Everly Brothers legend Phil dies aged 74
Phil Everly, whose high, close-harmony singing with his older brother Don made the Everly Brothers one of the biggest rock and country acts of the 1950s and early 1960s, has died at the age of 74.
Phil Everly
1939-2014
Phil Everly, whose high, close-harmony singing with his older brother Don made the Everly Brothers one of the biggest rock and country acts of the 1950s and early 1960s, has died at the age of 74.
Everly died in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife Patti told the .
"We are absolutely heartbroken," Patti Everly told the paper. "He fought long and hard."
The Everly Brothers profoundly influenced 1960s-era artists ranging from Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney - who early in their careers called themselves the Foreverly Brothers- to Simon and Garfunkel, the Byrds, the Hollies and the Beach Boys.
"Perhaps even more powerfully than Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers melded country with the emerging sound of Fifties rock 'n' roll," magazine said in placing the duo at No. 33 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists."
Phil and Don had an onstage breakup in 1973 that led to a decade-long estrangement, but Phil later told magazine their relationship had endured.
"Don and I are infamous for our split," Phil said, "but we're closer than most brothers. Harmony singing requires that you enlarge yourself, not use any kind of suppression. Harmony is the ultimate love."
Phillip Everly was born on January 19, 1939, in Chicago, the son of two country musicians, Ike and Margaret Everly.
With Ike Everly on guitar, the family was a travelling act and had a radio show in which Phil and Don performed between commercials for XIP rat poison and Foster's 30-minute Wonder Corn and Callus Remover.
Legendary Nashville guitarist Chet Atkins was one of their earliest supporters.
"One thing that impressed me when I met those kids was that they were so intelligent," Atkins said on the Everly family fan site. "Don and Phil used proper English and I just thought they were a cut above ... intellectually and education-wise."
Their breakthrough hit, , came in 1957 and rose to No. 2 on the US charts. It was their first million-seller and the first of numerous Everly tunes written by Boudleaux Bryant and his wife Felice, including, , and .
, also released in 1957, was their first No. 1 hit. A song about two teenagers falling asleep at the drive-in theatre and waking up long after curfew, it was banned in Boston for its slightly suggestive lyrics.
In 1960 the brothers signed with a new record label, Warner Bros., agreeing to a 10-year, US$1 million contract and making their debut with their own song, , but by then their career was in decline.
The Beatles may have led to the clean-cut brothers' undoing in the tumultuous 1960s, but they were on a downward path at least a year before the Fab Four exploded on the scene, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which inducted the Everlys in 2001.
"They broke with [record producer] Wesley Rose in 1961, moved to California, and began making singles that were probably too experimental for the time," it said, also citing a touring slowdown and a loss of access to the Bryants' songs due to a split with music publisher Acuff-Rose.
