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Home » The Everly Brothers: “Let It Be Me” in three acts with long intermissions

The Everly Brothers: “Let It Be Me” in three acts with long intermissions

The New Neo Posted on by

The incomparable Everly Brothers were probably my favorite group while I was growing up. I love harmony, and harmony doesn’t get much better than the Everly brothers.

Like many groups that employ close harmony, they were siblings (duh – “Everly Brothers“). Siblings have two advantages, and you can probably guess what they are: nature and nurture. They often inherit musical ability from musical parents – that was true of the Everlys, whose father and mother were professional musicians – and it’s not unusual for them to have been performing professionally together since childhood or teen years. That was true of the Everlys, as well. DNA and other factors such as similar regional accents often make the voices of siblings blend particularly well.

And of course, there’s all that early rehearsal time in that musical family. And by “rehearsal time” I don’t just mean formal rehearsals. Siblings are around each other a lot, and in the days before the internet – or even much TV – fooling around with music and singing together filled a lot of time and even could be fun.

As part of my new obsession with singing – a skill I’ve tried to learn but which eludes me, except in the most basic way – I’ve become interested in family groups. More about some of the others later, but for now I’ll just say there are patterns and parallels.

One sad pattern – and it’s a pattern shared by many groups that are not related, such as the Beatles – is later breakup and enmity, after the fame hits. Sadly, this was also true for the Everlys. The usual stresses of fame and clashes of ego (who gets more attention and adulation from the public?) are often exacerbated by the old childhood rivalries. Substances enter into it, too. I read one piece on the Everlys that said that they had been “yoked together” since childhood, and I think that’s apt. There’s a yearning to be free of that deep connection which is responsible for achieving almost everything you ever wanted but which can become a heavy burden.

That’s what happened to the Everlys. They broke up very publicly (during a concert) in 1973 after years of conflict, and they never reconciled except for intermittent professional appearances.

Their hit song “Let It Be Me” was released in 1959 and was based on a French song from a few years earlier. You probably know the original version; it’s a thing of aching beauty:

This next version was almost twenty-five years later, performed live at their 1983 reunion concert ten years after they had their acrimonious split up. The emotional tenor of the song is very different, and I actually prefer it although I’m not sure most people would agree with me:

This is six years later, in 1989. Time and age have taken further tolls, but the emotion is heightened, if anything:

Comments

The Everly Brothers: “Let It Be Me” in three acts with long intermissions — 86 Comments

  3. The Everlys were great and very influential on both rock n roll and country music. Along with Elvis and Little Richard the Everly Brothers were the biggest influence on the Beatles and they based their harmonizing in their mostly (‘Two Of Us’ on ‘Let It Be’ an exception) early recordings right off of the Everlys.

    McCartney was such a huge fan that Phil and Don even got a call out on his 1970s hit ‘Let Em In’.

  4. Ah, the Everly Brothers and their harmonies. They recorded Barbara Allen. Although my teen years coincided with the Beatles ruling the waves, decades later I go back more to the music that preceded the Beatles- Doo-Wop etc. I believe that’s because of 1) the vocal harmonies and 2) the absence of pretentious political preaching (CSNY or CSN, I’m looking at you.).

    For another example of a family group that harmonizes, consider Switzerland’s
    Oesch´s die Dritten. Oesch’s Die Dritten, Musikantenstadl – 2013

    They cross over the ocean rather well. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.

    Andy Borg, the TV host on the first vid, looks a bit like my deceased brother-in-law, who as a child emigrated after WW2 from Germany to the US.

  5. physicsguy; Griffin:

    I have become quite obsessed with the Bee Gees, including and especially that very song “Too Much Heaven,” and I plan a bunch of posts on the group and some things connected with them.

  6. Griffin; physicsguy:

    The Bee Gees insisted on recording into one mic, not just for that song. They would not do separate tracking for their harmonies because they felt they needed to be very close in order to achieve the melded effect (although for certain songs they sometimes added tracking for emphasis). In concert they used different mics, but not to record. They also used one mic even in concert when they did their acoustic medleys.

    Bee Gee lore is quite fascinating.

