Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was an American roots rock band who gained popularity in the late 1960s and early '70s with a string of successful songs from multiple albums released in 1968, 1969 and 1970.
The group consisted of singer, lead guitarist, and primary writer John Fogerty, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bass player Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed rock and roll and so-called swamp rock genres. Their songs are often cited as examples of patriotic, liberal American protest songs[1], and of classic rock.[2]
CCR's music is still a staple of American and worldwide radio airplay[3] and often figures in various media.
History
Before Creedence: 1959-1967
John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook (all born 1945) met at junior high school in El Cerrito, California and began playing instrumentals together under the name The Blue Velvets. The trio also backed singer Tom Fogerty—John's older brother by four years—at live gigs and in the recording studio. By 1964, the band had signed to Fantasy Records, an independent jazz label based in San Francisco at the time.
Fantasy had released Cast Your Fate to the Wind, a national hit for jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. The record's success was the subject of an NET TV special, which prompted budding songwriter John Fogerty to contact the label. For the band's first release, however, Fantasy co-owner Max Weiss renamed the group The Golliwogs (after the racial caricature, Golliwogg), apparently to cash in on a wave of popular British bands with similar names.
During this period, band roles underwent some changes. Stu Cook had gone from piano to bass guitar and Tom Fogerty became the band's rhythm guitarist. John Fogerty also began to write much of the band's material. Most notably, the young guitarist had taken over lead vocal duty. As Tom would later say, "I could sing, but John had a sound."
Early success: 1967-68
The group had suffered a setback in 1965 when the draft board called up John Fogerty and Doug Clifford for military service. Fogerty managed to enlist in the Army Reserve instead of the regular Army while Clifford did a short tenure in the United States Coast Guard Reserve.
A much more positive event occurred in 1967 when Saul Zaentz purchased Fantasy Records from Weiss and offered the band a chance to record a full-length album, but only if the group changed its name. Never having liked The Golliwogs, the foursome readily agreed. Zaentz and the band agreed to come up with ten suggestions each, but he enthusiastically agreed to their first: Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band took the three elements from Creedence Nuball, a friend of Tom Fogerty; "clear water", from a TV commercial for Olympia beer; and revival, which spoke to the four members' renewed commitment to their band. (Other contenders were Muddy Rabbit, Gossamer Wump, and Creedence Nuball and the Ruby.)
By 1968, Fogerty and Clifford had been discharged from military service. All four members subsequently quit their jobs and began a heavy schedule of rehearsing and playing area clubs full-time.
The resulting 1968 debut album Creedence Clearwater Revival struck a responsive note with the emerging underground pop culture press, which touted CCR as a band worthy of attention. More importantly, AM radio programmers around the United States took note when a song from the LP, "Suzie Q", received substantial airplay in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as on Chicago's WLS. Blues aficionados doubtlessly appreciated the similarities between CCR's tough style and R&B artists on the Chess and Vee-Jay labels.
"Suzie Q", the band's remake of a 1956 hit for rockabilly singer Dale Hawkins, went on to be the band's first single to crack the Top 40. It just missed the Top Ten at #11 and was Creedence's only hit not written by John Fogerty. Other singles included a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You" and "Porterville", written during John Fogerty's Reserve stint.
After some eight years of making music together, the group was finally an 'overnight success'.
Peak success: 1969-70
While undertaking a steady string of live dates around the country to capitalize on their breakthrough, CCR also was hard at work on their second album Bayou Country at RCA Studios in Los Angeles. Released in January, 1969, and a #7 platinum hit, the record was the first in a string of hit albums and singles which continued for the next three years.
Bayou Country's seven songs were well-honed from Creedence's constant live playing. The album showed a distinct evolution in approach, much more simple and direct than the band's first release. The rollingly riverine "Proud Mary", backed with "Born On the Bayou", went to Number 2 on the national Billboard chart. It would eventually become group's most-covered song, with some 100 cover versions by other artists to date, including a hit version in 1971 by Ike and Tina Turner. Bob Dylan named it his favorite single of 1969. The album also featured a blistering remake of Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly" and the band's nine-minute live-show closer, "Keep On Chooglin' ".
Only weeks later, in March, 1969, "Bad Moon Rising" backed with "Lodi" was released and peaked at #2 on the charts. The band's third album, Green River, followed in August and quickly went gold along with the single "Green River", which again reached #2 on the Billboard charts. The B-side of "Green River", "Commotion"—a one-chord two-step about the perils of city life—also peaked at #30. The bar-band story of "Lodi" became a popular staple on then-emerging FM radio.[citation needed] The band's emphasis on remakes of their old favorites continued with "The Night Time Is the Right Time", which found its way into the band's live set as a crowd sing-along.
