Love for the Everly Brothers

It's likely the Beatles would have existed without the Everly Brothers. But I have no idea what they'd have sounded like. When people talk about the Beatles' influences, names like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley always come up. But in the Fab Four's early recordings, you'd be hard-pressed to find a sound they emulated as frequently as the Everlys. The two-part harmonies on songs like "Love Me Do" and "Baby's in Black" have a striking — almost eerie — resemblance to what the brothers from Iowa were doing just a few years earlier. Don Everly died last month at the age of 84. His brother, Phil, died in 2014. Despite their success and influence, the body of their work sometimes gets lost in American radio. They weren't really classic rock, and their success didn't carry into the heart of the 1960s. In truth, the first time I heard "Cathy's Clown," it was by country superstar Reba McEntire. My own exposure to the Everly Brothers came from old cassette tapes I'd play on my boom box stereo. One of my favorite tunes was a track called "Bird Dog." I liked it so much that I once performed it at a restaurant's karaoke night when I was about 11. I followed the words on a television screen and sang along until the end, when a cartoon of a hideous creature — I'm assuming a bird dog — appeared on the monitor. Nightmares followed. As a result, I hadn't listened to the song again until a few weeks ago. In truth, it had been a while since I'd played the Everlys. But the music persisted. Whether it was Linda Ronstadt finding radio stations with her version of "When will I be Loved" or Simon and Garfunkel doing "Wake up, Little Susie" in the 1970s, the Everlys have in some ways remained a staple. Artists like R.E.M., The Who and Ray Charles all recorded Everly Brothers' songs. In the weeks since Don's death, I started listening to some more Everlys songs. What stands out to me are the interesting melodies and complex lyrics. One that caught my ear was a track called "Crying in the Rain." The Everlys didn't write it, but it's hard to imagine any artist doing it better. The brothers perform the song with just the right amount of melancholy and desperation. It connected with me, more than 60 years after it was recorded. The Everlys connected with so many, be it listeners or artists. Their music was great, but their influence on the medium may have been even greater. That's an incredible legacy. Baker is sports editor for The Courier and Review Times.