  7. Neo, if you have a big screen TV with a good sound system, get the Bee Gees bluray of their Las Vegas concert, One Night Only. I put that one on at least twice a year… doesn’t get old

  9. Gringo:

    Yes, just like the Everlys, the Bee Gees were professional entertainers as children. I believe the Bee Gees started at an even younger age – twins Mo and Robin had not yet hit puberty. They were very polished vocally from the start. There are tons of videos on YouTube from those early days. It’s quite remarkable to see them as little nippers. But Barry was already Barry, teen version, very handsome and tall.

  10. It seems to be a sad consequence of too many family or at least sibling acts having serious falling out in later years. When Creedence ended John and Tom Fogerty had a massive falling out and apparently never spoke again and John didn’t even attend Tom’s funeral.

    Combination of spending too much time together mixed with money and alcohol/drugs and huge egos I suppose.

  11. physicsguy:

    I haven’t watched it on a big screen, but I’ve seen it on my desktop.

    I’ve binge-watched many (couldn’t even count the number) of videos: concert and interview footage, and a few documentaries. It’s a very deep rabbit hole, as they say. I find them fascinating on a musical and a personal/emotional level, and as a pop phenomenon of a roller coaster ride regarding fame.

  12. There is a new documentary about the Bee Gees on HBO right now which I don’t subscribe to but I’ve heard mixed things about.

  13. Another thing about the Bee Gees – a lot of people detest them even to this day. They seem to call forth love/hate feelings. I’m firmly planted in the “love” camp. But although I never hated them, I didn’t always love them. I’ll talk about it in another post.

  14. Griffin:

    I don’t get HBO either. But from what I’ve read, the documentary is good for people who aren’t already up on their Bee Gee lore (I’m already up on my Bee Gee lore). The criticisms I heard are that it ends in the 80s rather than going further, that it ignores a few things, and that it focuses too much on the sociological/political implications of the backlash against disco.

    But for those who don’t know much about the Bee Gees and their long history in music, it’s probably good.

  15. I’m so glad to see there are some Bee Gee fans here. That means maybe I won’t bore you all too much if I go on and on about them in several subsequent posts 🙂 .

  17. Coincidentally, I and a HS mate (a Harvard shrink with a nice tenor) just last week recorded that very Everly Brothers number, along with All I Have To Do Is Dream, another sweet gem. Way-fun leavens to the Palestrina, Tallis, etc, motets that primarily occupy us. You can download karaokes for them and then add your vocals. We trade parts using a musical program called Audacity. BTW: I’d reccommend to anybody, anytime, that they give a listen on Youtube to one of the many fine choral groups there performing Palestrina’s “Sicut Cervus”. How a fellow human being could weave voices together to such ethereal effect truly is both an inspiration and an abiding mystery.

  18. I liked the sixties Bee Gees — “I’ve Just Gotta a Message To You,” “1910 Mining Disaster.” But their disco falsetto was just too shrill for me.

  20. I like harmonic sibling singing, though more from the distaff side. My introduction to it was via the Roche sisters, the eldest of whom died a few years ago. Currently, there is the British Stavely-Taylor sisters, who perform under the name “The Staves”. Three American sisters–two of whom are twins, I think–perform under the name “Joseph” for some reason. The Haden Triplets perform traditional country songs. The three Haim sisters are a rock band. The three Lovell sisters used to do bluegrass music, then one sister left and the remaining two perform blues rock as “Larkin Poe”.

    There are also some non-sister harmony singers, such as three young women who perform as “Mountain Man” for some inexplicable reason. I like all of these groups, though the music ranges from country (Hadens) to folk (Mountain Man), folk rock (Staves), pop rock (Joseph), rock (Haim), and blues rock (Larkin Poe). I’m probably forgetting some.

  21. huxley:

    That’s another thing I plan to write about.

    Actually, they had several types of falsetto with different characteristics. One type was definitely shrill, in some of their best-known songs of the disco era.

    Their 60s music was so different, and haunting. And they had a big post-disco career, too, although some of it involved writing monster hits for other performers.

  22. …they were siblings (duh – “Everly Brothers“). –neo

    And then there were the “Walker Brothers” composed of three guys, none of whom were brothers and none of whom were named “Walker,” though all three eventually changed their names to Walker.

    I wouldn’t say they did close harmonies though. Their songs were expansive, romantic, wall-of-sound pop anchored by Scott Walker’s baritone lead and songwriting.

    Their big hit I remember was “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.”