Creedence continued to tour heavily including performances at the Atlanta Pop Festival and the Woodstock Music and Art Festival. Their set was not included in the Woodstock film or its original soundtrack, however, because Fogerty felt the band's performance was sub-par. (Several CCR tracks from the event were included in the 1990s commemorative box set.) The band also complained that they had to take the stage at three in the morning because The Grateful Dead had jammed far past their scheduled set time. By the time Creedence began playing—"the hottest shot on Earth at that moment," said Fogerty—many in the audience had gone to sleep.
It didn't matter. Creedence was busy perfecting material for a fourth album, Willy and the Poor Boys, released in November, 1969. "Down on the Corner", a good-time street-corner number, and the famously militant "Fortunate Son" climbed to #3 and #14 respectively by year's end. The album was Creedence in its classic form, featuring Fogerty originals and two reworked Leadbelly covers, "Cotton Fields" and "Midnight Special".
The success of Willy and its single was the final touch on an amazing year for a remarkable band: no less than four hit singles and three full-length, top-selling albums. Few if any artists in 1969—or indeed in any year—could match CCR for stamina, creative output, and commercial success.
Just after the new year, 1970, CCR released yet another new double-sided 45, "Travellin' Band"/"Who'll Stop the Rain". The flip side was inspired, as John Fogerty tells it, by the band's experience at Woodstock. The speedy "Travellin' Band", however, bore enough similarities to Little Richard's "Good Golly, Miss Molly" to warrant a lawsuit by the song's publisher that was eventually settled out of court. In the meantime, the single had topped out at #2. The band also recorded its Saturday, January 31 live performance at the Coliseum in Oakland, California, which would later become a well-known live album and television special. By February, the unstoppable Creedence was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, although only John Fogerty was interviewed in the accompanying article.
In April, 1970, Creedence was set to begin its first European tour. To support the upcoming live dates, Fogerty came up with "Up Around the Bend", a good-time party rocker, and the broody "Run Through the Jungle", about the burgeoning problem of societal violence in the United States. The single—written, recorded, and shipped in only a few days' time—went to #4 that spring, ensuring enthusiastic response from European live audiences and high commercial success in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
The band returned to Wally Heider's San Francisco studio in June to record what many consider the finest CCR album, Cosmo's Factory. The title was an in-joke about their various rehearsal facilities and factory work ethic over the years. (Drummer Doug Clifford's longtime nickname is "Cosmo", due to his keen interest in nature and all things cosmic.) The album contained the earlier Top 10 hits "Travellin' Band" and "Up Around the Bend" plus highly popular album tracks such as the opener "Ramble Tamble", an ambitious and snarling seven-minute cut about life in America with its "police on the corner, garbage on the sidewalk, actors in the White House."
Cosmo's was released in July, 1970, along with yet another #2 hit, "Lookin' Out My Back Door"/"Long As I Can See the Light". The cuts included an incisive eleven-minute jam of the 1968 R&B hit "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and a nearly note-for-note homage to Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby". John Fogerty's musical range clearly had expanded. He now wove in slide guitar, keyboards, saxophones, tape effects, and layered vocal harmonies—and pushed himself vocally more than ever on "Long As I Can See the Light". The album, eleven songs in all, was Creedence's best seller and went straight to #1 on the Pop charts and #11 on Billboard's Soul Albums chart.
By August, 1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival had amassed five No. 2 singles in the U.S., more than any act that never topped the national chart. The band had Number One singles in many countries and had released four Top Ten albums in 18 months.
Decline and breakup: 1971-72
The Cosmo's Factory sessions had seen the stirrings of tensions within the foursome as the incessant touring and heavy recording schedules took their toll. John had literally taken control of the group in its business matters and its artistic output. The situation began to grate on Tom, Stu, and Doug, who wanted more of a say in the band's workings. John resisted, feeling that a 'democratic' process would threaten their success. Other issues included John's decision at a Nebraska gig that the band would no longer give encores at its live shows. Also, a series of business decisions—which later would leave Fogerty with a mess of legal hassles—also rankled his bandmates.
