The Everly Brothers
photo: edward roth · public domain ↗Don and Phil Everly, sons of the country guitarist Ike Everly, grew up singing on their family's radio show in the American South before breaking through in 1957 with 'Bye Bye Love.' Their tight sibling harmony — a country brother-duet blend carried intact into rock and roll — made them one of the most influential acts of the late 1950s. The vocal approach they codified fed directly into the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Simon & Garfunkel.
The Everlys acknowledged a particular debt to Ira and Charlie Louvin, whose close-harmony country records mapped out the brother-duet blend that Don and Phil carried over into rock and roll.
listen forPlay the Louvins' 'When I Stop Dreaming' and then 'All I Have to Do Is Dream' — the same dreaming-themed lyric, the same two voices gliding a close interval apart, only now floating over a gentler pop backing.
The Everlys drew on the Chicago rhythm-and-blues records of their era and later cut a cover of Bo Diddley's signature tune; the percussive, guitar-driven rock and roll pulse he pioneered feeds the harder-charging side of their up-tempo sides.
listen forCue Bo Diddley's self-titled 1955 stomp and then 'Bird Dog' — feel the same insistent, chugging rhythm-guitar drive pushing underneath, even as the Everlys keep their harmonies riding on top.
The Everlys came up in the same mid-1950s rock and roll explosion Chuck Berry helped define, and their up-tempo teen numbers share his knack for turning an everyday adolescent scrape into rhythmic rock and roll storytelling.
listen forPlay 'Maybellene' and then 'Wake Up Little Susie' — both ride a fast, driving rock and roll rhythm and spin a tight little teenage story of trouble out over the top of it.