    –The Walker Brothers, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhmQn7nrKdg

    Scott Walker moved to Europe and morphed into an avant-garde musician of some note. There’s a documentary, “Scott Walker: 30th Century Man,” which got me interested. Brian Eno, among others, sings Walker’s praises. Strange story. I recommend the video.

  24. Re: …the Roche sisters

    The Music Man:

    I’m a big fan too. Could they do harmony!

    It being that time of year, here are the Roches doing a magnificent job on Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” Which they even performed on Saturday Night Live back in 1979.

    I posted this once before and Kate had some good comments. I understand it was written as a four-part harmony, but the Roches are only three voices. So it may have been more effort than rehearsing the score sheets.

    –The Roches, “Hallelujah Chorus” by Handel
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiwMoW003Fo

    Sublime. Not bad for a folk-pop group.

  25. One of the things about The Bee Gees that made them unique is they greatly changed in style and sound and that led to a lot friction as Robin went from the main lead to more of an equal with Barry to then Barry being mostly the lead when he found his falsetto.

    ‘You Should Be Dancing’ is an interesting song also to hear the range that Barry shows.

  26. In the 2nd version, it’s quite striking how they look so directly at each other. I don’t think they were looking into each other’s eyes. Seems like they were looking at each other’s mouth in order to harmonize more perfectly?
    It’s also interesting to watch them sing ” and that you’ll al ways” with “always” having a tiny but distinct gap between syllables. There’s a look that passes between them … esp about the 2:00 mark on the second version. But also around 3:00 on the 3rd version where they’ve avoided making eye contact for the whole song but do look at each other then.

  27. Brian E reminds me of the great vocals on the old CSNY album Deja Vu. I practically grew up on that hippy sh_t. Almost Cut My Hair, but I didn’t.

    No siblings with these guys, but the song Carry On is almost all vocal harmony. It is also one of those two-songs-in-one formats, broken by an acapella chorus in the middle at 1:55. It is a different song after that point. Also, the electric guitar in the first half is really a lyrical solo voice, whereas in the second half the lead guitar work is twangy and not in a vocal style at all.

    Carry On
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh67x9iDCjg

  28. Somewhere buried i have some of their original early albums in a box along with the righteous brothers and many other classics… sadly, dad gave away the buddy holly albums… (face palm)..

  29. Neo, The Righteous Brothers said they got their name when performing at a club in LA. One of the black patrons yelled out loud, “Righteous, brother!”, and they took it from there.

    Also a little trivia note: I heard Billy Joel once say that when he met Paul McCartney, he was mostly tongue tied, but managed to blurt out awkwardly, “You meant everything to us.” Paul graciously acknowledged he had said the same thing in the same awkward way when he met Phil Everly.

  30. I didn’t really hear “Wake Up, Little Susie,” a hit for the Everlys in 1957, until I heard the Grateful Dead do it on a live recording from 1973 and I realized it was a bit naughty.

    A teen couple has gone to the drive-in and fallen asleep. The boy wakes up at 4am and tries to rouse his girlfriend. He is worried (it’s the 50s) that they are in trouble and their reputations are shot.
    ___________________________________________

    We’ve both been sound asleep, wake up, little Susie, and weep
    The movie’s over, it’s four o’clock, and we’re in trouble deep

    Wake up little Susie
    Wake up little Susie

    Well, what are we gonna tell your mama?
    What are we gonna tell your pa?
    What are we gonna tell our friends
    When they say, “Ooh la la!”
    ___________________________________________

    Pretty funny. I can see why it was a hit in 1957. Wiki says the couple is innocent, but I don’t believe the lyrics preclude consummation.

  31. One sad pattern – and it’s a pattern shared by many groups that are not related, such as the Beatles – is later breakup and enmity, after the fame hits. — The usual stresses of fame and clashes of ego — Neo

    For reasons I’ll skip, I was curious about Tyrone Powers death at an early age and I came across these quotes:

    [to Mai Zetterling:] I’m sick of all these knights in shining armor parts, I want to do something worthwhile like plays and films that have something to say.