Pendulum, released in December, 1970, was another top seller, spawning a Top 10 hit with "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?". The album marked yet another shift in the band's approach: gone was the wall of sound of Creedence's previous three albums. Production was dry and tight, even to the point of sounding restrained. Even so, John Fogerty's soloing ability had expanded beyond guitar to include Hammond B3 organ and saxophone, lending Pendulum a Booker T. and the MG's sensibility. The single's flip side, the ringing "Hey Tonight", was also a hit. Somewhat experimental was the closer track, "Rude Awakening #2", a bizarre and almost tuneless instrumental in which the band seemed to have thrown in every sound and effect they could imagine.
But even continued musical innovation and success could not resolve the differences between John and Tom Fogerty. In February, 1971, with Pendulum and its single still high on the charts, Tom Fogerty finally left Creedence Clearwater Revival to pursue a solo career. With that, Fogerty informed a startled Cook and Clifford that the band would indeed adopt a new, 'democratic' approach: each member would now write and sing his own material. Fogerty also would contribute only rhythm guitar to his bandmates' songs, a particularly hard slap in the face given their years of support for Fogerty's music. Cook and Clifford, who had only wanted more of a voice in the business decisions, resisted this arrangement. Fogerty insisted they accept his terms or he would quit the band.
The CCR trio thus put its new work ethic to the test in the studio, releasing the Top 10 single "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" in July, 1971, backed with Stu Cook's "Door to Door". The new band toured both the U.S. and Europe that summer and autumn, with Cook's song a part of the live set. In spite of their continuing commercial success, however, relations between the three had become strained. Creedence also seemed to have lost its famous drive, failing to put out an album in 1971.
The band's final album, Mardi Gras, was released in April, 1972. It received mostly poor reviews and suffered comparatively weak sales, with the songs of Cook and Clifford often cited as the primary reason. The 1971 hit single "Sweet Hitch-Hiker"/"Door to Door") was included on the album, but the only other Fogerty single, "Someday Never Comes" backed with Clifford's "Tearin' Up the Country", failed to crack even the US Top 20. It was the worst showing of any Creedence single since 1968.
Mardi Gras peaked at #12. Just after its release, Creedence embarked on a spring and summer tour of the U.S., Australia, and Japan, which would ultimately be their last. Hecklers reportedly pelted the band with coins at their final concert, on May 22, 1972, in Denver, Colorado.
By that point, John was not only at direct odds with his bandmates, but he had also come to see the group's relationship with Fantasy Records as onerous, feeling that label owner Zaentz had reneged on his promise to give the band a better contract. Stu Cook—who holds a degree in business—claimed that because of poor judgment on their part, CCR had to abide by the worst record deal of any major American recording artist.
On October 16, 1972, Fantasy Records and the band officially announced that Creedence Clearwater Revival was no more.
After Creedence
John Fogerty
Main article: John Fogerty
In 1973, John began his solo career with The Blue Ridge Rangers, his one-man band collection of country and gospel songs. Under his old Creedence contract, however, Fogerty owed Fantasy eight more records. In the end, he simply refused to work for the label any longer. The impasse that was resolved only when Asylum Records' David Geffen bought Fogerty's contract for $1,000,000. His next major hit was Centerfield, a double-platinum and chart-topping success in 1985. On tour in 1986, however, Fogerty suffered complaints over his steadfast refusal to play Creedence songs live. Fogerty's defense was that he would have had to pay performance royalties to copyright holder Saul Zaentz—and that it was "too painful" to revisit the past.
John Fogerty also found himself entangled in new lawsuits with Zaentz over the song "The Old Man Down the Road" which was, according to Zaentz, a bald rewrite of CCR's "Run Through the Jungle". Since Fogerty had traded his rights to Creedence's songs in 1980 to cancel his remaining contractual obligations, Fantasy now owned the rights to "Run Through the Jungle" and sued Fogerty essentially for plagiarizing himself. A jury found in Fogerty's favor on this claim; however, Fogerty did lose a defamation suit filed by Zaentz over the song "Zanz Kant Danz" and was forced to edit the recording.
In 1987, Fogerty began performing his CCR hits again, on an admonition from Bob Dylan that "if you don't . . . the whole world's gonna think 'Proud Mary' is Tina Turner's song!" At a Fourth of July benefit for Vietnam veterans, Fogerty finally ran through the list of Creedence hits—beginning with "Born On the Bayou" and ending with "Proud Mary"—to a stunned and then ecstatic audience. He retreated from music again in the late 80s but returned in 1997 with the Grammy-winning Blue Moon Swamp. John Fogerty still tours frequently and plays CCR tunes alongside material from his newer albums.
