It all started in Kentucky,
U.S.A. Isaac Donald (b.2/1/1937) and Phillip (b.1/19/1939) Everly were
raised in a musical family,
steeped in one of the
oldest musical traditions in America. The atmosphere of the coal mining
towns of Kentucky and the songs which are the voice of the culture formed
the Everly Brothers' sound which has endured for more than thirty years.
Don and Phil are the sons of Ike and Margaret Everly, who, like their parents
before them, were folk and country singers from central Kentucky. Their
late father was one of the few "authentic" guitarists in American music.
The influence of his thumb picking style can be heard in the music of players
such as Merle Travis, Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler. Soon after Don was
born, Ike decided to leave the coal region and move to Chicago to pursue
a career in music and find a
better life for his young
family. After he had established himself as a professional entertainer,
Phil was born, and Ike decided to take a job in Iowa where he could raise
his boys in a healthier rural environment. He joined KMA, a powerful radio
station in Shenandoah, Iowa, where he was a staff artist until 1951. It
was during this time that Don and Phil began working with their mother
and father on radio and on stage.
In 1953 the family moved
to Knoxville, Tennessee, where they worked on WROL radio performing two
shows per day and getting paid $ 90 per week. When the money ran out, Ike
got in touch with Chet Atkins in Nashville. It wasn't long before Chet
had one of Don's songs, "Thou Shalt Not Steal", recorded by Kitty Wells.
It was a hit and the decision was
made to split up the
family act and send the brothers to Nashville.
The going was rough for
the first two years. Ike worked as a barber and Margaret as a beautician
to help support the boys while they made the rounds of the record companies.
Don and Phil suffered
repeated rejections by record executives who didn't know what to do with
them. Finally, in February 1957, the Everly Brothers signed with Cadence
Records, released "Bye Bye Love", sold over two million records, and began
a career that established them as the most influential duo in the history
of recorded music. As Bob Dylan said regarding Don and Phil, "We owe these
guys everything. They started it all."
In June of 1957 they made
their first appearance as regulars on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
They brought more than their innovative acoustic guitar rhythm and vocal
blends to the stage of the old Ryman Auditorium. That night, Don and Phil
were the first act to use drums on the Grand Ole Opry and to this day are
given credit for introducing and developing the use of drums in Nashville.
The traditional country audience loved them, but right from the beginning,
the uniqueness of their sound made them popular on an international scale
with a widespectrum of fans. Over the years their blend of
country, rock & roll,bluegrass
and rockabilly has remained popular with pop, rock, country and R &
B listeners simultaneously.
After "Bye Bye Love",
the brothers turned out an incredible string of classic records, often
having several on the charts at the same time. Their phenomenal output
over the next five years included: "I Wonder If I Care As Much", "Claudette",
"Bird Dog", "Devoted
To You", "Problems", "Take A Message To Mary", "('Til)
I Kissed You", "Let It Be Me", "When Will I Be Loved",
"Cathy's Clown", "So Sad
(To Watch Good Love Go Bad)", "Wake
Up Little Susie", "All They Have To Do Is Dream", "Walk
Right Back", "Ebony Eyes", "Temptation", "Crying In The
Rain", and many more. For most of these titles Don and Phil received a
gold record award.
In 1961 Don and Phil
were called upon to fulfil their military service obligations. They decided
to enlist in the Marine
Reserve and left the
world of stardom to endure the rigors of basic training. To this day the
Everly Brothers
consider their training as Marines to be a pivotal positive experience
in their formative years.
Through the 60's they
continued to write, perform and record. Among their significant singles
were "Gone,
Gone, Gone", "The Price Of Love", "Love Is Strange" and "Bowling Green".
In 1970 Don and Phil
had their own highly rated T.V. show, "Johnny Cash Presents
The Everly Brothers". The show gave them the opportunity
to bring their father out of retirement to perform with
them before a national audience.
Many artists and groups
were influenced by Don and Phil Everly.
To name but a few: Simon and Garfunkel, The Bellamy
Brothers, Peter and Gordon,
The Mamas and Papas, The Searchers,
The Hollies, ELO, The Lovin' Spoonful, Linda
Ronstadt, Brian Ferry,
Queen, Status Quo, The Eagles, Crosby Stills
Nash and Young, The Byrds and... The Beatles. Graham
Nash: "The Everlys definitely
influenced me. They were the main inspiration
for me and almost everyone in rock 'n roll owes a great deal to them."
