Bye Bye Phil

Gordon Robinson

Phil Everly passed away on Friday, January 3 - aged 74. Too soon.

Who was Phil Everly? Soon come. Much of what passes for musical analysis or history in Jamaican media is about as profound as a Lady Saw-Macka Diamond clash at Sting and as thorough as Everald Warmington's speechwriting. Most of what appears in media I recall from album liner notes or CD booklets. Lyrics are now regularly quoted (didn't happen five years ago) to fill pages, but without purpose or message. I don't see anyone trying to educate youth about the history of musical influences whose linkages are the essence of the art's development.

Most know Phil Everly as the younger of singing duo, The Everly Brothers. His older brother, Don, is still with us. The Everly Brothers were originals - something rarely seen today. Of course, they had their influences, especially in Kentucky bluegrass and Appalachian folk, but they produced a unique blend of sounds that inspired some of the most famous future singers all of whom worshipped at the Everlys' altar. The brothers started out as songwriters, but in 1957, found a song that touched their heartstrings:

Bye bye love

Bye bye happiness

Hello loneliness

I think I'm-a gonna cry-y

Bye bye love

Bye bye sweet caress

Hello emptiness

I feel like I could die

Bye bye my love goodbye

Bye Bye Love, written by married couple Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became a number-two hit for new singing duo, The Everly Brothers, after Don, whose biggest influence was blues superstar Bo Diddley, added a Bo Diddley beat below the original simple melody. Legendary guitarist Chet Atkins (who played on most of their hits) did the rest. Then the brothers' harmonies brought teenage angst to their interpretation of the lyrics. The song, which had been rejected by 30 singing acts, was resurrected by the Everlys and subsequently covered by the likes of Ray Charles, who was attracted to country music by the bluesy twist Don, Phil and Chet put on that song. 'Daddy' Ray instantly recognised the possibilities of a soul/country fusion, resulting in his seminal 1963 country music (with strings) double album.

In all this, the brothers earned US$64 for recording the song.

There goes my baby with someone new

She sure looks happy, I sure am blue

She was my baby till he stepped in

Goodbye to romance that might have been.

That song also inspired a young Jewish songwriter, born and nurtured in Newark New Jersey, according to musician Donald Fagen, as a "certain type of New York Jew, almost a stereotype ... ". That songwriter was Paul Simon. As soon as he heard Bye Bye Love, he called his friend, Art Garfunkel, and they started working together on what would become a seminal career as The Everly Brothers' musical offspring. The duo's first hit, Sound of Silence, used the distinct trademarks of The Everly Brothers bluesy, hillbilly fusion and anxiety-filled harmonies to deliver the story of Simon's spiritual journey:

Hello, darkness, my old friend,

I've come to talk with you again.

Because a vision, softly creeping,

left its seeds while I was sleeping.

And the vision that was planted in my brain

still remains

within the sound of silence.

The story of Simon and Garfunkel's early struggles to turn that recording into a hit is for another column. Today, we honour The Everly Brothers, rock 'n' roll pioneers whose mark on today's music is as indelible as it is forgotten. For their biggest hit locally, The Everly Brothers again turned to the husband-wife song writing team, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant:

When I want you in my arms;

when I want you and all your charms;

whenever I want you, all I have to do is

drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream.

That song scored big in the UK where it blew away a young Liverpudlian named Paul McCartney. Even before that, a young singer/songwriter named George Harrison had been struck with Bye Bye Love. When All I Have to Do Is Dream was released in the UK, Harrison had just formed a band with his Liverpool lads calling themselves The Beatles. McCartney and Harrison couldn't wait to cover the song (yes, Beatles covered a song). Later on, Harrison and Bob Dylan recorded an even rarer version of the song. The early Beatles unashamedly copied The Everly Brothers' harmonies, adding their own British sound.

STUDENTS OF ROCK 'N' ROLL

The Everly Brothers worshipped fellow rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly, often performing in concert with Holly and his band. Their biggest UK/USA hit, Cathy's Clown (1961), was written about Don's teenage torment at the hands of a high-school girlfriend; the melody and drum line were inspired by Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite; the backing band was Buddy Holly's The Crickets; and it included some tight, complicated vocal arrangements subsequently copied by The Beatles.

Don't want your love any more

Don't want your kisses, that's for sure

I die each time I hear this sound

Here he comes, that's Cathy's clown.

Listen carefully to the vocals on The Beatles' first hit, Love Me Do, a song based around two simple chords, G7 and C. John plays a bluesy, dry "dockside harmonica" riff; then Lennon and McCartney perform joint lead vocals, including Everly Brothers-style harmonising during the beseeching "please" before McCartney sings the unaccompanied vocal line on the song's title phrase. John grudgingly allowed Paul to have that lead only because the harmonica bit encroached on the vocal.

INSPIRING THE BEATLES

Then listen as Everly Brothers' harmony completely takes over their second hit, Please Please Me, with John Lennon doing Don Everly's baritone parts while McCartney imitated Phil with his higher-pitched counter-melodies. Did you know The Beatles once toyed with calling themselves The Foreverly Brothers?

The Everly Brothers, early inductees in the country music and rock 'n' roll halls of fame and 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement awardees, were musical geniuses whose lineage can be tracked directly to many of today's stars. In November 2013, Norah Jones and Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong recorded an Everly Brothers tribute. Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr says he learned about the power of music as a child, watching his mother and aunt "rushing into the house having bought The Everly Brothers' record, Walk Right Back and watching them play it 15 times in a row ... ".

Rest in peace, Phil.

Peace and love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.