| The Everly Brothers |
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200
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The Everly Brothers
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Members: |
Issac Donald Everly Philip Everly |
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Born: |
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Origin: |
Shenandoah, Iowa |
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Years active: |
1957–1973 |
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Labels: |
Cadence Warner Bros. RCA, Razor & Tie Mercury |
200
Phoots comi...
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The brothers are the most successful U.S. rock and roll duo on the Hot 100.
Don was born in Powderly, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and Phil two years later in Chicago, Illinois. Their father, Ike Everly, was a musician. Ike, with Merle Travis, Mose Rager, and Kennedy Jones, was honored by the construction of The Four Legends Fountain in Drakesboro, Kentucky. Ike Everly had a show on KMA and KFNF in Shenandoah, Iowa, in the 1940s, with his wife Margaret and two young sons. Singing on the show gave the brothers their first exposure to the music industry. The family sang together live and traveled in the area singing as the Everly Family. The Everly Brothers grew up from ages 5 and 7 through early high school in Shenandoah.} (Their boyhood home is being restored and will be donated to the Shenandoah Historical Society in the spring of 2009.) They are the cousins of actor James Best.
As the brothers transitioned out of the family act and into a duo, family friend Chet Atkins became an early champion of The Everly Brothers. Despite Atkins' affiliation with RCA Records, it was Atkins who engineered a chance for The Everly Brothers to record for Columbia Records in early 1956. However, their first and only single for the label, "Keep A' Lovin' Me", was a flop, and they were quickly dropped from Columbia.
Atkins still encouraged the Everly Brothers to continue on, and introduced them to Wesley Rose of Acuff-Rose music publishers. Impressed with the duo's songwriting talents, Rose told them that if they signed to Acuff-Rose as songwriters, he would also get them a recording deal. The duo signed to Acuff-Rose in late 1956, and by early 1957 Rose had introduced them to Archie Bleyer, who was setting up his new Cadence Records label. The Everlys signed to Cadence, and entered the recording studio for their first Cadence session in February 1957.
Their first Cadence single, "Bye Bye Love", had been rejected by 30 other acts (including Elvis Presley)[citation needed], but the Everlys saw potential in the song. Their recording of "Bye Bye Love" reached #2 on the pop charts behind Presley's "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear", hitting #1 on the Country and #5 on the R&B charts. The song, written by the husband and wife Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers' first million-seller.
By 1962, the Everly Brothers had earned $35 million dollars from record sales. They became stalwarts of the Cadence label. Working with the Bryants, the duo had hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, the biggest being "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", "Bird Dog" and "Problems", all penned by the Bryants. The Everlys also found success as songwriters, especially with Don's "(Till) I Kissed You", which hit #4 on the US pop charts.
The brothers toured extensively with Buddy Holly during 1957 and 1958. According to Holly biographer Philip Norman, they were responsible for the change in style for Holly and The Crickets from Levi's and T-shirts to the Everlys' sharp Ivy League suits. Don claimed Holly to be a generous songwriter who wrote the song "Wishing" for them, while Phil later stated: "We were all from the South. We'd started in country music."
Phil Everly was one of Buddy Holly's pallbearers at his funeral in February 1959, although Don did not attend. He later said, "I couldn't go to the funeral. I couldn't go anywhere. I just took to my bed."
After three years on the Cadence label, the Everlys signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1960,[3] for a reported 10-year, multi-million dollar deal. They continued to have hits for Warner Brothers and their first, 1960's "Cathy's Clown" (written by Don and Phil) sold eight million copies, making it the duo's biggest-selling record. "Cathy's Clown" was number WB1, the first release in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records.
Other successful Warner Brothers singles followed, such as "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)" (1960) (Pop #7), "Walk Right Back" (1961) (Pop #7), "Crying In The Rain" (1962) (Pop #6), and "That's Old Fashioned" (1962) (Pop #9, their last Top 10 hit). From 1960 to 1962, Cadence Records also continued to release Everly Brothers singles from the vaults: these included the top ten hit "When Will I Be Loved" (written by Phil) (Pop #8) and the top 40 hit "Like Strangers", as well as lower-charting singles.
