The Everly Brothers

Welcome to rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in today's episode I will take us back to the late 1950's and the impact of that great harmonizing duo, The Everly Brothers!

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

Thank you for that introduction, and welcome to rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in today's episode I will take us back to the late 1950's and the impact of that great harmonizing duo, The Everly Brothers!

Don Everly was born in Kentucky in 1937 and his brother Phil Everly was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1939.  They were raised in a musical family, as their parents, Ike and Margaret, were highly respected country & western performers.  As children in the 1940's, Don and Phil appeared on radio in Iowa, singing and touring with their parents as the Everly Family.  In 1953 the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee.  During their high-school years Don and Phil continued performing on both radio and television, and the brothers gained the attention of the manager of the RCA Victor studios in Nashville, Tennessee.  That manager was the famous Chet Atkins, and Chet began to promote them.

In 1955 Don and Phil moved to Nashville, and by 1956 they had began writing and recording their own music.  The brothers became songwriters under contract to a publishing company run by Welsey Rose and Roy Acuff.  Archie Bleyer, the President of Cadence Records, was working with Wesley Rose in establishing a Nashville country & western division.  Rose urged Bleyer to sign the brothers to a recording contract.  Once signed, Bleyer introduced the Everly Brothers to songwriters Boudleaux and Felice Bryant.  Working with Bryants, the Everly Brothers would release a string of hits on Cadence that combined country-style harmonies with rock rhythms.  

"Bye Bye Love" was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and was chosen to be the debut recording by the Everly Brothers.  The recording session for the song, as would be true for all of their Cadence sessions, was methodically and meticulously run.  The musicians in this session at RCA Victor in Nashville included the brothers on lead vocals and acoustic guitars, Chet Atkins on lead guitar, Floyd Chance on upright bass, and Buddy Harman on drums.  Cadence released the song in March 1957, and it shot up to #1 on the Country & Western charts.  It also was a crossover hit, reaching #2 on the US Billboard Pop charts and #1 on the Cash Box Best Selling Record charts.  "Bye Bye Love" is ranked 210th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".  In 1998, the Everly Brothers version of "Bye Bye Love" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Following the success of "Bye Bye Love", Boudleaux Bryant began tailoring songs specifically to the Everly Brothers' range and harmonies.  He also presumed that their audience wanted songs about love.  So, next up for the brothers was another song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant: "Wake Up Little Susie".  Released on September 2nd, 1957, the single reached #1 on the Billboard Pop charts and the Cash Box Best Selling Records charts, despite having been banned from Boston radio stations.  Those stations felt that the lyrics were too suggestive.  "Wake Up Little Susie" also spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard country chart and reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart.  The song was ranked at #318 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".  In 2017, the 1957 recording by the Everly Brothers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

During their three years at Cadence the Everly Brothers averaged a Top Ten hit every four months.  During the same period they achieved four #1 singles on the country charts.  Some of those Billboard Hot 100 charting songs included 1958's "This Little Girl of Mine" which reached #10, "Bird Dog" which reached #2, and "Problems" which reached #8.  Charting songs in 1959 included "Take a Message to Mary" which reached #19, "('Til) I Kissed You" which reached #4, and "Let It Be Me" which reached #7.  

However, their biggest hit during this time period was their version of "All I Have to Do Is Dream".  It was recorded live in just two takes by the Everly Brothers at RCA Studios Nashville, and features Chet Atkins on electric guitar.  Released as a single in April 1958, it was the only single ever to be at #1 on all of the Billboard singles charts simultaneously.  On May 12th, 1958, it became #1 on the "Best Sellers in Stores" chart.  Then it reached #1 on the "Most played by Jockeys" and "Top 100" charts on May 19th, 1958, and remained #1 on each chart for four, five, and three weeks, respectively.  With the August 1958 introduction of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song ended the year at #2.  "All I Have to Do Is Dream" also hit #1 on the R&B chart, as well as becoming the Everly Brothers' third chart topper on the country chart.  Outside of the United States, "All I Have to Do Is Dream" saw massive success in various countries.  Most notably it topped the UK's New Musical Express chart in June 1958 and remained there for seven weeks.  "All I Have to Do Is Dream" was named one of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2004.  Originally released as the B-side to "All I Have to Do Is Dream" was their recording of a Roy Orbison penned song:  "Claudette".  "Claudette" reached #30 in its own right, and the two songs were jointly listed at #1 in the UK.

By 1960 the Everly's were becoming increasingly unhappy with their low royalty rate.  Contract negotiations with Archie Bleyer broke down, and they left Cadence for Warner Brothers Records.  Even though Warner Brothers was headquartered in Los Angeles, California, the Everly Brothers would continue to record with their favorite session musicians in Nashville.  Their first single with Warner was "Cathy’s Clown".  Released in April 1960, "Cathy’s Clown" was a huge success and ended up being their all-time best seller.  It sold eight million copies worldwide.  The song spent five weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and one week at #1 on the R&B chart.  It would be their third and final U.S. #1 hit.  The song spent seven weeks at #1 on the UK Singles Chart.  Billboard ranked "Cathy’s Clown" as the #3 song of the year for 1960.  In 2004, it was ranked 149th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Because of its enduring influence on popular music, "Cathy’s Clown" was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2013.  The song was a major influence on the Beatles, who three years later copied the Everly's harmonies on their first U.K. #1 hit single, "Please Please Me".

