The Everly Brothers

Induction Year: 1986

Induction Category: Performer

"Phil and Don transformed the Appalachian folk, bluegrass and country sounds of their Kentucky boyhood into a richly harmonized form of rock and roll. The sons of entertainers Margaret and Ike Everly, a traveling country and western team, the Everly Brothers performed as part of the family act on radio and in concert. On their own, they sang beguilingly of adolescent romance in crisp, shimmering voices. With Don taking the melody and Phil harmonizing above him, the Everlys released a steady string of hit records between 1957-1962 that crossed over from country to pop and even R&B charts.

The duo rose to prominence on the Cadence label, cutting songs written for them by the husband and wife team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The Bryants wrote and the Everlys sang eloquently of teenage devotion and heartbreak, as well as tragicomic situations. The Bryant-penned Everlys hits include such timeless favorites as “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Devoted to You,” “Bird Dog,” “Poor Jenny” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” The brothers themselves became accomplished songwriters, authoring such original hits as “Cathy’s Clown,” “When Will I Be Loved” and “(‘Til) I Kissed You.”

In 1960 the duo signed a ten-year contract with Warner Bros. and recorded prolifically during the following decade. Even though the hits stopped flowing in 1962, the Everly Brothers influence continued to spread. Their close-harmony singing directly influenced a rising tide of musicians that included , the Hollies, , and . The duo broke up somewhat acrimoniously in 1973, only to come together ten years later at an emotional reunion concert on the stage of London’s Royal Albert Hall. Subsequently, they resumed their partnership onstage and in the studio.”

TIMELINE

February 1, 1937: Don Everly is born in Brownie, Kentucky.

January 19, 1939: Phil Everly is born in Chicago, Illinois.

1944: Guitarist Ike Everly launches his own early-morning music show over radio station KMA, in Shenandoah, Iowa. His two young sons eventually become regulars.

1954: Through the intercession of Nashville legend , one of Don Everly’s songs, “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” is recorded by country star Kitty Wells.

November 9, 1955: Briefly signed to Columbia, Don and Phil Everly record four songs for the label, released on two singles that go nowhere.

February 1, 1957: Song publisher and manager Wesley Rose persuades New York-based Cadence Records to sign the Everly Brothers.

May 25, 1957: “Bye Bye Love,” the first of many songs by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant that will be made famous by the Everly Brothers, enters the Top Forty. A million seller, it holds at #2 for four weeks.

August 4, 1957: The Everly Brothers perform “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie” on The Ed Sullivan Show. The same year, they also appear on The Grand Ole Opry and TV variety shows hosted by Perry Como, , Patti Page and Arthur Murray.

October 14, 1957: “Wake Up Little Susie” tops the pop charts for two weeks, becoming the Everly Brothers’ second million-seller.

May 6, 1958: All I Have to Do Is Dream (The Everly Brothers) was a hit.

February 7, 1959: Phil Everly serves as a pallbearer at Buddy Holly’s funeral.

February 17, 1960: The Everly Brothers leave Cadence for Warner Bros., where they remain for the entirety of the Sixties.

May 17, 1960: Cathy’s Clown (The Everly Brothers) was a hit.

May 1, 1966: ‘Two Yanks in England’ is recorded in London with eight pseudonymous songs and musical backing from the Hollies, who are among the Everly Brothers’ most devoted fans. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones (later of ) also participate in the sessions.

July 8, 1967: The Everly Brothers cracks the U.S. Top Forty for the last time, with the autobiographical song “Bowling Green,” written by their British bass player.

Summer 1970: The Everly Brothers host a summer-replacement variety show, Presents the Everly Brothers, which fills in for The Show at Cash’s instigation.

February 1, 1973: ‘Pass the Chicken and Listen’, the second of two albums for RCA, is released. It is the last collection of new material from the Everly Brothers, who will thereupon record solo, until 1984.

July 14, 1973: A long-simmering feud between the two Everly brothers erupts onstage during a concert in California. Their breakup is announced to the crowd by Don Everly, who completes the concert with a solo set.

September 22-23, 1983: Ten years after parting ways, the Everly Brothers reunite onstage for two concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The event is taped and released as Reunion Concert, an album and home video.

November 1, 1984: The album EB 84, produced by Dave Edmunds, is released. contributes a song, “On the Wings of a Nightingale,” which becomes a #4 single in Britain. The album fares well in both countries.

1986: Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, authors of many of the Everly Brothers’ best-known songs, are inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

January 23, 1986: The Everly Brothers are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner, held in New York City. is their presenter.

May 2001: The Everly Brothers are inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

February 25, 1998: The Everly Brothers receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 40th annual Grammy Awards.

February 10, 2008: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss win the Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for “Gone Gone Gone,” a song originally written and recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1964.

Essential Recordings

Crying in the Rain
Let It Be Me
(’Til) I Kissed You
Bye Bye Love
Love Hurts
Devoted to You
Cathy’s Clown
All I Have to Do Is Dream
When Will I Be Loved
Wake Up Little Susie