    [to Mai Zetterling:] Some day I will show all the motherfuckers who say I was a success just because of my pretty face. Sometimes I wish I had a really bad car accident so my face would get smashed up and I’d look like Eddie Constantine. It’s so tiring being everybody’s darling boy at my age … I know I’ve been lucky, that things have gone almost too smoothly career-wise. What I resent about it is that it is all built on a pretty face. Hollywood was such a crazy place, made you feel terrific at times. You felt you could achieve anything because you were treated like a god. But it sure was a bum place too. When you saw the new faces queuing up, like bloody comets, who would strike the screen and leave an old worshiped star obsolete in no time. Nobody will ever understand what this did to people, how it destroyed them, made them hollow … Jesus Christ, I don’t want to become an ageless matinée idol, having to keep up my looks, lift my chin like Marlene [Dietrich?] and never dare smile in case my face cracks.

    Cursed by a pretty face, or a pretty voice, or the changing fads of the times.

  32. Huxley: I think that SNL performance may have been my introduction to the Roches, and I’ve liked them every since (I’m getting up there).

    I knew I was forgetting one, and one of the best: The Wild Reeds! When I first heard the name, I was hoping they were three sisters named Reed–no such luck! They are a little wild, though.

  35. I believe elsewhere neo has mentioned Simon & Garfunkel’s debt to the Everly Brothers. And like the Everlys, S&G broke up unpleasantly except for occasional reunions.

    However, for the S&G 2003 reunion, Simon called the Everlys up for the tour.
    _______________________________________________

    Don and Phil Everly had an even worse history of fighting than Simon and Garfunkel. They hadn’t even spoken in about three years, let alone performed together.

    “They basically came out of retirement for us,” said Paul Simon. “I said, ‘Phil, look, if you’re going to retire, you might as well come out one more time and take a bow and let me at least say what it is that you meant to us and to the culture.’”

    Bye Bye Love – Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk2-J4A-vbE

  36. Marisa: Thanks for the suggestions! I’d never heard of either group, and just my cup of T!

  37. I think couple in Little Susie were innocent:

    “The movie wasn’t so hot
    It didn’t have much of a plot
    We fell asleep, our goose is cooked
    Our reputation is shot”

    It’s one of my earlier musical memories. I would have been nine, standing beside my grandfather’s black ‘53 (?) Chevy, so must have been hearing it on his car radio.

  40. Mac, neo:

    Ah, but what were they doing during the movie…? Why did they fall asleep so easily?

  41. huxley: The evidence is not absolutely conclusive, but there’s a clear implication that they fell asleep because they were bored.

    I read something about Scott Walker’s later weirder career a while back and have been meaning to check him out. That movie is on my watch list,

  43. Mac:

    Well, maybe I was having fun or a dirty mind. I did say the lyrics “did not preclude consummation.”

    Enjoy the Scott Walker doco. I see it’s on Amazon Prime and I may give it a spin over the holidays.

  46. neo:

    So they chose not to waste time being bored and barely managed to get their clothes back on before falling blissfully asleep.

    Crazy kids. Hormones.

  48. “neo on December 23, 2020 at 5:19 pm said:
    Another thing about the Bee Gees – a lot of people detest them even to this day. They seem to call forth love/hate feelings. “

    Sister, you got that right.

    One thing that surprised me – getting back to the topic- was that the early Chet Atkins RCA “living stereo” treatment of the song preceded the Everlys’. I, never noting the timeline very closely, just assumed Everly first, Atkins covering the hit, second.

    The same goes for “Walk, Dont Run”. Johnny Smith of course recorded it first in 1954. But the Atkins 1956/57 version preceded and then inspired the Ventures hit version.

    I personally like the Smith version best, although the Atkins version is interesting, as he uses his trademark independent base line in a somewhat more restrained and subtle way than he usually did in the more fan base pleasing county stylings.

  51. Huxley:
    There is a generation gap there that you are on the other side of… in ’57 I was in the 7th or 8th grade when it hit the charts. A couple of classmates did a pantomime to it for a Jr Hi “talent” show…. Times were different then. You got in real trouble for things like that; the shotgun-wedding was real then.

    The top 40 stations provided background music for our lives then, just like “American Graffiti”. Lots of good sounds. Good times those were, sandwiched in between Korea and ‘Nam.

  52. Thanks for bringing up the Everlys and the Bee Gees, Neo. Wonderful groups, and the Everlys were influential for many other singers not mentioned.
    Graham Nash idolized them. I always imagined him as a effete posh Brit, but his memoir revealed him to be a tough character from northern England, dropping f-bombs on every page.

    A kindred group which merits a separate topic is the Beach Boys.