However, shortly after signing with Warner Brothers, the Everlys fell out with their manager Wesley Rose, who also administered the Acuff-Rose music publishing company. Consequently for a period in the early 1960s, the Everlys were shut off from Acuff-Rose songwriters. These included Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who had written the majority of the Everlys' hits, as well as Don and Phil Everly themselves, who were still contracted to Acuff-Rose as songwriters and had written several of their own hits. Their dispute with Acuff-Rose lasted until 1964, at which point the brothers once again began writing some of their own material, as well as working with the Bryants.
With proven sources of hit material unavailable, from 1961 through early 1964 the Everlys recorded a mix of covers and songs by other writers. Their last U.S. Top Ten hit was 1962's "That's Old Fashioned" and succeeding years saw the Everly Brothers selling many fewer records in the United States. Their enlistment in the United States Marine Corps in November 1961 also took them out of the spotlight; one of their few performances during their Marines stint was an on-leave appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing "Jezebel" and "Crying In The Rain".
After the Marine Corps, the brothers resumed their career, but U.S. chart success was limited. Of the 27 singles the Everly Brothers released on Warner Brothers from 1963 through 1970, only three made the Hot 100, and none peaked higher than #31. Album sales were also down. The Everlys' first two albums for Warner (in 1960 and 1961) both peaked at #9 US—but after that, though they went on to release a dozen more LPs for Warner Brothers, only one made the top 200 (1965's Beat & Soul, which topped out at #141.)
By then the brothers' personal lives had gone through serious upheavals. Both were addicted to speed for a while. Don's condition was made worse because he was taking the then unregulated drug Ritalin which led to deeper trouble. Don's addiction lasted three years and eventually he was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown and help for his addiction to Ritalin. It was during this troubled time the duo embarked on a UK tour. Don was unable to complete the tour and returned to the U.S. leaving Phil to carry on with their bass player, Joey Page, taking the place of Don.
Their star had begun to wane two years before the British Invasion in 1964 — although their appeal remained strong in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere.
By 1965, the duo took a back seat to the new sound of the beat boom — including bands like The Beatles, who were highly influenced by, ironically, the Everly Brothers. A number of very successful 1950s acts had been influential on this new sound: for example Dion and the Belmonts, The Shirelles and Elvis Presley.
If their fortunes in the States were fading, the Everlys remained a successful act in the U.K. and Canada throughout most of the 1960s, reaching the top 40 in the United Kingdom with singles through 1968, and the top 10 in Canada as late as 1967. The 1966 album Two Yanks in England was a reflection of the Everlys' popularity in the U.K.; the album was recorded in England with backup by major UK chart act The Hollies, who also wrote many of the album's songs.
Towards the end of the 1960s, the Everly Brothers returned to an emphasis on their country-rock roots, and their 1968 album Roots is touted by some critics as "one of the finest early country-rock albums". However, by the end of the 1960s, the Everly Brothers were no longer hitmakers in either North America or the United Kingdom, and in 1970 their contract with Warner Bros. lapsed after ten years. In 1970, they were the summer replacement hosts for Johnny Cash's television show. In 1970, Don Everly released his first solo album, but it was not a success. The Everly Brothers resumed performing in 1971, and signed a contract with RCA Records, for whom they issued two albums in 1972 and 1973.
After the split, Phil and Don Everly pursued solo careers during a decade apart. Don found some success on the US country charts in the mid to late 1970s, in Nashville with his band Dead Cowboys, and playing with Albert Lee.
Phil sang back-up vocals on two songs for Warren Zevon's 1976 album Warren Zevon.
In 1979, Don Everly recorded a duet with Emmylou Harris, "Everytime You Leave", on her album "Blue Kentucky Girl".
Phil, meanwhile, recorded less frequently, and with no real chart success until the 1980s. However, Phil did write "Don't Say You Don't Love Me No More" for the hit Clint Eastwood comedy film, Every Which Way But Loose (1978) in which he performed it as a duet with co-star, Sondra Locke. He also wrote "One Too Many Women In Your Life" for the sequel, Any Which Way You Can (1980) where he could be seen playing in the band behind Sondra's performance.
