I am sitting here with tears in my eyes as the Everly Brothers were contemporaries of mine. To hear that Phil Everly had died on Friday brought forth many emotions. I first met them in 1959 in Portland (photo above) while at KGW. I interviewed them many times over the years when they appeared in Vancouver at the Orpheum Theatre, the PNE or elsewhere. They considered me a friend and would walk over to the radio station and sit down for an interview. Here’s one of my favorites from 1966:
The last time they appeared together with that magical harmony was at the Orpheum in the 90’s. Bruce Allen offered to work with them on a massive farewell tour but the brothers couldn’t or wouldn’t agree to do it. I had the pleasure of working with them on one of my own promotions when I started doing morning radio at CISL in 1993. Working with “Dr. Sport” Greg Douglas we rented Nat Bailey Stadium for the concert featuring Buddy Knox, B.J. Thomas, The Everly Brothers and a no-show Johnny Rivers. The harmonies were wonderful. There has never been a harmony to match it. When the Beatles were here they told me that they tried to get a similar sound. They so admired the duo.
It was during that concert that I realized the split between them was the real thing as they came in individual tour buses. I had to go to each bus to talk to them. The pair broke up at Knott’s Berry Farm during an appearance in 1973. Don threw down his guitar and walked off the stage. It was Paul McCartney who reunited them at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1983. Paul wrote a hit for them titled On the Wings of a Nightingale, which became their final top 100 seller. Three years later, during the very first inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they were included on the roster.
I remember their first hits on Archie Bleyer’s Cadence label in 1957 — Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have to Do Is Dream and many others. Their sound was unique. They have many fans in the music world and recently Green Day’s Billy Joe Armstrong and jazz singer Norah Jones paid tribute to the duo on an album titled Foreverly. If you have not heard it, you must. It is a fabulous tribute to the brothers. It is a sad day for me and I am sure for millions of fans worldwide. Don has survived but Phil’s passing means the sound of the Everlys is silenced forever.