    Happy Christmas to all!

  53. youtube….can’t get a link…has “come all ye fair and tender ladies” by the oddly named “mountain man”, three women with a really neat harmony.

    Never cared for the Everlys, but one evening in 95, returning from a reunion of about a dozen guys from my fraternity–classes of 65-68, maybe–the station I was listening to had a long selection of The Lettermen.
    Oh, Lord. Practically had to pull over and cry. Not at the music, but at the times it reflected without mentioning them.

    I preferred their harmonies and their selections.

    Seems they were going into the doo-wop field as they were getting started more than half a century ago. But a famous Detroit DJ–J. P. McCarthy–played the B side of their release, which to fill the time I guess they did in close harmony. And that was their career.

    It used to be said you could get a sunburn in February listening to the Beach Boys. Listening to The Lettermen–regardless of the subject of the song–you could get the pleated skirts, the button down shirts, the penny loafers, and the ivy covered walls, even if you were in high school. And nothing was happening off campus.
    Nope. You didn’t read the fraternity national magazine to see who’d bought it in SEA. You didn’t have to detour around protestors demanding the admin building be burned down. You didn’t have a friend failing his classes, or dumped by a woman and clinically depressed. You didn’t even have a wind chill of minus three on the way to an eight o’clock class across campus.

    All things considered, might have been better if they’d gone into doo-wop.

  55. Phil and Don did not age well, to say the least. Yikes…

    They were 50 and 52 at the time of that recording. They weren’t aging badly, they just couldn’t be bothered to visit a competent barber. Don also needed an exercise program.

  56. About the BeeGees: I was not a fan and hated the disco stuff, but will stick up for their first album. First American, anyway—the one just called 1st. I haven’t heard it for a long time but I recall it being a great bit of mid-60s Britpop (Australian origin notwithstanding). I think I’ll dig it out of the LP closet.

  57. Mac, neo, Another+Mike:

    Really and truly, I was having fun.

    I had the stray thought — Did they? Could they? — looked at the lyrics and decided you couldn’t say for sure. Hence my careful wording: “I don’t believe the lyrics preclude consummation.” I’ll stand by that.

    Listening to the Everlys, I can hear more of them in the Beatles and McCartney. I never thought about it before.

  58. Here’s an odd pop song case in which one may contemplate the perception of salaciousness.

    In the mid-sixties France Gall was a teen singer phenom, one of the top Ye-Ye Girls. Her producer was a sketchy type (later famous in the disco age) and had her sing an intentionally risque song about lollipops and she missed the not-so-hidden meaning. (Check the YouTube for the crazy music video.)
    ____________________________________________________

    …in 1966, Gall released another song written by Gainsbourg called “Les Sucettes” (Lollipops). Though the song was superficially about a young girl, Annie, who likes aniseed flavoured lollipops, plays on words within the song revealed it to be about oral sex. Gall was only 18 at the time the song was released and maintained that she was ignorant about the song’s double entendre. She said she had sung “with an innocence of which I’m proud” and later said that her humiliation led her to avoid going out in public after being “betrayed by the adults around me”. –wiki

    –France Gall, “Les Succettes” (1966)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMv1njA1GA
    ____________________________________________________

    I ask you, could an 18 year-old French girl in 1966 miss such blatant sexual imagery? I think she could, but half my friends are more cynical.

  59. France Gall (1947-2018) RIP.

    I almost can’t believe it. I am only aware of her work from when she was young. Some of the purest pop ever made. Here’s her love song to America:
    __________________________________________

    I saw all the movies and I have all the records
    Of America
    But that’s not enough, I have to see
    America.
    And like it will be too big for my eyes
    America.
    I will go with you discover at two
    America.

    –France Gall, “L’Amerique” (1965)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAn_M3pnPI4

  61. The wife and I always listen to the Bee Gees, Everly Brothers and Righteous Brothers when tooling down the Highway in our Motor Home. We tend to sing along but are careful when we come into a town so that we don’t get arrested for disturbing the Peace (I’m talking about our singing).

    Nice posting Neo on Christmas Eve

  62. Neo hit a winner with her posting on the Everly Brothers, as we remember them from our younger years. I wonder what percentage of her audience is younger than the Boomer (1946-1964) generation.