Tom Fogerty
Main article: Tom Fogerty
Tom Fogerty released several solo albums, though none saw much success.
Tom's 1974 solo album Zephyr National was the last to feature the four original band members. A few of the songs sound very much in the Creedence style, particularly the aptly-titled "Joyful Resurrection". All four members did reportedly play on the song, but John recorded his part to the mix separately. All four members appear on the back cover of the original album release, with John partially hidden behind his Oakland As baseball cap.
In September 1990, Tom Fogerty died of AIDS, which he contracted via a blood transfusion. John and Tom never resolved the bitter estrangement that followed their falling out in CCR, though John said in 1998 that he did visit his older brother several times during Tom's final illness.
Stu Cook and Doug Clifford
Junior high buddies Doug Clifford and Stu Cook continued to work together following the demise of CCR both as session players and members of the Don Harrison Band. They also founded Factory Productions, a mobile recording service in the Bay Area. Clifford released a solo record, Cosmo, in 1972. Cook produced artist Roky Erickson's Monster Opera and was bassist with the popular country act Southern Pacific in the 80s.
Following a relatively lengthy period of musical inactivity, the two formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995 with several well-known musicians. Revisited toured globally performing the original band's classics. John Fogerty's 1997 injunction forced 'CCRev' to change to 'Cosmo's Factory', but the courts later ruled in Cook's and Clifford's favor.
Fantasy Records
After Creedence, Fantasy Records released several greatest-hits packages and curiosities such as 1975's Pre-Creedence, a compilation album of The Golliwogs' early recordings. Fantasy also released the highly successful Chronicle, Vol. 1, a collection of Creedence's twenty hit singles, in 1976. Several years later, the label released a live recording entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert. Unfortunately, the 1970 performance was recorded at Oakland, California, not at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England as stated on the sleeve. Subsequent issues of the original 1981 album have been retitled simply The Concert.
The success of Creedence Clearwater Revival made Fantasy and Saul Zaentz a great deal of money. Indeed, Fantasy built a new headquarters building in 1971 at 2600 Tenth Street in Berkeley, California.[4] Zaentz also used his wealth to produce a number of successful films including Best Picture Oscar winners One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and The English Patient. In 2004, he sold Fantasy to Concord Records. As a goodwill gesture, Concord honored the unfulfilled contractual promises Fantasy made nearly forty years ago, finally paying the band a higher royalty rate on their sales.
John Fogerty, seeing that Zaentz was no longer involved with the company, also signed a new contract with Concord/Fantasy. In 2005, the label released The Long Road Home, a collection of Creedence and Fogerty solo classics. His latest album, Revival, came out on the Fantasy label in October, 2007.
Legacy
Creedence Clearwater Revival were somewhat unfashionable in rock circles during their heyday because they concentrated on tightly-focused, well-crafted, and short songs created to appeal to everyone. Unlike most other rock artists of the day, they eschewed drug use and did not contribute significantly to progressive activism—although they were all against the war in Vietnam, and they contributed substantial money to the American Indian Movement.
Even in the immediate years after breaking up, Creedence's stature as one of the great American rock bands was secure. The music went on to influence entire genres such as heartland rock, country rock, alt-country, and even punk and heavy metal musicians revere the band. Decades later, CCR's music remains in heavy rotation on oldies and classic rock radio stations. Fogerty's songs, considered classics of the rock form, have been covered by multiple artists, and many artists express both admiration and envy over Creedence's mastery of the two-and-a-half minute hit single. "Fortunate Son" in particular has become a universal anthem against war, class privilege, and jingoism. Creedence songs frequently appear in films and on television, and indeed the band continues to attract young fans born long after the band split up.
Even so, the surviving members resist all suggestion that they reunite as a group. There have been "unofficial" reunion performances by the band, however. All four members jammed together at Tom Fogerty's wedding on October 19, 1980. John, Stu, and Doug performed at their 20th high school reunion in 1983, but they performed as their original incarnation, The Blue Velvets. But with the new round of lawsuits in the 80s and 90s between John, Saul Zaentz, and Stu and Doug's tribute band, the post-1972 animosity has only deepened.
Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 on the first ballot. Tom Fogerty's widow, Tricia, brought the urn containing his ashes for the ceremony and expected Creedence reunion. Tom's son Jeff, a professional musician, was also on hand to take his father's place as rhythm guitarist for the traditional post-awards live set. John, however, would not perform with fellow bandmates Stu and Doug, instead having them barred from the stage while he played with an all-star band that included Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson. Rumor has it that Cook and Clifford walked out of the ceremony, but apparently a group photo was taken with Fogerty afterward. All three stared straight ahead and didn't utter a word to each other. Later, Clifford had tears in his eyes, telling fans of his disappointment.
Today, John Fogerty says he has no intention of reuniting with his former bandmates. Stu Cook and Doug Clifford echo that sentiment.
April 22, 2008
About THE EVERLY BROTHERS
The Everly Brothers, (Don Everly, born Isaac Donald Everly February 1, 1937, Brownie, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Phil Everly, born Phillip Everly, January 19, 1939, Chicago, Illinois) are male siblings who were top-selling country-influenced rock and roll performers, best known for their steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The Everlys are the most successful charting U.S. rock and roll duo on the Hot 100. Their greatest period of chart success came between 1957 and 1964.
Style
The brothers were both competent guitarists, and used a simple style of harmony mostly based on parallel thirds. With this approach, each line can often stand on its own as a plausible melody line. This is in contrast to classic harmony lines which, while working well alongside the melody, would sound strange if heard by themselves. One of the best examples of their close-harmony work is their recording of "Devoted to You".
The duo's approach to harmony singing had a strong influence on the rock and roll groups of the 1960s. For example, both The Beatles[1] and The Beach Boys[2] developed their early singing style by performing Everlys covers. The Beatles based the vocal arrangement of their song "Please Please Me" directly upon that of "Cathy's Clown."[3]
Early career
Guitarist Ike Everly had an Iowa radio show in the 1940s. Singing appearances on their father's show gave the brothers their first exposure. The Everly Brothers recorded their own first single, "Keep A' Lovin' Me," in 1956, under the aegis of Chet Atkins, but it flopped. However their next single, "Bye Bye Love," (which had been rejected by 30 other acts, including Elvis Presley), became an across-the-board smash, reaching #2 on the pop charts (behind Presley's Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear), while hitting #1 on both the Country and the R & B charts. The song, written by the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers' first million-seller.
They soon became known as the stalwarts of Archie Bleyer's Cadence Records label. Working with the Bryants, the harmonic duo had a number of hits in the U.S. and the UK, the biggest of which were "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," and "Bird Dog."
Signing with Warner Bros. Records in 1960, they continued to have hits. Their first with WB, 1960's "Cathy's Clown," launched the brothers back to the top of the charts. The song, which sold eight million records, was the duo's biggest-selling record. It was released as number WB1, the first release in the United Kingdom by Warner Brothers Records. Other singles followed, such as "When Will I Be Loved" (1960), "Walk Right Back" (1961), and "Crying In The Rain" (1962). Their last Top Ten hit was 1962's "That's Old Fashioned"; the succeeding years saw the Everly Brothers selling many fewer records than before. Their enlistment in the United States Marine Corps in 1963, to meet military obligations, took them out of the spotlight immediately before The Beatles broke loose in the United States and changed the pop music landscape.
In 1962, Warner Brothers released a "Golden Hits" album which included only their Warner Brothers hits. The 1964 album "The Very Best Of The Everly Brothers" included new versions of six of their Cadence hits (re-recorded in Nashville), along with six of the original Warner Brothers hits. Some of these re-recordings are sometimes played and mistaken for the originals, such as "Devoted to You" and "Til I Kissed You." In 1963, Cadence released a more complete album of those original hits, titled "15 Everly Hits."
After their Marine Corps experience the brothers resumed their career, but American chart success was waning. Singles and albums continued to be released, but only two of these made the lower reaches of the US Top 40, in 1964, and 1967. However, The Everlys had more success in Britain and Canada in that period, consistently reaching the top 40 in the UK with a string of singles through 1967. The album title "In Our Image" referred to their influence on a new era of singers like the Beatles, who were inspired by their harmony. The album "Two Yanks in England" was recorded there with backup by The Picks, and is a reflection of their success there, and a gesture of camaraderie with the new wave. Their 1968 album "Roots" is touted by some formal critics as a superior example of their music, however by the end of the 1960s The Everly Brothers were no longer hitmakers in either North America or the UK, and in 1970 their contract with Warner Bros lapsed after its ten years. In 1970, they were the summer replacement hosts for Johnny Cash's television show.
