“Any musician with a set of ears was influenced by The Everly Brothers” – Graham Nash
This post was inspired by a documentary, The Everly Brothers: Harmonies From Heaven, which I coincidentally caught on PBS on New Year’s Eve. From the PBS description: Explore the story of Phil and Don Everly, two of the most important and influential early rock ’n’ roll stars of the 1950s and ’60s. Featuring new interview footage with surviving brother Don and archival interviews with Phil, the film delves into their relationship with Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, the songwriting team who wrote many of their early hits. It also includes commentary from Art Garfunkel, Graham Nash, Waddy Wachtel, Keith Richards and other music artists. Here’s a link to the trailer.
I started listening to The Everly Brothers in my early teens back in Germany, after my brother-in-law had given me a compilation as a present. I still own that copy and was able to find it in my current mess of vinyl albums (see photo below). At the time, Elvis Presley still was my favorite rock & rock artist. As such, initially, I was mostly drawn to songs like Wake Up Little Susie, Rip It Up and Keep a Knockin’. I immediately loved the Everlys’ great harmony vocals. I think calling them “harmonies from heaven” is no exaggeration!
Isaac Donald “Don” Everly and his younger brother Phillip “Phil” Everly grew up in a musical family and began singing with their parents Ike Everly and Margaret Everly in the 1940s when they were still children. In the mid-’40s, Ike who was a coalmine worker had a show on Shenandoah, Iowa radio stations KMA and KFNF. First, he performed there with his wife, then with their sons who were billed as “Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil”, who at the time were about 8 and 6 years, respectively. Together, they were known as “The Everly Family”.
In 1953, the family relocated to Tennessee, first to Knoxville, then to Madison. Following high school graduation in 1955, Don moved to Nashville, together with Phil who finished high school there in 1957. The brothers decided they wanted to continue focusing on making music together. Eventually, they came to the attention of family friend Chet Atkins, manager of RCA Studios in Nashville. Atkins helped the brothers get a deal with Columbia Records, but after their first single Keep a-Lovin’ Me flopped, the label dropped them.
Atkins subsequently introduced Phil and Don to Wesley Rose who told them he could get a record deal if they would sign with his music publishing firm Acuff-Rose. The brothers obliged and Rose introduced them to Archie Bleyer, founder of Cadence Records. Phil and Don got signed and recorded their first single for the label, Bye Bye Love, penned by husband-and-wife country and pop songwriting duo Felice Bryant and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant.
Released in March 1957, Bye Bye Love became the first of many major hits for The Everly Brothers. In addition to topping the county charts in the U.S., it climbed to no. 2 and no. 5 on the pop and R&B charts, respectively, indicating the duo’s appeal across different music genres. By 1973, tension had built up between the brothers, and they decided to split to pursue solo careers. While Don found some chart success, Phil did not, even though he recorded more frequently.
In September 1983, Phil and Don reunited as The Everly Brothers at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert was recorded and released as The Everly Brothers Reunion Concert later that year. While the live album reached a respectable no. 47 in the UK, it stalled at no. 162 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200. The Everly Brothers subsequently released three additional studio albums in the ’80s. They continued to tour on and off until 2003-2004 when they were guests on Simon & Garfunkel’s Old Friends reunion tour.
Phil Everly passed away from COPD on January 3, 2014 at the age of 75. Don Everly died at his home in Nashville on August 2021. He was 84. Let’s take a closer look at some of The Everly Brothers’ music and those “harmonies from heaven.” I’m going to highlight six of their songs, followed by a larger career-spanning Spotify playlist.
Bye Bye Love (March 1957)
Notably, this classic had been rejected by 30 other artists before it was given to The Everly Brothers. “I wrote ‘Bye Bye Love’ while traveling home one night,” noted Boudleaux Bryant. “Felice was driving down the highway and I got the first verse and chorus right down there. I always make sure I have a pen and paper in the car for these occasions.” He went on, “We really believed in the song and were disappointed when so many people turned it down. They said it was unsuitable, some even asked if we has anything better!”
Wake Up Little Susie (September 1957)
Wake Up Little Susie, another song by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the first no. 1 for the Everlys on the U.S. pop chart. It also topped the country and R&B charts, as well as the charts in Canada. In addition to outstanding harmony vocals, the song has a really cool rhythm, which Don Everly said was inspired by Bo Diddley’s signature beat. “And I guess it rubbed off on me,” Keith Richards said in the above documentary. “Don’s acoustic guitar – rockin’, man!”
All I Have to Do Is Dream (April 1958)
Written by Boudleaux Bryant alone for a change, All I Have to Do Is Dream became another major hit for The Everly Brothers, toping the pop, country and R&B charts in the U.S. Once again, it reached no. 1 in Canada and became the duo’s first song to top the charts in the UK as well. “I remember hearing ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ on an acetate with Boudleaux’s version on it, and I said, at the time, they could have put Boudleaux’s out and it would have been a hit,” Don Everly stated. “It’s just a great, great song. It’s beautiful.” Indeed! BTW, these neat tremolo-style guitar chords were played by Chet Atkins.
Cathy’s Clown (April 1960)
While Felice and Boudleaux Bryant wrote many hits for the Everlys, the duo also had original songs. One of the most beautiful examples I know is Cathy’s Clown, which Don Everly wrote. Initially, both brothers had been credited until 1980, seven years after Don and Phil had split and I guess still weren’t on great terms. The song, which has been inspired by one of Don’s ex-girlfriends, became the last no. 1 for The Everly Brothers in the U.S., topping both the pop and the R&B charts. Cathy’s Clown was their first single on Warner Bros. after Cadence Records no longer could afford resigning them. They were still on top of the world.
Crying In the Rain (January 1962)
By the time Crying in the Rain came out, The Everly Brothers had not had a big hit in nearly a year. It already foreshadowed their declining popularity. The ballad was penned by Brill Building songwriters Howard Greenfield and Carole King, who worked for Don Kirshner’s Aldon Music at the time. Kirshner had been eager to produce a hit for The Everly Brothers. He didn’t need to cry in the rain. The song, one of the few King didn’t write with her usual lyricist Gerry Goffin, became the second-to-last top 10 hit for the Everlys on the U.S. pop chart (no. 6) and also reached that same spot in the UK.
On the Wings of a Nightingale (August 1984)
For my final pick, I’m jumping 22 years forward to what became the last charting single for the Everlys, reaching no. 50 and no. 41 on the U.S. and U.K. pop charts, respectively. Following their reunion concert in London the previous year, Phil and Don recorded EB 84, their first studio album of original material in 11 years. On the Wings of a Nightingale, which Paul McCartney specifically had written for them, became the lead single. After Phil Everly’s death in 2014, Macca wrote the following on his website, as reported by the Los Angeles Times: “Phil Everly was one of my great heroes. With his brother Don, they were one of the major influences on the Beatles. When John and I first started to write songs, I was Phil and he was Don.”
Altogether, The Everly Brothers scored 35 Billboard Top 100 singles, of which 26 reached the top 40. They hold the record for the most Top 100 singles by any duo, second only to Hall & Oates for the most Top 40 singles by a duo. In the UK, the Everlys had 30 chart singles between 1957 and 1984. In 1986, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Neil Young, who said every musical group he had ever belonged to had tried, and failed, to copy the Everly Brothers’ harmonies. Here’s the above-mentioned Spotify playlist.
Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Los Angeles Times; YouTube; Spotify
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