Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The changing fortunes of the Everlys in the sixties, October 6, 2002
The Everly brothers had several hits on the Cadence label, notably Bye bye love and All I have to do is dream, before signing to Warners in 1960. They started very successfully but their popularity faded gradually. By the end of the sixties, only their most dedicated fans paid any attention to them - yet their music was always of a high quality. They continually updated their music, trying to reflect changing fashions, making this a very interesting compilation.
The first CD includes all but one of the big British and American hits (among them being Cathy's clown, So sad to watch good love go bad, Walk right back, Temptation, Cryimg in the rain, Don't blame me and Ebony eyes), together with some of their most interesting album tracks (especially Sleepless nights and Love hurts). See my review of It's Everly time//A date with the Everly brothers for more about some of these songs. Two of the last three tracks on this CD are covers of country songs written by Don Gibson (Just one time and Sweet dreams). Even at their most popular, they never really strayed too far from their country roots.
The second CD opens with The price of love, their last major British hit - it reached #2 in 1965, but I don't think it did anything in America. It was a brilliant, infectious song with a touch of R+B. At around that time, the Everlys were being compared to the Beatles, but the truth is that the Everlys were a major influence on the Beatles, so people got the comparison the wrong way round.
The remaining tracks, covering the second half of the sixties, see the Everlys experimenting with a variety of styles, including more country songs, albeit with a pop/rock beat.
This is a fine collection for those (like me) who's interest in the Everly brothers goes beyond their hit singles. If you only want their hits, you can get them elsewhere without all the other stuff.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Neglected gems, December 30, 2001
Although the material on this two disc set is no match for the classic Cadence recordings, there are some great songs on these discs. Everybody knows "Cathy's Clown," but maybe everybody should know where the original version of "Love Hurts" comes from (later to be butchered by Nazareth). Disc One features the same sound that made the Everlys so popular in the late 1950s, with neglected tracks like "Nancy's Minuet" showing their flair for more ambitious material (even if "Ebony Eyes" fails in this regard). The early tracks on the second disc feature a more Beatle-esque sound, showing them modifying to their sound for the marketplace by adapting it to that of the British Invasion, while still managing to keep that beautiful Everlys sound. The later tracks on disc two resemble "Notorious Byrd Brothers"-era country-rock with mixed success. While this set is lacking in "classic hits," the material is consistently strong and shows that despite the Everlys lack of popularity from the mid- to late-1960s, they were still evolving musically. People interested in today's alt-country need to check these discs out, particularly fans newly acquainted with Gram Parsons. Many of his staples ("Love Hurts," "Sleepless Nights," Merle Haggard's "Sing Me Back Home," Little Richard's "Lucille") are on these discs.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT LATTER-DAY EVERLYS' MUSIC !, January 30, 2005
This 2 disc set contains the complete Warner Brothers output of the Everlys. Although not as groundbreaking as their earlier Cadence recordings, it still contains some fine material. Fans of Clarence White will dig the last two tracks on disc 2, which contain some fine stringbender work by Clarence. I HEARTILY RECOMMEND THIS FINE CD RELEASE!
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