Before the boldness of the British Invasion, the good vibes of The Beach Boys and the sweetness of Simon & Garfunkel, there were Don and Phil Everly – two brothers who blurred the lines between pop, country, rock and R&B with ease, thanks to a talent for two-part harmonies that may never be surpassed. These guys weren’t simply on pitch; they were on the same page emotionally, evoking inconsolable sadness in their ballads and a happy-go-lucky, Friday night at the burger joint feeling in their rock songs. The brothers’ innocent, chameleonic voices made practically everything they touched into a heart-rending work of art.
For this reason, the Everlys were able to keep making memorable LPs well into the ‘60s, even though the quality of the songs themselves didn’t meet the high standards set by their best work, recorded in the late ‘50s on the Cadence label. After jumping to Warner Brothers in 1960, they released some of the best pre-Beatles records of the decade – It’s Everly Time! (1960) and A Date With The Everly Brothers (1961). While the Fab Four deserves most of the credit for boosting the popularity of the full-length LP in a singles-dominated industry, The Everly Brothers were putting just as much tender loving care into their records, years before Lennon and McCartney were household names.
Thanks to Collector’s Choice Music, almost every Everlys release from the ‘60s has finally been released on CD. Of these, It’s Everly Time! is the first and best. It captures the brothers at their peak, as both singers and songwriters: the album’s opener, “So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad),” is a gorgeously forlorn ballad written by Don Everly. The song’s cynical outlook on a withering relationship is countered by those ever-powerful harmonies, resulting in two-and-a-half minutes of sweet desperation – the same kind that propelled earlier hits like “Bye Bye Love” and “When Will I Be Loved?” The rest of It’s Everly Time! is a steady balance of acoustic boogie-woogie, 12-bar blues, country rock and a few other softer gems, including the ironically heavy-lidded “Sleepless Nights” and the magnificent love song “You Thrill Me (Through And Through).” When it comes to vocally driven pop music, this record is one for the ages.
A Date With The Everly Brothers is another almost forgotten classic, mostly due to the appearance of “Cathy’s Clown,” an oddly paced, smash hit anthem for self-deprecating boys. While not quite as brilliant, the other songs on A Date… are full of thought and imagination, especially the original recording of “Love Hurts” – its understated beauty is surprising on the first listen, because we’re all used to the way Nazareth’s lead singer destroys all semblance of lyrical meaning with his shrieking feline death throes.
But after these two triumphant releases, The Everly Brothers could never again maintain such a high level of musical output. This was a direct result of their messy split from their publishing company, which cut them off from their most fertile source of material – the songwriting duo of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The married couple had written a majority of The Everly Brothers biggest hits, and half of the material on their first two WB releases. That doesn’t mean fans of the duo should avoid their mid-to-late ‘60s material, even though it’s largely made up of covers and loosely based concept albums. Of the 10 records that Collector’s Choice has reissued of the Everlys’ post-1961 work, there are plenty of fantastic moments. The Everly Brothers Sing Great Country Hits (1963) is a self-explanatory collection of delicate country covers that the duo obviously adored. Two Yanks In England (1966), a response to the British Invasion that was written and produced by The Hollies, showed that the brothers could still be artistically relevant, even as their popularity waned. Some energetic R&B covers appear on Beat & Soul (1965), especially a stunning rendition of the Curtis Mayfield classic “People Get Ready.”
When listening to these long-ignored albums, the god-given talent of these artists is perhaps even clearer than on their greatest achievements. After staying on top for so many years, these two brothers had to endure years of professional and personal turmoil, battling drugs, divorce and a dwindling piece of the rock and roll pie. For some real insight into their genius, I’d suggest listening to the weakest tracks on these vital reissues, because even on those, one thing jumps out at you after the first few bars – The Everly Brothers could friggin’ sing.
Appeared in the September 1, 2005, issue of Artvoice.