[edit] The Break-Up of the Everly Brothers
The duo had a memorable split on July 14, 1973, as Phil Everly smashed his guitar and stormed offstage during a concert at Knotts Berry Farm in California, leaving brother Don to finish the concert by himself. Don Everly told the crowd, "The Everly Brothers died ten years ago." In reality, due to growing tension, The Everly Brothers had already planned the Knotts Berry show to be their last performance. Many believe the tense mood of the show had been caused by the band having a few drinks before the show. After the split, the brothers would not speak to each other for the next 10 years, only getting together once in 1975 for their father's funeral. While to this day, they rarely comment on their break-up, they had stated in interviews that that 10-year period that they did not speak to each other gave them a chance to find themselves and become older and wiser.
The brothers reformed in 1983 with a new album produced by Dave Edmunds. "On the Wings of a Nightingale", written by Paul McCartney for the brothers, was a minor success and returned them to the charts in both the U.S. and UK. Their Reunion Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 22, 1983, which was instigated by English virtuoso guitarist Albert Lee (who was also the musical director), resulted in both a well-received CD and video. They then earned a final charting country-music hit with "Born Yesterday" in 1986 from the album with the same name.
At around the same time, Phil enjoyed some success as a soloist, with an album Phil Everly, recorded mainly in London, and including musicians such as Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, Rockpile drummer Terry Williams, and evergreen session keyboard player Pete Wingfield. "She Means Nothing To Me", featuring Cliff Richard as co-lead vocalist, was a Top 10 hit in the UK, and "Louise" reached the Top 50 in 1983. In 1994, a new recording of "All I Have to Do Is Dream," featuring Cliff Richard and Phil sharing vocals, was a UK Top 20 hit.
Even though the brothers have not produced any new studio albums since 1989's "Some Hearts," they continue to tour and perform. Throughout their careers they have collaborated extensively with other performers, usually singing either backup vocals or duets. For example, Don Everly recorded a duet with Emmylou Harris in 1979, "Everytime You Leave", on her album "Blue Kentucky Girl"[4] In 2006, Phil Everly sang a duet, "Sweet Little Corrina", with country singer Vince Gill on his much acclaimed album These Days.[5] He previously supplied harmony vocals on J.D. Souther's "White Rhythm and Blues" on his 1979 album "You're Only Lonely".
Legacy
The Everly Brothers have had a total of 27 Billboard Top 40 singles and 36 Billboard Top 100 singles. They still hold the record for the most Top 100 singles by any duo, and trail only Hall and Oates for the most Top 40 singles by a duo. (Hall and Oates had 29 singles in the top 40, all between 1976 and 1990).
In 1986, the Everlys were among the first 10 artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the induction ceremony, they were introduced by Neil Young, who observed that every musical group he ever belonged to had tried and failed to copy the Everly Brothers' harmonies.
In 1997, they were awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.[6] Their pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The Everly Brothers have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked The Everly Brothers[7] #33 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time [8]. They are also #43 on the list of UK Best selling singles artists of all time.
They were also accomplished songwriters, penning a number of their own hits, including "Till I Kissed You" (Don), "Cathy's Clown" (Don and Phil), and "When Will I Be Loved" (Phil). "Cathy's Clown" and "When Will I Be Loved" later became hits for Reba McEntire and Linda Ronstadt, respectively; (for the latter, the Everly Brothers even sang the back up chorus). Also, the Norwegian band a-ha covered "Crying In The Rain" in 1990 for their fourth album, East of The Sun, West of The Moon.
The Bee Gees have acknowledged the Everly Brothers on several occasions stating that they would sing in the style of the Everlys and then add a third harmony. This is evident on the Bee Gees' first hit, New York Mining Disaster 1941 in 1967.
Paul McCartney paid tribute to the Everly's by mentioning "Phil and Don" in his 1976 million-seller, Let_'em_In.
They still perform occasionally, despite having declared their retirement from both touring and the studio more than once. Most notably, they joined Simon and Garfunkel as the featured act in the Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour of 2003 and 2004. As a special tribute to the Everly Brothers, they were not the opening act, rather Simon and Garfunkel opened their own show and had the Everlys come out in the middle for three or four songs. For Paul Simon, it was not the first time he had performed prominently with his heroes. In 1986, The Everlys sang background vocals on the hit title track of Simon's landmark album Graceland, the song he has named as his single greatest composition.
