American brothers Don (1937–2021) and Phil (1939–2014) Everly, were born to country-western musical couple, and began playing on country radio in primary school. In Tennessee the brothers recorded 15 Top Ten hits from 1957-62, producing a blend of Appalachian harmonies and rock & roll that influenced many rockers.
The Everly Brothers
Late 1950s, Wiki
Husband-wife team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant were the writers for most of The Everly Brothers songs in the 1950s. A labour of love for the song-writing duo, Boudleaux recalled persevering with Wake Up Little Susie for many hours. He started writing one night, kept trying to get his ideas down, but failed. Finally he woke Felice, who listened to what he had achieved and gave the final touches. In the studio the next day, the couple got it down first take.
The Everly’s first #1 song described an innocent teenage couple attending a film, fell asleep, woke up at 4 AM and start panicking about what to tell her parents. Realising they were out past her 10 PM curfew, they made up a story to tell, expecting bad reactions from her parents and friends who may have assumed that the couple had sex! The recording blew away Felice Bryant, who said “Coming out of their mouths, it was pure honey.”
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
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"?
Well, I told your mama that we'd be in by ten
Well, Susie, baby, looks like we goofed again
Wake up, little Susie
We gotta go home
The song was banned from Boston radio stations by the powerful Boston Catholic archbishop in 1957 because the lyrics were too suggestive. The young, dating couple were not married! But as with the case of other banned songs, it only made it more appealing to teens
The song reached #1 on the Billboard Pop chart & Country chart, #2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1957 and the Cash Box Best Selling Records chart. Susie reached #318 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Felice Bryant searched for a hidden meaning in Little Susie. In thinking about some of the reasoning that she and her husband may have had, she said “The brothers had a session coming up, and they needed a song to sing. Wake Up Little Susie was it!”
For The Everly Brothers, this was one of five US #1 hits, so impressive that in 2022 I still remember every word and every note.
Bye Bye Love (1957) had been rejected by 30 acts when songwriter Boudleaux Bryant played it for the Everlys, who had recently signed to Cadence Records in Nashville. Their recording was soon a #2 pop hit and #1 country hit. Archie Bleyer, owner of the brothers’ label Cadence, arrived from New York as soon as he could.
Phil Everly called Felice and Boudleaux Bryant’s gorgeously haunting ballad one of the most important songs they ever recorded: All I Have to Do Is Dream (1958). The band played quietly, and their refrain was almost mystical. Dream, dream dream slipped in and out of unison and harmony with much bluegrass. The song had a long life, hitting the charts in 1963, 1970 and 1981 by other stars.
Take a Message to Mary (1959), an underrated minor hit, was a sad ballad about a man separated from his lover after a careless gunshot gaoled him for life. Even if you don’t believe in perfection, this record was the closest that anyone ever came to singing in perfect, miraculous harmony.
After a contract dispute, the band left Cadence Records and signed to Warner Bros. The first single was the self-written breakup anthem Cathy’s Clown (1961). It sold 8 million copies, spent 5 weeks at #1 and became their best-selling song ever. A live clip showed them performing the song on U.K television, backed by the Crickets. These songs were also recorded by Bob Dylan, Elvis and Buddy Holly.
Long-simmering disputes broke out in 1961 with Wesley Rose, CEO of Acuff-Rose Music, the music publishing house that next managed the brothers. But it was their enlistments in the U.S Marine Corps Reserve in Oct 1961 that made their musical fame disappear. One of their few performances that year was on The Ed Sullivan Show in Feb 1962, when they performed Crying in the Rain in Marine uniforms.There was growing drug usage in the 1960s, as well as changing tastes in popular music, apparently leading to the group's decline in American popularity. But note that the brothers continued to release hit singles in the U.K and Canada and had many highly successful tours through the 1960s. In the early 1970s, the brothers began releasing solo recordings, and in 1973 they broke up.
Their steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing had became iconic and had influenced the Beatles, Beach Boys, Bee Gees and Simon & Garfunkel. And me!
The Everly’s first #1 song described an innocent teenage couple attending a film, fell asleep, woke up at 4 AM and start panicking about what to tell her parents. Realising they were out past her 10 PM curfew, they made up a story to tell, expecting bad reactions from her parents and friends who may have assumed that the couple had sex! The recording blew away Felice Bryant, who said “Coming out of their mouths, it was pure honey.”
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
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"?
Well, I told your mama that we'd be in by ten
Well, Susie, baby, looks like we goofed again
Wake up, little Susie
We gotta go home
The song was banned from Boston radio stations by the powerful Boston Catholic archbishop in 1957 because the lyrics were too suggestive. The young, dating couple were not married! But as with the case of other banned songs, it only made it more appealing to teens
The song reached #1 on the Billboard Pop chart & Country chart, #2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1957 and the Cash Box Best Selling Records chart. Susie reached #318 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Felice Bryant searched for a hidden meaning in Little Susie. In thinking about some of the reasoning that she and her husband may have had, she said “The brothers had a session coming up, and they needed a song to sing. Wake Up Little Susie was it!”
