With hits like “Bye Bye Love”, “All I Have To is Dream”, “Cathy’s Clown” and a plethora of others, the Everly Brothers played a pivotal role in shaping the fifties and early sixties rock and roll scene. Further, their trademark tightly defined two-part harmonies paved the way and/or inspired some of the greatest musical acts of our time, including the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Eagles.

In their heyday between 1957 and 1962 the Everly Brothers clocked up 12 US top ten hits. After the bubble finally burst in 1965, the brothers continued on as an oldies act until 1973. Their break up was particularly ugly and very public. Mid-set during a packed show in California, Phil Everly slammed down his guitar and walked off stage after an alcohol influenced Don Everly insulted him. Don finished the set and then reportedly stated to a stunned audience – “The Everly Brothers died 10 years ago”.

After almost a decade without speaking to each other they reunited for a concert performance at Albert Hall on 23 September 1983. This CD documents the highlights of that performance.

The Tracks

There are 20 tracks on the CD and all are in perfect sound quality. Further, with the exception of the enthusiastic applause between songs, the presence of an audience is barely noticeable.

The material itself is essentially a sentimental exercise with the emphasis firmly on their impressive back catalogue of hits. For those interested in chart information the brief liner notes include a detailed table of the US and UK chart placements of the original hit recordings.

The fifties material

All of the Everly Brothers' major hits of the fifties are featured on this live set, including “Wake Up Little Suzie” (1957: US #1; UK #2), “Bye Bye Love” (1957: US#2; UK #6), “All I Have to Do is Dream” (1958: US & UK #1), “Bird Dog” (1958: US & UK #2) and “(‘Til) I Kissed You” (1959: US #4; UK #1). Also thrown in from the same era are enthusiastic covers of Little Richard’s frantic rockers “Lucille” and “Good Golly Miss Molly”, the Roy Orbison penned “Claudette” and a dramatically speeded up revamp of Gene Vincent’s “Be Bop a Lula”.

In an obvious acknowledgement of their original acoustic sound, the performances of their own hits commence with an acoustic guitar introduction for a few moments before the band kicks in. This is a particularly effective technique, although by no means original (Simon and Garfunkel did it in their reunion concert recording a year before).

The performances of the uptempo classics “Wake Up Little Suzie”, “Bye Bye Love” and “(‘Til) I Kissed You” remain faithful to the original works with one key exception. Namely that when Don’s solos on the verses he takes substantial poetic license with their vocal treatment. His improvisations take you off guard at first. Notes are either extended or sung with a hard country rock edge very unlike the original recordings. With repeated listens, however, these changes start to grow on you.

The immortal “All I Have to Do is Dream” is particularly well done. The two-part harmonies on this simple but beautiful ballad are sung to perfection and it’s impossible to fault this performance. Interestingly, the tempo is slower than the original recording. This only serves to emphasise the brilliant harmony singing. In short - a must have recording for any Everly Brothers fan.

By contrast, the tempo in the amusing hit rocker “Bird Dog” is dramatically turned up and goes at nearly twice the pace of the original. Unfortunately the charm of the hit recording is lost in the rush and the fun interplay with Don’s throw away single line solos (eg “He’s a dog”) are just not the same when they are done at a million miles an hour.

Sixties ballads

Although most commonly remembered for faster paced lyrically lightweight hits like “Wake Up Little Suzie” etc, the Everly Brothers enjoyed considerable success in the early sixties with a string of more adult oriented ballads. A number of these are not surprisingly covered on this collection including “Crying in the Rain” (1962: US &UK #6), “Love is Strange” (1965: UK #11), “So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)” (1960: US #7; UK #4) and “Let it be me” (1960: US #7; UK #13).

The interpretations of these numbers lean a lot more toward country than the original works. They are nonetheless still strong performances. They also benefit from the fact that Don Everly has grown over the years as a vocalist and he is more than willing to show it off when given the opportunity. The result is that the solo sections on these songs demonstrate a depth and maturity not evident on the original hits.

The real gem of the numbers in this style, however, is the performance of the 1960 hit “Let it be me”. The tempo of the song is much slower than the original and the main accompaniment is a distant keyboard. One of the most meticulous performances of the Everly Brothers’ career, Don and Phil treat this song as if it is a musical Picasso. Their almost fragile delivery emphasises the inherent beauty in this French composition. By all accounts the performance is outstanding and totally eclipses the single release.

Sixties rockers

Post 1960 the Everly Brothers sound became more “produced” than in the previous decade. Signature 60’s hits like “Walk Right Back”, “Cathy’s Clown” and “Temptation” for example, relied heavily on echo-laden production and treble loaded harmonies. Repeating these numbers in a concert setting, particularly where treble laden harmonies had originally been used, was clearly always going to be challenge.

Unfortunately, despite their best efforts two of their biggest hits from this era lose some of their sparkle in the transfer, namely “Cathy’s Clown” (1960: US & UK #1) and to a lesser extent “Walk Right Back” (1961: US #7; UK #1). The performance of “Cathy’s Clown’ is further spoilt by Don taking too many liberties with his vocal treatment of the solo verses.

Far better are the revisits of “Price of Love” (1965: UK #2) and “Temptation” (1961: UK #1). “Price of Love” is the opening number and there are traces of understandable nervousness in the early parts of the song. However, it does not take long for Phil and Don to get back into the rock-harmonizing groove and overall their vocal performance is equal to the original recording. An extended electric guitar solo towards the end of the number also comes across particularly well.

“Temptation” is a magnificent performance. This fast paced rocker is driven along by superb electric guitar licks and a pounding drum beat. From a vocal perspective, Don Everly is really put through the ringer. Some verses he sings in falsetto others in his lower register and the rest in between. To his credit on almost every occasion he meets the challenge.

Rating

Although not without its faults, this CD has a lot to offer to fans of early rock and roll. This basically is because the Everly Brothers are gifted performers and though the years may have aged them, the youthful spirit of rock and roll still pumps through their veins.

This CD is worth 3.5 stars and certainly more to the hardcore fan of this dynamic duo. If nothing else the performances here demonstrate that good music is timeless and if you do it right you’re never to old to rock.


Recommended: Yes