♫Folk, Bluegrass, Country Sounds to Rock 'n' Roll♫

The classics—Beatlemania, Ghostbusters, Hollywood Walk of Fame, The Beetle, Blue Suede Shoes, BeBop-A-Lula, Spirit of the 60s, Commercial Jingles 50's & 60's, Giddy up! sounds of the Wild West, Women of the Wild West—each (along with so many more) offer walks down Memory Lane sharing their own kind of music filled with Infinite Emotions. Among the classics are two brothers who transformed the Appalachian folk, bluegrass and country sounds of their Kentucky boyhood into a richly harmonized form of rock 'n' roll.

Welcome into the Spotlight...

 Phil (left) and Don (right) Everly in 1958 promotional photo

en.wikipedia.org

Don & Phil Everly American country-influenced rock 'n' roll singers, Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, are known for their steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. Over the course of their career, the Everly Brothers charted 35 singles on the Hot 100 - the most by any duo in history, including four #1s: 'Wake Up Little Susie', 'All I Have to Do Is Dream', 'Bird Dog' and 'Cathy's Clown'.

Today in Music History: October 14, 1957

1957 'Wake Up Little Susie' became a No.1 on the US singles chart as the Everly Brothers first hit, (a No.2 hit in the UK).

The Legacy of the Everly Brothers...

The music of the Everly Brothers is acknowledged to have influenced many successful musicians, including the Beatles, who famously once referred to themselves as "the English Everly Brothers" (when Paul and John went hitch-hiking down south to win a talent competition) and based the vocal arrangement of "Please Please Me" upon "Cathy's Clown". Keith Richards called Don Everly "one of the finest rhythm players". Singer-songwriter Paul Simon who worked with the pair on his hit Graceland said in an email the day after Phil's death: "Phil and Don were the most beautiful sounding duo I ever heard. Both voices pristine and soulful. The Everlys were there at the crossroads of country and R&B. They witnessed and were part of the birth of rock and roll." The Everly Brothers were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. [Source: en.wikipedia.org]

 

 'Cathy's Clown' was the first single to top the US and UK charts simultaneously.

 

The Everly Brothers ended their partnership in 1973 after a gig on July 14, 1973, at Knotts Berry Farm in California, at which Phil smashed his guitar and stormed off the stage.

No one fights like brothers. Imagine spending decades with your sibling as a business partner and creative collaborator: there's no place to hide. After a long tour, you look across the table at Thanksgiving and there he is. Have a big fight, and all of a sudden, Mom is on the phone telling you to apologize. It would drive anybody crazy.The Everly Brothers managed to hold it together during their first 20 years, but things came to a head when Don showed up drunk to a show in Hollywood in 1973. He kept screwing up the lyrics until Phil smashed a guitar over his head and stormed out. The only time the brothers spoke during the next decade was at their father's funeral. The brothers patched things up in 1983 enough to embark on a lucrative nostalgia tour, but tensions remained. They haven't performed together since a brief European tour in 2005. Read MORE...

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...