On Labor Day Weekend 1988, Central City Kentucky began hosting The Everly Brothers Homecoming event to raise money for a scholarship fund for Muhlenberg County students.[4] The Homecoming became a popular annual event for fourteen years, before ending in 2002. Don and Phil successfully toured the UK in 2005 and Phil has appeared in 2007 on Recordings with Vince Gill and Bill Medley. Rumours are also around that the "Everly Family" are currently putting together an Album.
Don Everly's daughter, Erin Everly , was briefly married to the controversial front man of Guns N' Roses, Axl Rose.
Rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis named his son, Everly, after the members of the band.
Style
The brothers were both competent guitarists, and used a simple style of harmony mostly based on parallel thirds. With this approach, each line can often stand on its own as a plausible melody line. This is in contrast to classic harmony lines which, while working well alongside the melody, would sound strange if heard by themselves. One of the best examples of their close-harmony work is their recording of "Devoted to You".
The duo's approach to harmony singing had a strong influence on the rock and roll groups of the 1960s. For example, both The Beatles[1] and The Beach Boys[2] developed their early singing style by performing Everlys covers. The Beatles based the vocal arrangement of their song "Please Please Me" directly upon that of "Cathy's Clown."[3]
Early career
Guitarist Ike Everly had an Iowa radio show in the 1940s. Singing appearances on their father's show gave the brothers their first exposure. The Everly Brothers recorded their own first single, "Keep A' Lovin' Me," in 1956, under the aegis of Chet Atkins, but it flopped. However their next single, "Bye Bye Love," (which had been rejected by 30 other acts, including Elvis Presley), became an across-the-board smash, reaching #2 on the pop charts (behind Presley's Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear), while hitting #1 on both the Country and the R & B charts. The song, written by the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers' first million-seller.
They soon became known as the stalwarts of Archie Bleyer's Cadence Records label. Working with the Bryants, the harmonic duo had a number of hits in the U.S. and the UK, the biggest of which were "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," and "Bird Dog."
Signing with Warner Bros. Records in 1960, they continued to have hits. Their first with WB, 1960's "Cathy's Clown," launched the brothers back to the top of the charts. The song, which sold eight million records, was the duo's biggest-selling record. It was released as number WB1, the first release in the United Kingdom by Warner Brothers Records. Other singles followed, such as "When Will I Be Loved" (1960), "Walk Right Back" (1961), and "Crying In The Rain" (1962). Their last Top Ten hit was 1962's "That's Old Fashioned"; the succeeding years saw the Everly Brothers selling many fewer records than before. Their enlistment in the United States Marine Corps in 1963, to meet military obligations, took them out of the spotlight immediately before The Beatles broke loose in the United States and changed the pop music landscape.
In 1962, Warner Brothers released a "Golden Hits" album which included only their Warner Brothers hits. The 1964 album "The Very Best Of The Everly Brothers" included new versions of six of their Cadence hits (re-recorded in Nashville), along with six of the original Warner Brothers hits. Some of these re-recordings are sometimes played and mistaken for the originals, such as "Devoted to You" and "Til I Kissed You." In 1963, Cadence released a more complete album of those original hits, titled "15 Everly Hits."
After their Marine Corps experience the brothers resumed their career, but American chart success was waning. Singles and albums continued to be released, but only two of these made the lower reaches of the US Top 40, in 1964, and 1967. However, The Everlys had more success in Britain and Canada in that period, consistently reaching the top 40 in the UK with a string of singles through 1967. The album title "In Our Image" referred to their influence on a new era of singers like the Beatles, who were inspired by their harmony. The album "Two Yanks in England" was recorded there with backup by The Picks, and is a reflection of their success there, and a gesture of camaraderie with the new wave. Their 1968 album "Roots" is touted by some formal critics as a superior example of their music, however by the end of the 1960s The Everly Brothers were no longer hitmakers in either North America or the UK, and in 1970 their contract with Warner Bros lapsed after its ten years. In 1970, they were the summer replacement hosts for Johnny Cash's television show.
[edit] The Break-Up of the Everly Brothers
The duo had a memorable split on July 14, 1973, as Phil Everly smashed his guitar and stormed offstage during a concert at Knotts Berry Farm in California, leaving brother Don to finish the concert by himself. Don Everly told the crowd, "The Everly Brothers died ten years ago." In reality, due to growing tension, The Everly Brothers had already planned the Knotts Berry show to be their last performance. Many believe the tense mood of the show had been caused by the band having a few drinks before the show. After the split, the brothers would not speak to each other for the next 10 years, only getting together once in 1975 for their father's funeral. While to this day, they rarely comment on their break-up, they had stated in interviews that that 10-year period that they did not speak to each other gave them a chance to find themselves and become older and wiser.
