The two albums The Everly Brothers made for their first
label, Cadence, aren’t necessarily their two most essential (that honor goes to
their first two Warner Bros. LPs), but The
Everly Brothers and Songs Our Daddy
Taught Us do contain a few unquestionably essential numbers. These include
“Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie” on the former and “That Silver Haired
Daddy of Mine” on the latter. Mostly, the first two Everly Brothers albums
spotlight the duo’s two sides in an extreme fashion that would be more
organically blended on their next albums.
The Everly Brothers
largely portrays Phil and Don as rockers, both with two of their sprightliest
hits and with covers of raw material like “This Little Girl of Mine”, “Leave My
Woman Alone”, “Keep A-Knockin’”, “Be-Bop-A-Lula”, and “Rip It Up”. Needless to
say, the Everlys are no Ray Charles, Gene Vincent, or Little Richard when it
comes to breaking a sweat, but they still comport themselves well by rearranging
these songs to suit their sweeter, cheerier style.
They guys are more at home with the idiosyncratic trad country
and folk songs of Songs Our Daddy Taught
Us. This is an extreme left turn after their electrified debut. The
arrangements are as Spartan as can be: just two voices, guitar, and string bass
(or in the case of “Barbara Allen”, guitar and autoharp). The tempos are all
slow to mid. The tone throughout is dusky. Those looking to go for a swing at
the hop will be disappointed. Open-minded listeners will be intoxicated.
Those who are curious about The Everly Brothers’ two unusual
Cadence albums and crave the hits would
do well to check out The Everly
Brothers-The Cadence Recordings, a new triple disc set comprising the two
albums on dedicated discs and a third platter of singles and rarities. That CD
is where you’ll get your fill of absolute essentials such as “All I Have to Do
Is Dream”, “Claudette”, “Devoted to You”, Take a Message to Mary”, “(’Til) I
Kissed You”, and “Let It Be Me” all with the organic, punchy sound typical of an
Edsel Records release.
