Customer Reviews

Heartaches & Harmonies

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If there were any justice (or musical taste) in the world, this would become another Eagles Greatest Hits, saleswise (it far outshines it, quality-wise). In other words it would be a perennial best-seller. I can't believe there is but one customer review of this stellar collection. Sad, very sad.

Well, just in case anyone reads this, this is far and away one of the most deserving and well compiled box sets, period. And I own many. There is a comprehensive booklet graced with many pictures and quotes from the boys about EVERY SONG. And lest you think that the quality of their music dropped when they stopped having hits, this box will set you straight. They've made great music throughout their entire career, and a great amount of it is collected here. Of course, Rhino and Bill Inglot have done their usual amazing job with the sound; the remastering is wonderful.

In short, everything you would possibly expect of a box set of one of the great acts in the history of 20th century music is here. Now if only some one would care...

Please, if you want to discover where the Beatles, Judds, Byrds, Eagles, etc. learned about pop/rock harmony, look no further. Absolutely essential

Some Americans called the Beatles the "British Everlys". And the Beatles themselves cited the Everlys and their razor sharp harmonies a major influence. But listen to some of the lesser known material toward the end of CD 2 and on CD 3 and you'll hear not simply those trademark harmonies but a true stylistic prequel to the British Invasion.

The Everlys also lent substance to the British groups - even after the invasion was well underway. As one example, "Man with Money" was subsequently recorded by the Who and Wild Uncertainty.
Indeed, the Everlys spent much time touring Britain during the 60s, where they were better appreciated - their popularity had waned here!

A familiar feature of the boxed set is the "top-and-tail" - which reminds me of some of Paul McCartney's albums - perhaps the source of inspiration working in reverse. Listen to "Don't Let our Love Die" - the very first track, sung when Don and Phil were young teenagers. Then listen to it again as the very LAST track - some 40 years later.

Die-hard fans will enjoy the written information that come with the set, including a little about their father, Ike Everly; Chet Atkins taking them under his wing; their relationship with Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who wrote so many of their smash hits; their association with the Crickets ("Walk Right Back" was written by Sonny Curtis) - there's plenty to interest you.

Although the Everly Brothers collection spanned a larger timeline than most people suspect, I've always wished that one day there could be a collection that supercedes the obvious 'hits' compilations that get regurgitated over and over again. This is the ticket.

"Heartaches & Harmonies" is fully comprehensive; it chronologically lists the songs from 1951 to 1990, and thankfully includes much of the duo's latter output, most of which is on par with anything they did in the classic 50's period.

Any re-recording/remastering that's been done has been polished to a tee (thank you Rhino records! Kings of the box set!), and they've done a great job of condensing the Everly's considerable discography.

No self-respecting fan of rock and roll should be without this box set; it's been lovingly crafted using the brothers as springboards to their own material, offering tidbits of information as to how the songs were inspired (and even a little bit of trivia).

First things first, it's almost strictly chronological. Such is this fact, that some of the tracks will not fit together hand-in-glove, on the CD itself. But this doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that this is surely the most comprehensive look at the Everly Brothers' career, spread over four discs of absolute perfection. From a 1951, to 1990 version of Don't Let Our Love Die, the harmonies are impeccable, the words penetrate into the very heart of the human soul, and are still stirring you while asleep, and the true beauty of the tracks is never lost. There are rarities, such as Nancy's Minuet and the mid-60s outtake Nice Guys, as well as their Coca Cola commercial for US Television, but the majority of the softcore audience will be looking out for the classics such as All I Have To Do Is Dream, and Wake Up Little Susie. The fact is, however, that there seems to be too much on this set, and that the softcore audience will pass by disinterested. For the fan, this is unputdownable.

Any fan of the Everly's will not be disappointed with this comprehensive and lovingly compiled 4 CD set. Not only are nearly all the hits the duo produced included, but there are also many rare and previously unreleased tracks. The early tracks are the original Cadence recordings (not the remakes for Warner Bros) and sound fantastic in the excellent remastering. "Let it be me" appears in stereo for the first time. The later warners tracks have never sounded better and include such rarities as "man with money" "bowling green" and "love of the common people" Even on the later tracks the boys (both individually and together)show that they still had what it takes to make great music but unfortunately their time had passed.

The booklet is packed with informative track info. and revealing interviews with both Don and Phil. If only other compilations were put together with such love and care. I think Bill Inglot deserves an award for the work he and his team at Rhino do to allow fans of classic music to hear it the way it should be heard. In short, buy this one and you won't be sorry.

This compilation of Everly tunes is AWESOME! FANTASTIC! OUT OF THIS WORLD! I am thoroughly impressed with this set. This set starts out with their dad introducing them and their ages. Actually, the first song is quite cute for young boys but it is evidence of their blossoming talent. The first song is not a very good one, but is excellent for a beginning. The Everly's talent is quite evident from CD1/Track 1 right on through to CD4/Track 23. The booklet enclosed in this set gives a detailed description of their decades long career. This box set has all their hits that most of us are familiar with and some songs we probably never heard before. One song that I always thought was a beautiful Everly's ballad is So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad). In my opinion, this song is full of sadness and emotion and has the listener feeling what they are feeling in this song. I think that next to George Harrison's (and the Beatles) song Something, So Sad ranks right up there next to it. So Sad is one of the most beautiful love songs of emotion and feeling that has ever been written. This box set is a must for all true-blue Everly fans and even for those who aren't Everly fans. This is a superb compilation worthy of at least one listen. Guaranteed you will listen over and over again.

I have seen the Everly's 8-9 times in concert and have most of there cd's so this set was a welcome addition. Buying this years ago before all the warner cd releases my only complaint about this set would have been some of the song selections, for instance "nice guys" one of there worst attempts, I would have chosen some better cuts then some of the 1963 era ones on disc 2.
Overall though, Awesome

I would have appreciated more Cadence and early Warner Bros cuts on this 4 disc set...the later songs tho fine in their recasting into the sixties sound, then later into progressive country reveal the ongoing talent of the Everly's but dominate too much of the selections here...How could you leave off "Change of Heart" from A Date with the Everlys????

This is a four CD overview of the Everly Brothers career. It starts with a recording from the Everly Family radio show in 1951 and ends with a song from 1990. The brothers are arguably the most important duo in the history of rock and roll, and were if fact among the initial inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were extremely successful between 1957 and 1962. After that, they only occasionally had a hit song, although they were still putting out some good records. Anyway, this is a good collection of many of their best songs, from their hit years and their non-hit years, which should appeal to their fans.

Although this is a compilation disk, the lesser known sides (3 and 4) offer Love of the Common People and Love Her which display Phil's exceptional harmony and emotional side. The Collector and a number of other self penned lyrics bring into light the darker side of the Everly's which we always knew were there but remained silent in too many of the sanguine early recordings. If this had continued to evolve Don might have entered the realm of talent found with Rodney Crowell's writing ability