The Everly Brothers Story: Blood Harmony

Music journalist Mazor (Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music) delves in this effusive biography into the complex lives of rockabilly legends the Everly Brothers. Born in the 1940s into a musical family, Phil and Don Everly grew up performing with their parents, and soon discovered the unique resonance of their duets, which some attributed to a mystical sibling compatability—as though they were “two halves of the same voice”—but, Mazor asserts, was likely the result of practice and shared speech patterns). They signed with Warner Bros. in 1960, fusing “R&B-influenced instrumentals with hillbilly style vocals” in tracks like “Cathy’s Clown.” Yet the conflict between quiet, traditionalist Phil and intense, explosive Don was near constant, with “Don’s more improvisational... declarative singing style” challenging their ability to harmonize during the latter years of their partnership. By 1973, the pair had broken up (“The simple, overriding truth,” Mazor writes, “was that they’d both just plain had it”). While Mazor doesn’t shy away from the darker sides of both men’s lives—including drug use and alleged spousal abuse—his admiration for their music can sometimes shade into fawning (of two early songs that didn’t make the charts, Mazor writes that the fact “that these two fine singles... were not better responded to in this country may seem puzzling, even astounding”). Still, Everly enthusiasts will appreciate this thorough assessment of the brothers’ influence on American music. (July)