A clutch of talking heads that include rock writers, music
executives, and artists such as Keith Richards, Graham Nash, and Art Garfunkel
spend most of the film’s hour analyzing the duo’s unique harmonies, Don
Everly’s aggressive guitar rhythms, their songs and arrangements. Don is on
hand to give new firsthand details on his music, while his late brother Phil
appears in relatively recent footage from 2010. Even in a music-focused film,
it would be dishonest, and frankly, kind of boring to only discuss the music,
and the brothers’ fall out is addressed, Don basically chalking it up to his
being a democrat and Phil being a republican.
It is not Scott’s OK documentary that makes Eagle Vision’s
new blu-ray of the film a must own. It is the bonus DVD containing a live
performance from Sydney, Australia, in 1968. Those talking heads can talk about
how great The Everlys are all they want to, but there is no better proof than
that club date in which the guys not only showed off their unimpeachable
harmonies and rocked with total abandon with the assistance of a sharp blues
trio called The Tabernacle Three, but also flaunted their significant comedic
gifts. This is as much of a stand-up gig as it is a Rock & Roll one with
Don delivering really funny shtick between songs while Phil plays the silent
straight man. This is one of the most thoroughly entertaining performances I’ve
ever seen, and the roughness of the footage isn’t much of an issue except in
one small stretch with several missing frames. Unfortunately, this means we
lose a few beats from “Wake Up, Little Susie” and Don’s comedy riff on smoking banana peels.