Then, in 1983, Phil enjoyed significant UK success as a soloist with the album Phil Everly, recorded mainly in London. Session musicians on the LP included Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, Rockpile drummer Terry Williams, and keyboard player Pete Wingfield. The track "She Means Nothing To Me", written by John David Williams and featuring Cliff Richard as co-lead vocalist, was a UK Top 10 hit, and "Louise" reached the Top 50 in 1983.
The brothers got back together in 1983. Their reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 23, 1983, was instigated by English guitarist Albert Lee (who was also the concert's musical director). This concert spawned a well-received live LP and video.
The brothers then returned to the studio as a duo for the first time in over a decade, resulting in the album EB '84, produced by Dave Edmunds. Lead single "On the Wings of a Nightingale", written by Paul McCartney, was a minor success and returned them to the U.S. and UK charts.
They then earned a final charting country-music hit with "Born Yesterday" in 1986 from the album of the same name. During this time Don's son, Edan Everly, would often join the Everly brothers on stage to sing and play guitar. The brothers also sang vocals with Paul Simon on the Grammy award-winning title track to Simon's album Graceland.
Even though the brothers have not produced studio albums since 1989's Some Hearts, they tour and perform. They have collaborated with other performers, usually singing either backup vocals or duets. Phil has been especially active in this regard: in 1994, a new recording of "All I Have to Do Is Dream", featuring Cliff Richard and Phil sharing vocals, was a U.K. Top 20 hit.
In 1998, the brothers recorded the song "Cold" for the concept album of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down the Wind, and the recording was later used in stage versions as a "song on the radio."
In 1999, Don Everly and his son Edan Everly did a benefit show billed as The Everly Brothers for Kentucky flood relief.
In 2004 a compilation entitled "Country Classics" was released. This consists of tracks recorded in 1972 and 1985.
In 2006, Phil Everly sang a duet, "Sweet Little Corrina", with country singer Vince Gill on his album These Days. He previously supplied harmony vocals on J.D. Souther's "White Rhythm and Blues" on his 1979 album You're Only Lonely.
Don was born in Powderly, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and Phil two years later in Chicago, Illinois. Their father, Ike Everly, was a musician. Ike, with Merle Travis, Mose Rager, and Kennedy Jones, was honored by the construction of The Four Legends Fountain in Drakesboro, Kentucky. Ike Everly had a show on KMA and KFNF in Shenandoah, Iowa, in the 1940s, with his wife Margaret and two young sons. Singing on the show gave the brothers their first exposure to the music industry. The family sang together live and traveled in the area singing as the Everly Family. The Everly Brothers grew up from ages 5 and 7 through early high school in Shenandoah.} (Their boyhood home is being restored and will be donated to the Shenandoah Historical Society in the spring of 2009.) They are the cousins of actor James Best.
As the brothers transitioned out of the family act and into a duo, family friend Chet Atkins became an early champion of The Everly Brothers. Despite Atkins' affiliation with RCA Records, it was Atkins who engineered a chance for The Everly Brothers to record for Columbia Records in early 1956. However, their first and only single for the label, "Keep A' Lovin' Me", was a flop, and they were quickly dropped from Columbia.
Atkins still encouraged the Everly Brothers to continue on, and introduced them to Wesley Rose of Acuff-Rose music publishers. Impressed with the duo's songwriting talents, Rose told them that if they signed to Acuff-Rose as songwriters, he would also get them a recording deal. The duo signed to Acuff-Rose in late 1956, and by early 1957 Rose had introduced them to Archie Bleyer, who was setting up his new Cadence Records label. The Everlys signed to Cadence, and entered the recording studio for their first Cadence session in February 1957.
Their first Cadence single, "Bye Bye Love", had been rejected by 30 other acts (including Elvis Presley)[citation needed], but the Everlys saw potential in the song. Their recording of "Bye Bye Love" reached #2 on the pop charts behind Presley's "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear", hitting #1 on the Country and #5 on the R&B charts. The song, written by the husband and wife Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers' first million-seller.
