In My Life
There was a time when the word “Beatles” referred to a bug whose name was spelled incorrectly. There was a time when everyone knew that a “Rolling Stone” did in fact, gather no moss. There was a time when using the term “The Eagles” meant looking skyward for majestic birds. There was a time when mentioning “Queen” referred to a monarch. But before any of the above words became synonymous with incredible music, the name Everly Brothers was linked to two men whose harmonies and style of singing were so unique that all of the members of the above mentioned bands at one time or another hoped to somehow learn from and emulate the brothers’ harmonic style of interpreting music. While the public readjusted their lexicons to recognize the new meanings of terms associated with rock groups, the name, Everly Brothers continues to this day to be the yardstick by which all harmonies by two singers are judged.
If ever the term, “the sum is equal to all of its parts” was applicable, then a picture of the Everly Brothers should accompany that phrase whenever the meaning of the phrase is researched. I was truly just a lad when I got my first Everly Brothers record. It was a 45 recorded on the small, New York based Cadence Records label. “Wake Up Little Susie” was the title and maybe because I had a friend named Susie or maybe because I liked the color of the label or maybe because it was such a damn good record, I played it continuously. Before Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel became globally known as Simon & Garfunkel, they were Tom & Jerry and their record “Hey Schoolgirl” was a semi-hit for them. It was no coincidence that Tom and Jerry sounded a lot like Don and Phil Everly. In this case, imitation was and is the most sincere form of flattery.
Listening to any Everly Brothers song was like listening to old friends singing familiar tunes at a family gathering. It was that “down home” feeling that seemingly transported their comfortable music feelings to wherever you were. I always felt compelled to sing along with two of them when I played their records. When I was old enough to drive, harmonizing to an Everly Brothers song in the car was a most satisfying experience because no matter how bad or off key my voice was, singing along with them made me feel as though I actually sounded pretty good.
Everyone is familiar with the story of the brothers. Encouraged to sing together from a very young age, the boys found stardom early on that small record company. As they achieved hit after hit on Cadence records the result was that instant fame and fortune soon followed. Teenagers like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and a whole generation of future rock stars listened to, imitated and idolized the Everlys before any of them ever walked into a recording studio. In 1960, the Everly Brothers left Cadence records for the bigger and more powerful Warner Brothers records and a string of hits continued to follow, but soon the hits stopped coming.
Sometimes fame and fortune is not what it’s cracked up to be. The brothers began to have disagreements over what songs to sing, which writers of songs to use or not use, accounting of royalty payments and the usual record company politics all of which added to the reality of being constantly together that made life for Don and Phil on the road and in the studio difficult for each to tolerate. Fame, drugs and ego are a nasty combination for these young stars and it fueled the basis for a contentious relationship between Don and Phil for the majority of their professional life together. Behind the beautiful harmonies were demons that both men had difficulty to control.
In January of this year, Phil Everly passed away at age 74. Having been a fan of the Everly Brothers from my early record buying days right up to the present, I wanted to pay homage to them, relive some of my memories of them and list some of the songs sung by Don and Phil that meant something to me. This is not so much a “greatest hits” compilation, but more a recollection of songs heard by a fan of perhaps the most revered singing duo in the history of recorded music. By the same token, as great as they were, there some times when I scratched my head and just wondered how a certain record even found its way to the stores. So my Everly Brothers list will contain some “Hits” and some “Misses” although even when the brothers weren’t perfect, they still were better than most.
Cadence Records
All Hits; No Misses as far as I’m concerned
It’s tough for me to pick just one favorite here. There really is no one number one. Virtually of them are number ones for me. And all are classics. All of them need no explanation. If they are not part of your record collection, go out and get them. These are examples of musical history at its finest.
• Bye Bye Love
• All I Have To Do Is Dream
• Wake Up Little Susie
• Bird Dog
• (Til) I Kissed You
• Let It Be Me
• When Will I Be Loved
Warner Brothers
Some Hits; Some Misses
When they signed a mega-million dollar deal with Warner Brothers in 1960, it seemed as though their creative well would never run dry. “Cathy’s Clown” went right to # 1 followed by “Walk Right Back” that made it up to #7, “Crying In the Rain” hit # 6 and then “That’s Old Fashioned” followed by charting to #9. And after that, it just sort of stopped. These tunes all qualify as “Hits.”
Since record companies are in the business of turning music into money, the lack of success after an initial string of hits must have been perplexing to the executives at the record company. Marketing and promotions departments at companies like Warner Brothers records are tasked with creating a buzz that will cause the public to buy the music currently being touted by the company.