  64. “Phil and Don did not age well”

    Their voices lost none of their beauty, even if they had to lower the key. And that’s all that matters. The Everlys were Best. Harmonies. Ever. Music doesn’t get much better than the Everlys singing “Let It Be Me”.

  65. huxley: “Really and truly, I was having fun.” I know.

    “I ask you, could an 18 year-old French girl in 1966 miss such blatant sexual imagery? I think she could”

    Oh yes, definitely. I don’t know about that particular song but I was just a bit younger than that in 1966 and definitely was way more naive than kids of the same age were even 8 or 10 years later. Also, girls tend not to be as directly salacious as boys, not to mention the grown men who probably were responsible for the song. Or at least used to. Nobody is very innocent now. Sleazy of those guys to treat her that way.

  66. “Listening to the Everlys, I can hear more of them in the Beatles and McCartney. I never thought about it before.”

    Not to sound like a know-it-all but that influence has been obvious to many people since their very first record “Love Me Do” in 1962 which echoed the Everlys’ “Cathy’s Clown”.

  67. At the end of the second video there is a touching moment when the brothers briefly embrace, made all the more poignant in light of their well-publicized feuds. Blood is thicker than water.

  68. JimNorCal on December 23, 2020 at 6:54 pm said:
    In the 2nd version, it’s quite striking how they look so directly at each other. I don’t think they were looking into each other’s eyes. Seems like they were looking at each other’s mouth in order to harmonize more perfectly?

    Yes!! It appears that they both felt they were so far out of practice singing together that they wanted make sure they got it just as well as they had 10 years before. Their reactions at the end seemed to be of joy at what was a great accomplishment.

    And thanks, neo! These musical flashbacks to our “yutes” are amazing.

  69. huxley; FOAF:

    A lot of groups such as the Beatles (and Bee Gees) have explicitly mentioned the Everly Brothers as major influences on them.

    For those who weren’t around at the time the Everlys burst on the scene, it may be hard to realize how different they sounded, and how much they influenced so many subsequent groups.

  70. I don’t know about that particular song but I was just a bit younger than that in 1966 and definitely was way more naive than kids of the same age were even 8 or 10 years later. Also, girls tend not to be as directly salacious as boys

    Mac: Really, take a look at the video. It’s quite hilarious! (And safe, if you are concerned.)

    –France Gall, “Les Succettes” (1966)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMv1njA1GA

    The counter-argument is that Gall wasn’t just an 18 year-old girl — she had had her first hit, selling 200,000 copies, on her 16th birthday. Meaning she had been in the music biz for two years before the lollipop song and presumably had seen her share of sketchy people.

    Then again, I understand French parents never went through a Dr. Spock phase and are stricter than American parents.

  71. FOAF, neo:

    I’ve read Lennon and McCartney talk about their influences — there were more than a few. Some I could hear right off; some I couldn’t. I can hear Little Richard for sure, but Smokey Robinson, not so much. Likewise the Everly Brothers.

    There was also the problem that the Beatles sounded so new and different right out of the box, that mostly they sounded like the Beatles and not much like anyone else, which became more true as time went on.

    Well, music is a journey — peeling back the layers of a song, then digging back for influences. Such fun!

  72. huxley:

    Interesting that you don’t hear the Everlys in the Beatles. It’s in the harmonies. It’s especially apparent in their early stuff. One that comes to mind immediately is “Please Please Me.” Much Everly stuff there, at least to my ears.

  73. huxley,

    I agree about not hearing Smokey Robinson in the Beatles but the Everlys are all over the pre ‘Rubber Soul’ Beatles.

    Not only ‘Please Please Me’ but ‘If I Fell’ and ‘Tell Me Why’ and a host of others are very much of the Everly Brothers. The sound of those early songs is a direct descendent of ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ or ‘Bye Bye Love’.

  74. neo:

    I guess I don’t hear harmonies as well or like you do. I can tell it’s guys harmonizing, but I focus on the sheer energy characterizing the early Beatles, the driving guitars, the great melodies, the inventive arrangements, and even the English accents. The Everlys sound half-asleep in comparison.

    I can hear more Buddy Holly in there than the Everlys. But if Paul says Phil E. was a huge influence, I’ll take his word.

  75. Great choices Neo, and great comments.

    I heard lots of Everly like harmonies in the Beatles, but with George as an extra singer and John and Paul both having more distinctive accents, the Beatles “sound” was still quite different.