By 1962, the Everly Brothers had earned $35 million dollars from record sales. They became stalwarts of the Cadence label. Working with the Bryants, the duo had hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, the biggest being "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", "Bird Dog" and "Problems", all penned by the Bryants. The Everlys also found success as songwriters, especially with Don's "(Till) I Kissed You", which hit #4 on the US pop charts.
The brothers toured extensively with Buddy Holly during 1957 and 1958. According to Holly biographer Philip Norman, they were responsible for the change in style for Holly and The Crickets from Levi's and T-shirts to the Everlys' sharp Ivy League suits. Don claimed Holly to be a generous songwriter who wrote the song "Wishing" for them, while Phil later stated: "We were all from the South. We'd started in country music."
Phil Everly was one of Buddy Holly's pallbearers at his funeral in February 1959, although Don did not attend. He later said, "I couldn't go to the funeral. I couldn't go anywhere. I just took to my bed."
After three years on the Cadence label, the Everlys signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1960,[3] for a reported 10-year, multi-million dollar deal. They continued to have hits for Warner Brothers and their first, 1960's "Cathy's Clown" (written by Don and Phil) sold eight million copies, making it the duo's biggest-selling record. "Cathy's Clown" was number WB1, the first release in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records.
Other successful Warner Brothers singles followed, such as "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)" (1960) (Pop #7), "Walk Right Back" (1961) (Pop #7), "Crying In The Rain" (1962) (Pop #6), and "That's Old Fashioned" (1962) (Pop #9, their last Top 10 hit). From 1960 to 1962, Cadence Records also continued to release Everly Brothers singles from the vaults: these included the top ten hit "When Will I Be Loved" (written by Phil) (Pop #8) and the top 40 hit "Like Strangers", as well as lower-charting singles.
However, shortly after signing with Warner Brothers, the Everlys fell out with their manager Wesley Rose, who also administered the Acuff-Rose music publishing company. Consequently for a period in the early 1960s, the Everlys were shut off from Acuff-Rose songwriters. These included Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who had written the majority of the Everlys' hits, as well as Don and Phil Everly themselves, who were still contracted to Acuff-Rose as songwriters and had written several of their own hits. Their dispute with Acuff-Rose lasted until 1964, at which point the brothers once again began writing some of their own material, as well as working with the Bryants.
With proven sources of hit material unavailable, from 1961 through early 1964 the Everlys recorded a mix of covers and songs by other writers. Their last U.S. Top Ten hit was 1962's "That's Old Fashioned" and succeeding years saw the Everly Brothers selling many fewer records in the United States. Their enlistment in the United States Marine Corps in November 1961 also took them out of the spotlight; one of their few performances during their Marines stint was an on-leave appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing "Jezebel" and "Crying In The Rain".
After the Marine Corps, the brothers resumed their career, but U.S. chart success was limited. Of the 27 singles the Everly Brothers released on Warner Brothers from 1963 through 1970, only three made the Hot 100, and none peaked higher than #31. Album sales were also down. The Everlys' first two albums for Warner (in 1960 and 1961) both peaked at #9 US—but after that, though they went on to release a dozen more LPs for Warner Brothers, only one made the top 200 (1965's Beat & Soul, which topped out at #141.)
By then the brothers' personal lives had gone through serious upheavals. Both were addicted to speed for a while. Don's condition was made worse because he was taking the then unregulated drug Ritalin which led to deeper trouble. Don's addiction lasted three years and eventually he was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown and help for his addiction to Ritalin. It was during this troubled time the duo embarked on a UK tour. Don was unable to complete the tour and returned to the U.S. leaving Phil to carry on with their bass player, Joey Page, taking the place of Don.
Their star had begun to wane two years before the British Invasion in 1964 — although their appeal remained strong in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere.
