The Extraordinary Story of the Everly Brothers

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Gorgeous vocal harmonies and heart-wrenching songs have been among the Everly Brothers’ enduring gifts of rock and roll. But Don and Phil Everly’s legacy has gone far beyond the sweet love stories that have influenced everyone from the Beatles to Simon, Garfunkel and Smith.

Don, who died at the age of 84, and his late brother Phil, were also originally from the feuding sister species. And when Phil smashed his guitar and smashed into wings at a 1973 concert at Knott’s Berry Ranch in California, the duo were helping create the stereotype of stormy rocker siblings—a cliched phrase that would live on through bands from the Bee Gees to Oasis.

Don and Phil were, in a way, the original Liam and Noel Gallagher – wrangling between family members who created celestial music on stage and walked away from it like bruises.

And “heavenly” is the only word for classics like Bye Bye Love and Wake Up Little Susie and all I have to do is dream. One of their biggest hits, Kathy Clown in the 1960s, had a direct impact on the Beatles, who forged close harmonies for the formative chart-topper Please, Please, on the vocal arrangements of the Everly Brothers.

Such was their devotion to Don and Vail that Lennon and McCartney briefly considered calling themselves the Forever Brothers. And where the Beatles have gone, all rock will soon follow. Simon and Garfunkel covered up Bye Luv and woke up Little Susie. Linda Ronstadt scored a hit with a version of her masterpiece When I’d Be Loved – and there was no doubt as to the source of the chemistry in Everlys’ music.

“They had that voice of brotherhood,” she said. “Your DNA information is carried in your voice, and you get a voice [with family] Which you never get with someone who has nothing to do with blood.

Their music will continue to resonate through the decades. Johnny Marr, guitarist for The Smiths, said his love of rock and roll was faked listening to the Everly Brothers as a child. And their ability to transition from country music to rock has provided a guiding light for such faraway artists as Wilco and Taylor Swift.

“There were no barriers between country and rock, you know?” Don told Rolling Stone. “No one thought of that.”

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