Blood Harmony
The Everly Brothers Story
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4.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
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The definitive biography of the Everly Brothers, one of the greatest and most influential acts in popular music history, based on dozens of exclusive and archival interviews, as well as long-lost global reporting
In between the Elvis years and the rise of the Beatles, there was no bigger act than The Everly Brothers. From 1957-1962, they were among the highest selling pop acts in the U.S. In that time, they developed their own brand of rock ‘n' roll and gentle pop balladry that leaned heavily on older, close harmony styles of country music singing. “Wake Up, Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Cathy’s Clown,” “Let it Be Me,” — their hits were legion and their sweet and sour Appalachian-style harmonies influenced everyone from The Beatles to Simon and Garfunkel to the Beach Boys to Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The Everly Brothers—Don and Phil—are inducted members of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, and progenitors of the hybrid Americana roots music format.
Blood Harmony: The Everly Brothers Story is the first biography that’s focused on the dramatic, complicated relationship of these two famous and strikingly talented brothers, and explores how the evolution of their relationship played out in the much- loved music they created—through some sixty years of performing. Their story is the story of American music, from their rural Kentucky origins to massive international fame, falling out of fashion in the wake of the rise of rock bands and singer-songwriters, and their many comebacks.
Blood Harmony is a fitting ode to the brothers who made a huge impact on the modern music scene, celebrating how their creative "blood harmony" evolved to become an entry point into country music for millions around the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