The brothers reformed in 1983 with a new album produced by Dave Edmunds. "On the Wings of a Nightingale", written by Paul McCartney for the brothers, was a minor success and returned them to the charts in both the U.S. and UK. Their Reunion Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 22, 1983, which was instigated by English virtuoso guitarist Albert Lee (who was also the musical director), resulted in both a well-received CD and video. They then earned a final charting country-music hit with "Born Yesterday" in 1986 from the album with the same name.
At around the same time, Phil enjoyed some success as a soloist, with an album Phil Everly, recorded mainly in London, and including musicians such as Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, Rockpile drummer Terry Williams, and evergreen session keyboard player Pete Wingfield. "She Means Nothing To Me", featuring Cliff Richard as co-lead vocalist, was a Top 10 hit in the UK, and "Louise" reached the Top 50 in 1983. In 1994, a new recording of "All I Have to Do Is Dream," featuring Cliff Richard and Phil sharing vocals, was a UK Top 20 hit.
Even though the brothers have not produced any new studio albums since 1989's "Some Hearts," they continue to tour and perform. Throughout their careers they have collaborated extensively with other performers, usually singing either backup vocals or duets. For example, Don Everly recorded a duet with Emmylou Harris in 1979, "Everytime You Leave", on her album "Blue Kentucky Girl"[4] In 2006, Phil Everly sang a duet, "Sweet Little Corrina", with country singer Vince Gill on his much acclaimed album These Days.[5] He previously supplied harmony vocals on J.D. Souther's "White Rhythm and Blues" on his 1979 album "You're Only Lonely".
Legacy
The Everly Brothers have had a total of 27 Billboard Top 40 singles and 36 Billboard Top 100 singles. They still hold the record for the most Top 100 singles by any duo, and trail only Hall and Oates for the most Top 40 singles by a duo. (Hall and Oates had 29 singles in the top 40, all between 1976 and 1990).
In 1986, the Everlys were among the first 10 artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the induction ceremony, they were introduced by Neil Young, who observed that every musical group he ever belonged to had tried and failed to copy the Everly Brothers' harmonies.
In 1997, they were awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.[6] Their pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The Everly Brothers have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked The Everly Brothers[7] #33 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time [8]. They are also #43 on the list of UK Best selling singles artists of all time.
They were also accomplished songwriters, penning a number of their own hits, including "Till I Kissed You" (Don), "Cathy's Clown" (Don and Phil), and "When Will I Be Loved" (Phil). "Cathy's Clown" and "When Will I Be Loved" later became hits for Reba McEntire and Linda Ronstadt, respectively; (for the latter, the Everly Brothers even sang the back up chorus). Also, the Norwegian band a-ha covered "Crying In The Rain" in 1990 for their fourth album, East of The Sun, West of The Moon.
The Bee Gees have acknowledged the Everly Brothers on several occasions stating that they would sing in the style of the Everlys and then add a third harmony. This is evident on the Bee Gees' first hit, New York Mining Disaster 1941 in 1967.
Paul McCartney paid tribute to the Everly's by mentioning "Phil and Don" in his 1976 million-seller, Let_'em_In.
They still perform occasionally, despite having declared their retirement from both touring and the studio more than once. Most notably, they joined Simon and Garfunkel as the featured act in the Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour of 2003 and 2004. As a special tribute to the Everly Brothers, they were not the opening act, rather Simon and Garfunkel opened their own show and had the Everlys come out in the middle for three or four songs. For Paul Simon, it was not the first time he had performed prominently with his heroes. In 1986, The Everlys sang background vocals on the hit title track of Simon's landmark album Graceland, the song he has named as his single greatest composition.
On Labor Day Weekend 1988, Central City Kentucky began hosting The Everly Brothers Homecoming event to raise money for a scholarship fund for Muhlenberg County students.[4] The Homecoming became a popular annual event for fourteen years, before ending in 2002. Don and Phil successfully toured the UK in 2005 and Phil has appeared in 2007 on Recordings with Vince Gill and Bill Medley. Rumours are also around that the "Everly Family" are currently putting together an Album.
Don Everly's daughter, Erin Everly , was briefly married to the controversial front man of Guns N' Roses, Axl Rose.
Rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis named his son, Everly, after the members of the band.
April 05, 2008
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