jubilee Records just before it went out of business. Harris received the rare second chance to start again, and in 1975 she released the LP "Pieces of the Sky" for Reprise Records, which showed off Harris' talents for singing, interpretation, and curation. Along with covers of Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors" and the Beatles' "For No One," Harris remade "If I Could Only Win Your Love" by the Louvin Brothers. "There are just too many tunes that I get off doing and want to turn people on to," the singer explained to Rolling Stone in 1975.

As the original was a duet, Harris brought in Herb Pedersen, a respected veteran of the bluegrass scene and a session musician, who played banjo on the track in addition to singing counterpoint to Harris' soaring vocals. The second single from "Pieces of the Sky," "If I Could Only Win Your Love" made Harris a country sensation. 

Her first hit, it peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's country chart and crossed over to the pop-based Hot 100, too, making its way up to No. 58. And 35 years later, the two duets collided when surviving Louvin Brother Charlie Louvin and Harris performed together at the 2010 Americana Music Festival.