    I love “Cathy’s Clown”, which most defines their “sound” to me.

    The one I most often sing alone is “All I Have To Do Is Dream”
    https://www.liveabout.com/top-everly-brothers-songs-4057775
    notes this as one the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.

    Funny, “Bye Bye, Love” I knew more from S&G, with the most powerful memories from All That Jazz

    Here’s Dream, Live, 2004 (had to watch after hearing their original again, too)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doem-_tfMuY

    In the 3 choices above, there’s the eyes closed / in your car / in your kitchen listening experience as quite different than the eyes open, simulated being there in concert with them live experience. Often the studio version is better as background music, but the video live (on tape!) has stronger emotions as you watch and involve yourself.

    I’m mixed on the Bee Gees, both before and after Saturday Night Fever shrill falsettos. Some of their hits quite memorably good, lots I’ve forgotten. But some of their later hits never did it for me. Contra this, I thought “Nights on Broadway” was fantastic, and still like it more than anything after.

    Funny how, like the Everlys, they were the Brothers Gibb. But three, not two – more like the Beatles. Also with, at times, more distinctive vocal sounds. I had the feeling that, with the Everlys, either could sing the solo parts and the song would be quite similar. Not as much with Bee Gees or Beatles.

    Or almost any duo, actually.

    Except the Beach Boys (brothers, cousin, and one friend) with great harmonies. Who actually did switch out Brian Wilson as singer. So probably others, too.

    So much great music.

    Glad to be able to enjoy it after a 102 temp on Sunday, but covid negative test by doctor wife. Urinary infection needing anti-bacterials. Only now feeling better, tho not yet good.

    Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Neo, bloggers and commenters alike.

  76. huxley, thank you for the Roches’ Hallelujah Chorus. Lifted my heart. And Sharon W, I know the Peterson Family but not that Joy to the World recording, and loved it. And all the versions of the Everly Brothers, especially that late-life 2004 Dream from Tom Grey, are ethereally lovely.

    There is something about sibling vocal cords. I have an ordinary singing voice, nothing to write home about at all. My sister’s is better, but she doesn’t think of herself as a singer. Still, something happens when we sing together in harmony that is well beyond what either of us can do alone.

    Here is some spectacular Christmas harmonizing for you, from
    Rascal Flatts. Not siblings, though I think two of them are second cousins, but close harmony doesn’t get much more gorgeous than this.

  77. huxley – the harmony in the Beatles’ music comes out more strongly when covered by the King’s Singers a cappella group.

    I guess I’m the only one old-fogey enough to groove with the Andrews Sisters and the Osmond Brothers.

  78. Neo does so much work, one is tempted to do some extra to make extra comments. So in going thru random Everly Brothers vids, I’ll order them chronologically.

    Rare Chevy Show (’59) Take a Message to Mary
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u05Z-eMe-Rc&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=27

    Here’s a fine ’61 show segment with Tennessee Ernie Ford
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEa5yocD-Wo&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=32

    Quite different than this Ed Sullivan (’61) (same first Lucille, not my fav)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ1BNv5gWc4&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=9

    Lulu’s Back in Town (’68)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2PXuEMGzhw&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=38

    Jimmie Roger’s Show (’69)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bm2sZQs06c&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=28

    A Dean Martin (’70) show segment, reminding me of Deano’s fantastic crooner voice (better than Frankie’s) plus smokin’ drinkin’ fun on TV
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppfgKpAOzk0&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=46

    With Petula Clark (’71)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EncNTzB8ibA&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=3
    Plus another Let It Be Me. A joke at the end with Phil wanting to hear Petula:
    Don – “Rather than me”?
    Phil – “Yeah, and I’d rather look at her, too”
    As Don turns and walks away “You wouldn’t say that if she was your brother”

    How can either Don or Phil fall in love with a real woman, while so closely living, singing with a brother? The closeness of a close band almost excludes having a close family.
    Sex, yes, and easy, but not love and commitment.
    Are you making music for you? Or for others? Or for money – for what?

    Top Stars, singing & acting especially, but also sports, have trouble committing 100% to a marriage. And most successful marriages need full commitment.
    There’s only 1 “Top Priority”.

    Old Grey Whistle Test (’72)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhPr6Bt2YEI&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=50
    Great harmonies, but not their pop hits.