During the years from
1958 to 1973 numerous albums were released. Amongst them were: "Songs
Our Daddy Taught Us", "The
Fabulous Style Of The Everly Brothers", "It's Everly Time", "A Date
With The Everly Brothers",
"The Everly Brothers Sing Great Country Hits", "Gone Gone Gone",
"Rock 'N Soul", "In Our Image"
(including the hit "The Price Of Love"),
"Two Yanks In England",
"Roots", "Stories We Could Tell", "Pass The Chicken
And Listen" and others. More than half a million copies were sold of
the albums "The Golden Hits
Of The Everly Brothers" and "The Very Best Of
The Everly Brothers", worth far over a million dollars each, which made
them gold.
Since 1957 the Everly
Brothers have performed in far over 700 cities in the
USA andCanada. From 1959
to 1973 they toured the world, with regular tours
in Great Britain. Other countries included in these tours were: France,
Luxembourg, Holland,
Germany, Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Austria,
Finland, Ireland, Taiwan,
Japan, Campuchea, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa and South
Vietnam. Their careers continued
to go strong in the early 70's but the ravages of life in the spotlight
began to wear them down.
In 1973 the brothers decided to go their separate ways. Don moved back
to Nashville and Phil stayed
in Los Angeles. During their years apart the Everly Brothers pursued solo
careers with significant
success.
Interestingly, both worked
mostly with country music. Don recorded
several albums and hit the country chartswith his
recordings of "Yesterday
Just Passed My Way Again" and "Brother
Jukebox". Connie Smith made hits (again) of his
compositions "('Til)
I Kissed You" and "So Sad". Meanwhile
Phil also recorded albums and had a No. 1
song with Linda Ronstadt's
version of "When Will I Be Loved".
For this composition Phil won the BMI award in
1976. He was also on
the country charts himself with "Dare To Dream Again" and "Sweet Southern
Love".
In the early 80's Don
and Phil decided that enough was enough and that they should work together
again. On September 22 and
23, 1983, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, the Everly
Brothers performed two historic
concerts before thunderstruck capacity crowds. The reunion concert
was released as a double
album and aired around the world as an HBO cable television special.
In the years after the
reunion, three significant Everly Brothers albums were released. Their
comeback album,
"EB '84", included their hit "On The Wings Of A Nightingale", written for
them by Paul McCartney.
In Holland they received gold record awards for both the album and the
single in 1988. In 1986,
the superb "Born Yesterday" was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the top
ten pop albums of
the year. In 1989 they released "Some Hearts", a self-produced innovative
collection of ten songs which
show the Everly Brothers are refusing to rest on their laurels. They still
rock in the 90's, their fifth decade
of recording.
In January 1986, Don
and Phil were two of the original inductees into the Rock 'N Roll Hall
Of Fame. Having
sold far over 40 million records and having created a sound that is beyond
fad and whims of the
music industry, they were honoured as two artists who laid the foundation
for an art form that created
a cultural revolution. A few months later the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
awarded the Brothers
their very own star No. 1834 in the Walk Of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.
As Chet Atkins said when
introducing the Everly Brothers on his 1989 Cinemax Special, "They simply
changed music for the whole
world".
So these are the 90's
for the Everly Brothers and the success continues. Don Everly had a No.
1 song with
Reba McEntire's version of "Cathy's Clown". The composition won him the
biggest BMI Award, the
22nd Robert J. Burton Award, as most-performed country song of 1990.
Still in demand worldwide,
the Everlys tour six to eight months out of the year
performing in venues reaching
audiences fromEurope and Great Britain to Australia
and North America. Each summer, they interrupt their touring schedule
to return to their ancestral
homeland to give a benefit concert for the economically
depressed coal mining community
in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The yearly "The
Everly Brothers' Homecoming Music Festival" concentrates on the distinctive
vocal and instrumental styles
that grew out of and reflect the cultural heritage of the
region. Proceeds from the
event go to the Everly Brothers' Foundation, a charity
that provides aid for scholarships
and community projects.
As of this writing, the
boys are busy doing demos and writing songs for a new album. They are
discussing a new recording
deal with a couple of major labels. The recently released 4 CD Box Set
called Heartaches and Harmonies,
released by Rhino Records, gives a rather perfect view on the
Everly Brothers' recording
career. The future looks bright indeed for the Everly Brothers, and just
as right
for their millions of devoted fans.
Everly
Brothers Lyrics
Midi
Collection
Bye
Bye Love in Real Audio