Don Everly

Sadly we heard this week that Don Everly, one half of the hitmaking musical duo the Everly Brothers, passed away on August 21st, at the age of 84.

The Everly Brothers were a musical duo consisting of brothers Don and Phil Everly. The brothers were originally signed to Cadence Records and released their first single, Bye Bye Love, in 1957. 

Funnily enough The Everly Brothers were on my mind as I recently added a Howard Miller Show from June 5th, 1957 in, which he interviewed the boys then aged 18 and 20. It's a fascinating interview telling how the boys began their musical career through their parents who were also in the business. You can click on the link to hear the show which includes their famous hit Bye Bye Love.

It was the beginning of a remarkable musical career that would span more than 50 years and produce many great hits for them including Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have to Do Is Dream, Bird Dog, When Will I Be Loved, Problems and Cathy's Clown, which was written by them and also their biggest selling single.

They are best known for embodying the rock and roll image of the 1950s and for their technical mastery of the close-harmony style, which gave influence to successor bands such as the Beatles and the Bee Gees.

The Everly Brothers, Don and Phil Everly, are one of the most popular duos in the history of music.  The death of Don Everly comes at the end of a long and successful career for the musician and his brother Phil who died seven years earlier in 2014. 

The Everly Brothers were inducted by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, were awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 and were one of the first rock bands to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Happy listening my friends,