    On Little Susie, like Huxley: “I don’t believe the lyrics preclude consummation.”

    In fact, for many women like my mother, they wanted consummation AND the shotgun marriage. She was married to my dad only a few months before my oldest sister was born in ’54; divorced in ’61 with 4 kids and custody battles.
    Some 5-10% of 100 include sex; 20-40% include guys boasting yes or strongly implying it. Those not having sex feeling left out and horny.
    Ooh-la-la, drugs and pop music.

    Great Dream (’72?)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWFch0KCI8&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=44

    There were some solo appearances.

    Don in Nashville (’80)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8wgnw6w2gY&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=49

    Surprising ’85 cover of “Why Worry”, so much prettier than Mark K’s scratchiness. Not really sure I like it better, but it’s quite nice.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojIw6KBQU8g&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=10
    There should be laughter after pain,
    There should be sunshine after rain
    Good thought on the stolen election.

    All good things come to an end, often before exhaustive completion.

    Final song is about a couple who thro their love away, like they were born yesterday. It’s easy to think it’s sort of also about the love between the two brothers.
    Born Yesterday (’85)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGAWP_ikY2w&list=RDtbU3zdAgiX8&index=43
    I really like this song, and didn’t remember it from before.

    Christmas morning in Slovakia, sunshine! After a week of mostly dismal gray rain sunless days. Sunshine after rain, just like there should be.
    Ready for fun – – and real life with family awakening. (Presents were given before midnight Mass last night.)

  79. How can either Don or Phil fall in love with a real woman, while so closely living, singing with a brother? The closeness of a close band almost excludes having a close family. Sex, yes, and easy, but not love and commitment.

    Seasons Greetings.

    A fan site says Don Everly has three daughters and news articles on the tacky legal quarrels between Don and Phil’s family list two sons of Phil. Don Everly’s been married at least once and Phil was married at least twice.

  80. Art Deco,

    Don Everly’s daughter Erin was married to Guns N Roses lead singer Axl Rose and she was the inspiration for their song ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ which is one of the greatest rock ballads of all time.

    They had a very volatile relationship that ended long ago but it lives on in song and video.

  81. ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ which is one of the greatest rock ballads of all time.

    Guess you have to be a certain vintage. Seasons greetings.

  82. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is one of the greatest rock ballads of all time — emphasis on the rock. That circus calliope riff Slash came up with really cuts through.

    After GnR broke up, Slash became a session guy and played with a lot of a lot of people. Including Carole King. Here he is in all his top-hatted, shaggy glory playing “Locomotion” with King:

    –Carole King featuring Slash – I Feel The Earth Move/The Loco-Motion
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kydON5EziD8

    It’s kinda strange-looking, a bit forced, but King looks like she’s stretching herself and enjoying it. I can go there.

    Slash was entirely complimentary of her. He considered King a pro, which she is, and he liked working with her.

  84. Never been a fan of the Everly Brothers or the Bee Gees. I will listen to them when they pop up on the radio, but I would never spend a cent buying their music.

    I prefer singers who sing with emotion rather than just mouthing the words. None of those three Everly Brothers videos show any emotion to me.

    I’ve listened to many versions of Let It Be Me over the years. In the 70s, no version topped Roberta Flack’s take for me. Yes I spent money on an album and then a CD.

    https://youtu.be/l2Cw-ayAaJw

    Later Laura Nyro’s version took over as my favorite. Yes, neither of these singer’s versions involve harmonies which is the point of Neo’s post. But the feeling is more important to me than a harmony.

    https://youtu.be/DH3hd9E6N6o

    A lot of harmonies of pop music pap don’t reflect true emotion. Lately, a harmony version of Let It Be Me has hit both counts for me—feeling and harmony. That version is from Nina Simone singing with her brother (I didn’t know she had a singing brother). They have a live version that I also like.

    https://youtu.be/D-j220O1Glg

  86. }}} They often inherit musical ability from musical parents – that was true of the Everlys,

    Neo…. you made me think about something… Carly Simon and James Taylor.

    They had two kids. They’re both musicians, but… WTF? Why are they not famous for their music?? You can’t have two more talented people for parents.

    It’s apparently not all genes. Great musicians seem to come from nurture, not nature. You need some good genes, sure, but apparently just having great genes is Simply Not Enough…

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