Back in 2016, after the one-two punch of David Bowie’s and Prince’s deaths had left the culture reeling, I wrote a column urging readers to celebrate those artists still alive. Specifically, I name-checked the then-surviving founders of rock and roll itself: Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis. Five years later, only Jerry Lee still walks among us and, until yesterday, so did Don Everly, who with his brother Phil (1939-2014) laid the bedrock for close harmony singing in modern popular music. Specifically, the Everly Brothers took the high mountain sound of country acts like the Delmore Brothers and the Louvin Brothers — those close diatonic thirds that could conjure up murder ballads and Christian remonstrance alike — and applied it to the romantic concerns of 1950s teenagers. It sold like crazy, because songs like “Wake Up, Little Susie” told relatable (and hilarious) tales, because Don was an incredibly inventive rhythm guitarist, and because those twinned voices went straight to the pleasure center of a listener’s brain.
Without the Everlys, the next generation of rockers would have sounded entirely different. The Beatles modeled the harmonies of their first hit, “Please Please Me,” on “Cathy’s Clown.” Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys quadrupled Don and Phil’s vocal lines and took them into psychedelic territory. Simon & Garfunkel essentially started life as an Everly Brothers rip-off band; later, Paul Simon would return the favor by asking the Everly’s to sing back-up on “Graceland.”
Because I came of age with these later groups, I didn’t make the connection. “Cathy’s Clown",” their final Number 1 hit from 1960, was the only Everly Brothers song that registered with mini-me, and I thought it was an oldie. It wasn’t until my college years, when I started digging into roots, that I bought a best-of album and became entranced by songs like “All I Have to Do is Dream,” “Devoted to You,” “Let It Be Me,” the ghostly “Take a Message to Mary,” and the sublime “When Will I Be Loved,” Linda Ronstadt’s hit remake not a patch on the original. The deep cuts are pretty amazing too: How are you going to argue with a song titled “I’m Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail”?
Listening to the Everlys now is to appreciate that they were (and remain) a gateway to both the future and the past. Through Don and Phil there’s a straight line from the Delmores singing “Born to Be Blue” to the Beatles singing “If I Fell,” from the Louvin Brothers to the Avett Brothers. And if the musical lineage doesn’t do it for you, just follow the rise and swell of those two lock-stepped voices, bound together as only brothers can be, through love to enmity and back again.
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Thanks for this piece. I liked the Everly’s but was never moved by them the way I was/am by the Louvin’s, who reached that pleasure center but also brought the anguish. I remember a grade school teacher playing us the Everly’s ‘Barbara Allen’ as an example of our folk traditions. Being culturally unaware early teens we made fun of their ‘accents’ which hurt her feelings. Shame on us.
BTW One of my favorite versions of the song is from the Alistair Sims’ ‘Scrooge.’
The Everlys' influence on the Beach Boys is potent. The Boys did a cover version of "Devoted to You" on their Party album in 1965, but there's also a version without the party noises dubbed over - all the better to showcase some sterling harmony by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. If only they could have been that harmonious off Mike. Er, mic.
Amen, brother!
Great stuff, sir. IMHO, the Everlys were a lot more progressive than their Early RnR peers. Two Yanks, Roots…essential stuff.
Love this delightfully mellow and psychedelic version of their own earlier tune.
https://youtu.be/V6Bg2SEiQ1k
Beautiful!
Ahhhh ... voices from my youth. I loved the Everly Brothers and their music. Harmonies to die for!
Thanks for this piece. I liked the Everly’s but was never moved by them the way I was/am by the Louvin’s, who reached that pleasure center but also brought the anguish. I remember a grade school teacher playing us the Everly’s ‘Barbara Allen’ as an example of our folk traditions. Being culturally unaware early teens we made fun of their ‘accents’ which hurt her feelings. Shame on us.
BTW One of my favorite versions of the song is from the Alistair Sims’ ‘Scrooge.’
The Everlys' influence on the Beach Boys is potent. The Boys did a cover version of "Devoted to You" on their Party album in 1965, but there's also a version without the party noises dubbed over - all the better to showcase some sterling harmony by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. If only they could have been that harmonious off Mike. Er, mic.
Thank you Ty for such a great tribute. I loved their music.
The Everly's harmonies stop me in my tracks to this day. Planning to play the Songs Our Father Taught Us album as a tribute to them today
Wonderful music. Close harmony and understandable lyrics missing today.
For me, the best of the ‘50s were The HiLos, a dramatically close quartet,
often singing a cappella, with a top tenor who could sing countertenor.
Amazing arrangements. They even outdid the Four Freshmen.
Take a listen!