For The Everly Brothers, this was one of five US #1 hits, so impressive that in 2022 I still remember every word and every note.
Bye Bye Love (1957) had been rejected by 30 acts when songwriter Boudleaux Bryant played it for the Everlys, who had recently signed to Cadence Records in Nashville. Their recording was soon a #2 pop hit and #1 country hit. Archie Bleyer, owner of the brothers’ label Cadence, arrived from New York as soon as he could.
Phil Everly called Felice and Boudleaux Bryant’s gorgeously haunting ballad one of the most important songs they ever recorded: All I Have to Do Is Dream (1958). The band played quietly, and their refrain was almost mystical. Dream, dream dream slipped in and out of unison and harmony with much bluegrass. The song had a long life, hitting the charts in 1963, 1970 and 1981 by other stars.
Take a Message to Mary (1959), an underrated minor hit, was a sad ballad about a man separated from his lover after a careless gunshot gaoled him for life. Even if you don’t believe in perfection, this record was the closest that anyone ever came to singing in perfect, miraculous harmony.
Singing "Crying in the Rain" in Marine uniforms.
The Ed Sullivan Show
Feb 1962
After a contract dispute, the band left Cadence Records and signed to Warner Bros. The first single was the self-written breakup anthem Cathy’s Clown (1961). It sold 8 million copies, spent 5 weeks at #1 and became their best-selling song ever. A live clip showed them performing the song on U.K television, backed by the Crickets. These songs were also recorded by Bob Dylan, Elvis and Buddy Holly.
Long-simmering disputes broke out in 1961 with Wesley Rose, CEO of Acuff-Rose Music, the music publishing house that next managed the brothers. But it was their enlistments in the U.S Marine Corps Reserve in Oct 1961 that made their musical fame disappear. One of their few performances that year was on The Ed Sullivan Show in Feb 1962, when they performed Crying in the Rain in Marine uniforms.There was growing drug usage in the 1960s, as well as changing tastes in popular music, apparently leading to the group's decline in American popularity. But note that the brothers continued to release hit singles in the U.K and Canada and had many highly successful tours through the 1960s. In the early 1970s, the brothers began releasing solo recordings, and in 1973 they broke up.
Beatles and Everly Brothers,
date? Twitter
Their steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing had became iconic and had influenced the Beatles, Beach Boys, Bee Gees and Simon & Garfunkel. And me!
14 comments:
I search for their music on youtube and listen to them. Very special from that era really. A little more sentimental this morning lol.
While more my parent's music than mine, I know their hits well enough but to see a list of them amazes me by how many hits they produced. The snippet about Wake up Little Susie being banned is as apt today as then. Ban it and they will come.
See "The Everly Brothers: Harmonies from Heaven", a documentary on a band at the forefront of the rock 'n roll revolution. They would go to influence such groups as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, as well as just about every pop or rock artist thereafter. Directed by George Scott.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5802864/
Don't want your love anymore
Don't want your kisses, that's for sure
I die each time I hear this sound
Here he comes, that's Cathy's clown
Goodness how I loved Cathy's Clown back then.
roentare
Yes! I am finding that people who become elderly, lose their sight or some of their thinking power still remember music from their best periods, even decades later. My best era was 1963-1975, and I too remember both the words and notes from "my" songs. You are right about it being sentimental and emotional.
Andrew
did your parents remember the Everly Brothers and their contemporaries with affection? I wouldn't have remembered 1950s music as well as I remember 1960s music, but Everly Brothers music was played on and on, and was influential beyond the time of them first releasing the records.
By 1960 my brothers moved into a bigger room and I got my own bedroom :) At last! The first present was a radio put next to my bed, so modern music could be played all day.
IMDb
Many thanks. I had not heard of "The Everly Brothers: Harmonies from Heaven", but that was presumably because it was created in 2016, not 1956. I hope the readers of this blog will be keen to see your documentary, and will give some feedback.
Deb
I too loved Cathy's Clown in 1960 and on, but I had no idea what the lyrics meant when I was 13. Apparently the lyrics discussed a man who had been embarrassed by his girlfriend and had been left to feel humiliated in public.
Hi Hels - they were definitely from my time ... and I enjoyed their music - cheers and all the best this season of change - Hilary
Hilary
Every generation wants to separate themselves from their parents but no generation did it as well as those born after WW2 ended. Thanks to the arrival of tv, family cars etc but particularly because of our own music.
Boa noite. Feliz Natal com muita saúde e paz. Espero que seus sonhos e projetos possam renascer ou serem conquistados.
Luiz
Which musicians and singers had the earliest influence on your musical preferences?
They were my favourites then. Love their sound.
diane
oooooohhhh we were sisters in soul back then!
But I wonder what our parents were saying, back then.
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