Some such marketing ploy occurred when I had purchased a special 45 record marketed by the Warner Brothers label which advertised “4 Songs for the Price of 2.” What a deal! I thought. The record company packaged the Everly Brothers songs, “Muskrat” and “Don’t Blame Me” on side 1 and “Lucille” and “Walk Right Back” on side 2. What they neglected to tell you was that all four songs were shortened so as to fit all four songs on the one record. That kind of annoyed me since I had a 45 of the full 6:02 version of “Light My Fire” by the Doors on one side of a record. Space on the record should not have been an issue, but I guess someone in the marketing department didn’t seem to think so. Anyway, the picture sleeve of the Everly Brothers was nice and the songs no matter the length were good. This qualifies as a combination “Hit/Miss” because the songs are great but they are all too short in length and shame on Warner Brothers records.
As the British Invasion enveloped the U.S. in the middle to late 60’s, the imitators of the Everly’s were more successful than their idols. So as to link the brothers to the British Invasion to sell more records, Warner Brothers released an album called “Two Yanks in England.” The cover of the album shows the brothers taking in the sights and sounds of trendy London. Only one song on the album is written by the Everly’s. Most of the songs in on the LP are written by someone named L. Ransford. Apparently, L. Ransford was the pseudonym used as the name of the writer who in actuality was a combination three people including Graham Nash, Tony Hicks and Allan Clarke better known as the core of song writers called The Hollies.
While the intent to associate the boys with England’s new music was fine and to capitalize on the Hollies was also a good idea, the selection of the tunes presented left much to be desired. I give it a “Hit” for concept, but have to call it a “Miss” on execution. There were far better Hollies tunes that could have been chosen.
RCA Victor
Six years after the ill-fated “Two Yanks…” album, the Phil and Don turn up on RCA Victor records with an LP called “Stories We Could Tell.” Produced by veteran producer Paul A. Rothchild whose work with The Doors and Butterfield Blues Band was legendary, a truly memorable album by the Everly Brothers hits the market. The difference between this one and the “Two Yanks” album is extraordinary.
Supported by such music luminaries as John Sebastian, Ry Cooder, Waddy Wachtel, Warren Zevon, Graham Nash (remember him from the Two Yanks album?) and a list too numerous to mention, the album remains as one of my favorites of my entire collection. It qualifies as one of the albums you would take with you if you were stranded on a desert island. The title tune, “Stories We Could Tell” written by John Sebastian and recorded at his home is as close to being a perfect song as possible.
By assembling such a stellar cast of supporting musicians, the music lays the perfect foundation for Don and Phil’s voices. The great music arranger, Nelson Riddle was unique in that his arrangements never overshadowed the performer and in fact complemented the singer. So whether you listened to a Nelson Riddle arrangement for Frank Sinatra or Linda Ronstadt, the singers’’ voice always magnificently glided over the music to meld into a most enjoyable listening experience whether you liked the song or not.
So too, with the Stories album is that the musicians’ who are totally cognizant of the vocal music royalty represented by the Everlys play their instruments flawlessly while allowing Don and Phil to glide over the music marrying voice and harmony to perhaps one of the great assembled multitude of Hall of Fame musicians.
I also like the Don Everly tune, “I’m Tired of Singing My Song in Las Vegas.” Here, all the years of frustration and pain from singing the same songs endlessly over that time are voiced. Also of note included on this album is the Rod Stewart song, “Mandolin Wind.” It’s not hard to understand that this album was truly an alert that this was the last gasp of a musical duo that was ready to retire. It was and is a fitting end to two men who gave so much to our musical heritage.
This album is a “Hit +++”
Mercury Records
Sixteen years after the “Stories We Could Tell” album was released, “Some Hearts…” by the Everly Brothers hit the market. Interestingly, there are songs written by Phil and there are songs written by Don on this album. But no songs are on the album written together by the brothers. Sadly, this was the last studio album ever released by the brothers.
There are too few moments of greatness on this album. Their long-time keyboard player Pete Wingfield is prominently featured on most of the selections. For me, the interpretation of the Beach Boys classic “Don’t Worry Baby” needs to be heard, especially because the Beach Boys are the backing vocals on this tune. “Some Hearts” the title song of the album is Everly Bothers at their best, but unfortunately, the rest of the album lacks the magic that once catapulted the Everly Brothers to their revered place in music history.
We take great pride in our individual heroes. Rock stars, professional athletes, actors, actresses all occupy a special place in our hearts and minds. For me, the Everly Brothers will always be special and their music will always live on as a testament as to how two voices can blend as one. And although, with the passing of Phil Everly there will be no more talk of a reunion concert, we can all listen to and enjoy the songs they sung as part of music history. And quite frankly, it is better to enjoy the history which is in abundance through recorded music and good memories than to experience a product that simply does not live up to the past.
