Customer Reviews

Beat & Soul

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One of the most underated albums of the 60's

If any one wants proof of the everly influence on the beatles this cd provides the proof.If your looking for the greatest hits like cathys clown and bye bye love this isn't the album. What you get here is James Burton, Glen Campbell, and Sonny Curtis; bassist Larry Knechtel; drummer Jim Gordon; Leon Russell,and Billy Preston backing the everlys on there takes of some classics from the 50's and 60's. Man with money alone should have been a hit.Beat and soul was in my opinion one of the best albums the everlys did and certainly the closest thing to straight rock they ever did.

This CD was a big hit in England, but not so much in America, although I can't understand why. "The Price of Love", and "Love Is Strange", should have been big hits over here as the were in England. "Man With Money", written by Don Everly, is my favorite song on the album.

In the shadow of the British Invasion, the Everlys were either finding it more difficult to write (or find) new material, they didn't try, or they thought that cover tunes were going to reconnect them with a large audience. This second album of covers from 1965 (the first being "Rock and Soul") finds the brothers harmonies as golden as ever, and with sympathetic arrangements, these are solid, even memorable performances. But as commercial output, one has to wonder whether record buyers were waxing nostalgic for the '50s and early '60s covers that fill most of the track list.

In retrospect, Everly Brothers fans should jump at the chance to hear them cover the rock, soul and R&B songs collected here. The UK was hip in '65, pushing "Love is Strange" onto the charts, but stateside, nada. Covers of Ray Charles ("Lonely Avenue"), Little Richard ("The Girl Can't Help It") and Ivory Joe Hunter ("I Almost Lost My Mind") date back to the Everly's early hit-making days. More contemporaneous, the Everlys cover the then-recently charted "People Get Ready," and mid-60s staples like "Money" and "My Babe." The sole original, "Man With Money" was originally a B-side of "Love is Strange," which perhaps explains its inclusion in an album of covers.

While an album of covers doesn't display the full fidelity of the Everly's talents, it does provide 31 minutes of fine Everly singing on some of the greatest songs ever written. [©2005 hyperbolium dot com]

I'll start with the caveat I am out of my element: my rock knowledge beyond the obvious touchstones starts with love beads, , not brill cream. But a lot of serious music people I know are hip to the Everly Brothers, so I took the plunge with Beat and Soul.

And I love it. I love the open chiming guitars here that remind me of both early Beatles and early Byrds. I love the rocking but smooth approach the Everly Brothers take to tracks like "C.C Rider" and "Money." I love how when Phil and Don do a ballad, it is based on refined guitar bass and not on heavy strings and honey mush. I love the way these guys sing: innocent yet forceful, smooth but genuine.

And I love this album. I really have to hear more of the Everly's to gain the proper reference points, but for now, I will guess in saying if there is a bridge between pre and post Beatles rock, between 1950s and 1960s, Beat And Soul may be a big brick.

Even if the Everly Brothers weren't on this disc, it would be worth owning for the guitar work alone- really some of the best licks James Burton (and others) ever laid down. Throw in Don and Phil's vocals, and this is a gem. The song choices and arrangements make these songs as great today as they were when I owned the vinyl LP in the early '70's.