It is goodbye to, Phil Everly

Another much-anticipated music reunion gone bust. Phil Everly, half of the legendary Everly Brothers, died last Saturday, Jan. 3, in a hospital in California of a combination of emphysema and bronchitis brought about by years of smoking. He would have turned 74 years old on Jan. 19. He was the younger brother by two years of the famed pop duo. The other Everly is Don.

Each time the Lettermen came to town or when the Cascades came to visit, I think of the Everly Brothers. I could not help but think of how much bigger the shows would be if Pinoys were watching Phil and Don. We so love the Everlys out here. Remember even Guy and Pip and Vi and Bot anchored their careers on hit songs by the brothers. And so many fans of the brothers dreamed that one day the Everlys would also breeze into town to do a show or two. 

If I am not mistaken, the popular duo came here to do some shows during the early days of the Araneta Coliseum in the early ’60s. But while we got everybody from Andy Williams to the Beach Boys to Cliff Richard and many others once, twice or more, all these past years, we never got the Everly Brothers again. Rumors had it that this was because the brothers feuded on and off for many years. They later made up and resumed performing together a few years ago. But they never got here and now that Phil is gone, that much-anticipated concert will not happen anymore.

I do not know how familiar today’s younger music lovers are with the Everlys. But I can firmly say that without them there would be no Beatles or Beach Boys or Simon and Garfunkel, or the Mamas and the Papas and many other singing groups. I hear I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party or Mrs. Robinson and I could not help but think, the Everly Brothers would have done very well with those songs. These boys, with their combination of sweet country harmonies, guitar-playing and combination of country and rhythm and blues, created rock sounds that continue to reverberate all over the world.

Take a look at their hit originals: Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie, Bird Dog, All I Have To Do Is Dream, Devoted To You, Take A Message to Mary, Problems, Always It’s You, Love Hurts, Like Strangers. These were mostly composed by the husband-and-wife team of Felice and Boundleaux Bryant. Crying In The Rain was an early work by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Don did So Sad To Watch Good Love Go Bad and Till I Kissed You. Phil did When Will I Be Loved. The brothers did their biggest seller, Cathy’s Clown, together.

As far as the quality of the songwriting, the complete arrangement, note the vocals with the heavenly blending and superb harmonies, and the clever instrumentation or as far as the total mix was concerned, those recordings were, or I should say, are, flawless. The Everlys influenced so many other groups but not one of those came close to the way they created perfection with their music.

They were also great interpreters. They did great rock ’n roll with a bluegrass and R&B vibe. Be Bop A Lula, Hound Dog, Lucille, Good Golly Miss Molly, This Little Girl Of Mine, Roy Orbison’s Claudette. They were at their most romantic and sentimental with country songs. Ebony Eyes, Walk Right Back, Born To Lose, Let It Be Me, Born To Lose, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On. And what a young pop spin they gave the standards — True Love, Temptation, Jezebel, Grandfather’s Clock and the matchless Don’t Blame Me.

Don and Phil, who started performing at the ages of seven and five, respectively, were the sons of country music stars Ike and Margaret Everly. They had a radio show in Kentucky where they were billed as the Family Everlys. But it was while they were in high school in Tennessee that the boys were discovered by country music legend Chet Atkins who gave them their first big break with Cadence Records that led to the first big hit Bye Bye Love in 1957.

That was a long time ago and after a lifetime of music, we now say goodbye to Phil Everly.