In the 2020 documentary "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" Noel Gallagher says about the Bee Gees "When you’ve got brothers singing, it’s like an instrument that nobody else can buy. You can’t go buy that sound in a shop."
That's true of other family acts. The Beach Boys had the three Wilson brothers, Haim has three sisters, The Carpenters had brother and sister Karen and Richard, there's The Osmonds, The Jacksons, even Toto had Steve, Jeff, and Mike Porcaro.
The Everly Brothers had Phil and Don.
If you were around in 1957, a new sound came over the radio. 'Bye Bye Love' and 'Wake Up Little Susie' were both released that year and became instant hits in the fledgling Top 20's, 40's or 100's. These two songs were written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who went on to also write 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', 'Take a Message to Mary' and 'Bird Dog'.
Before too long though, the brothers were writing their own material with '(Till) I Kissed You' and 'Cathy's Clown' proving they knew how to create their own hits. In fact in England 'Cathy's Clown' was catalogue number WB1, the first Warner Bros. Records ever released in the United Kingdom.
They remained popular even through all the musical revolutions happening in the 60's, one of my favourite Everly Brothers songs came out in 1967 - 'Bowling Green', a country influenced slightly 'pop' type tune where the guitar sound is replaced by the brothers singing 'ching' over and over.
Sadly, as happens sometimes even in the best of families, by the early 70's the Everly Brothers were starting to fray at the edges. At a concert at Knott's Berry Farm in 1973 Don was reported as saying he was tired of being an Everly Brother, but during the show Phil put the nail in the coffin by smashing his guitar and walking off stage, leaving Don to finish the set alone.
It was a full 10 years before they spoke again, but the result of them patching up their differences was this album - 'The Everly Brothers Reunion Concert' at The Albert Hall on September 23 1983. Musically it's a great double album with all the songs people had been waiting to hear again, sung with the magic of perfectly harmonised voices.
Somewhere along the line in the printing of this album, the proof reader went on a break and let a couple of errors slip in. Although the track listing on the cover is correct the well known song 'Bird dog' is listed as 'Bird Song' on the label, and Susie had a name change to 'Suzie', again on the label.
The Everly Brothers influence can't be overstated. From The Beatles, The Bee Gees and especially Simon and Garfunkel, who took the Everlys on their 2003/4 tour, they impacted the direction of music throughout their lives. Amazingly, Phil Everly was the inspiration behind Warren Zevon's hit 'Werewolves of London'. Phil watched a 1935 movie called 'Werewolf of London' and "suggested to Zevon that he adapt the title for a song and dance craze."
A nice bit of trivia concerns Erin Everly, Don's daughter. For a short time she was married to Axl Rose who wrote the song 'Sweet Child O' Mine' for her.
Phil Everly passed away on 3 January 2014, just a couple of weeks before his 75th birthday. A heavy smoker for most of his life, he died of lung disease. Don will be 84 years old in February 2021.
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