By 1965, the duo took a back seat to the new sound of the beat boom — including bands like The Beatles, who were highly influenced by, ironically, the Everly Brothers. A number of very successful 1950s acts had been influential on this new sound: for example Dion and the Belmonts, The Shirelles and Elvis Presley.
If their fortunes in the States were fading, the Everlys remained a successful act in the U.K. and Canada throughout most of the 1960s, reaching the top 40 in the United Kingdom with singles through 1968, and the top 10 in Canada as late as 1967. The 1966 album Two Yanks in England was a reflection of the Everlys' popularity in the U.K.; the album was recorded in England with backup by major UK chart act The Hollies, who also wrote many of the album's songs.
Towards the end of the 1960s, the Everly Brothers returned to an emphasis on their country-rock roots, and their 1968 album Roots is touted by some critics as "one of the finest early country-rock albums". However, by the end of the 1960s, the Everly Brothers were no longer hitmakers in either North America or the United Kingdom, and in 1970 their contract with Warner Bros. lapsed after ten years. In 1970, they were the summer replacement hosts for Johnny Cash's television show. In 1970, Don Everly released his first solo album, but it was not a success. The Everly Brothers resumed performing in 1971, and signed a contract with RCA Records, for whom they issued two albums in 1972 and 1973.
After the split, Phil and Don Everly pursued solo careers during a decade apart. Don found some success on the US country charts in the mid to late 1970s, in Nashville with his band Dead Cowboys, and playing with Albert Lee.
Phil sang back-up vocals on two songs for Warren Zevon's 1976 album Warren Zevon.
In 1979, Don Everly recorded a duet with Emmylou Harris, "Everytime You Leave", on her album "Blue Kentucky Girl".
Phil, meanwhile, recorded less frequently, and with no real chart success until the 1980s. However, Phil did write "Don't Say You Don't Love Me No More" for the hit Clint Eastwood comedy film, Every Which Way But Loose (1978) in which he performed it as a duet with co-star, Sondra Locke. He also wrote "One Too Many Women In Your Life" for the sequel, Any Which Way You Can (1980) where he could be seen playing in the band behind Sondra's performance.
Then, in 1983, Phil enjoyed significant UK success as a soloist with the album Phil Everly, recorded mainly in London. Session musicians on the LP included Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, Rockpile drummer Terry Williams, and keyboard player Pete Wingfield. The track "She Means Nothing To Me", written by John David Williams and featuring Cliff Richard as co-lead vocalist, was a UK Top 10 hit, and "Louise" reached the Top 50 in 1983.
The brothers got back together in 1983. Their reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 23, 1983, was instigated by English guitarist Albert Lee (who was also the concert's musical director). This concert spawned a well-received live LP and video.
The brothers then returned to the studio as a duo for the first time in over a decade, resulting in the album EB '84, produced by Dave Edmunds. Lead single "On the Wings of a Nightingale", written by Paul McCartney, was a minor success and returned them to the U.S. and UK charts.
They then earned a final charting country-music hit with "Born Yesterday" in 1986 from the album of the same name. During this time Don's son, Edan Everly, would often join the Everly brothers on stage to sing and play guitar. The brothers also sang vocals with Paul Simon on the Grammy award-winning title track to Simon's album Graceland.
Even though the brothers have not produced studio albums since 1989's Some Hearts, they tour and perform. They have collaborated with other performers, usually singing either backup vocals or duets. Phil has been especially active in this regard: in 1994, a new recording of "All I Have to Do Is Dream", featuring Cliff Richard and Phil sharing vocals, was a U.K. Top 20 hit.
In 1998, the brothers recorded the song "Cold" for the concept album of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down the Wind, and the recording was later used in stage versions as a "song on the radio."
In 1999, Don Everly and his son Edan Everly did a benefit show billed as The Everly Brothers for Kentucky flood relief.
In 2004 a compilation entitled "Country Classics" was released. This consists of tracks recorded in 1972 and 1985.
In 2006, Phil Everly sang a duet, "Sweet Little Corrina", with country singer Vince Gill on his album These Days. He previously supplied harmony vocals on J.D. Souther's "White Rhythm and Blues" on his 1979 album You're Only Lonely.