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.