In May 1960 Cadence belatedly released a rockabilly style song, written by Phil Everly, that the Everly Brothers had recorded back on February 18th, before they left for Warner.  Besides Phil and Don Everly on guitars and vocals, this last Cadence recording session included Chet Atkins, Hank Garland, and Luther Brandon on guitars, Floyd Chance on bass, Buddy Harman on drums, and Floyd Cramer on piano.  That single, "When Will I Be Loved" reached #8 in the summer of 1960 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  In 1975 Linda Ronstadt covered the song, and her version was an even bigger hit in the US, peaking at #2.

Also in May 1960 Warner Brothers released their third studio album, It's Everly Time.  The LP peaked at #9 on the Billboard Pop albums chart.  The lead single from the album, "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)", was released in August.  Written by Don Everly, the song was a top 10 hit in multiple countries, and spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #7, while reaching #4 in the UK.

In October 1960 Warner released their fourth studio album, A Date with the Everly Brothers.  With "Cathy's Clown" as the closing track, the LP peaked at #9 on the Billboard Pop albums charts and reached #3 in the UK.  In 1960 the Everly Brothers would also reach the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts with #22 "Like Strangers", #7 "Walk Right Back", and #8 Ebony Eyes.  The double-A side of "Walk Right Back" and "Ebony Eyes" would reach #1 in the UK, where it remained for three weeks in March 1961.  In early 1961 the Everlys had a dispute with Wesley Rose over the arrangement for the song "Temptation".  As a result, they fired Rose as manager and producer.  The single "Temptation" would peak at #27 in 1961 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was an even bigger hit in the UK, where it reached #1.  I often wondered whether the Everly's "yeah yeah yeah yah" in this song influenced the Beatles!

In 1962 the duo's single "Crying in the Rain" would peak at #6 in the US.  It was followed by the 1962 single, "That's Old Fashioned (That's the Way Love Should Be)".  It spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and peaking at #9.  Unfortunately, "That's Old Fashioned" would be their last top 10 hit in the United States.  

By 1963 it appeared that the Everly Brothers were losing some of their musical magic with the teenage audiences.  The duo’s popularity began to fade in the mid-1960's as musical trends changed.  Their careers floundered, and the relationship between the two brothers became increasingly tense, no doubt complicated by their increased drug abuse.  In the early 1970's, the brothers pursued solo careers, but neither achieved the same level of success apart that they had together.  They ended their musical partnership in 1973, after years of creative tension.  However, both brothers reunited ten years later, performing a famous 1983 concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  They continued to tour and record intermittently until Phil’s retirement in 2005.  Phil Everly passed away in 2014, and Don Everly in 2021.

The Everly Brothers successfully combined elements of rock and roll, country, and pop, becoming pioneers of country rock.  Their vocal harmony style came out of traditional country “close harmony” singing.  They split melodies and harmonies differently from most pop duos.  The Everly Brothers shared and swapped the melody line fluidly.  Don usually sang the lower part, but he often took the melody.  Phil sang the higher harmony, but sometimes took over the melody mid-song while Don shifted underneath him.  This made their harmonies sound interwoven and seamless, almost as if they were one voice splitting in two.  Don and Phil also played rhythm guitars in unison, locking the vocal and instrumental rhythm tightly.

The Everly Brothers had a major influence on the music of the generations that followed them.  Bridging the gap between country and rock, their music would influence both the country and the rock genres for decades.  Many of the top pop acts of the 1960's were heavily influenced by the close-harmony singing and acoustic guitar playing of the Everly Brothers.  Their blend of tight two-part close harmonies, jangly guitars, and emotional songwriting became a template for later rock and pop groups.  Paul McCartney has stated that the Everly Brothers were a major influence on the Beatles.  McCartney said [and I quote] "They were one of the major influences on the Beatles.  When John and I first started to write songs, I was Phil and he was Don [end quote]".  Lennon and McCartney’s duet style on songs like "If I Fell" and the previously mentioned "Please Please Me" reflects that interweaving melodic trade-off.  Paul Simon once said he learned harmony [and I quote] “by singing along with Everly Brothers records” [end quote].  Many other popular groups besides the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel modeled their vocal approach on the Everlys’ harmony.  The Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Hollies, and the Bee Gees are just a few that carried on that same shimmering, close-harmony sound into the 1960's and beyond.

Don and Phil's blend of country phrasing, pop accessibility, rock rhythm, and two-part shared melody harmony helped define what rock and roll vocals could be.  The Everly Brothers  were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1986.  They were the first duo and non-solo act to have been inducted.  That same year, they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  The Everly Brothers received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 and were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.  In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked the Everly Brothers number one on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.  Don Everly was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019, earning the organization's first Iconic Riff Award for his distinctive rhythm guitar introduction on "Wake Up Little Susie".

Thank you for listening to another episode of Rock and Roll Flashback!  So, fellow travelers, may your path be smooth and your music always be rockin'!  And until next time...Rock On!