The Very Best of the Everly Brothers

AMG Review of The Very Best of the Everly Brothers

Steve Leggett
All Music Guide

Following some early country-styled recordings for Columbia Records, Don and Phil Everly moved on to Cadence Records, where they added some pop sheen to their Appalachian-derived harmony vocals and, thanks to a Boudleaux and Felice Bryant song that cruised along on a shave-and-a-haircut rhythm, had a massive hit in 1957 with "Bye Bye Love," the first of several hits the brothers would score for Cadence in the next three years before departing for Warner Brothers. Although they also had some big songs with Warner, including "Cathy's Clown" and "Walk Right Back," the Cadence period arguably finds the Everly Brothers at their peak, and this anthology collects the key tracks from their stay at the label, including "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "Bird Dog," "('Til) I Kissed You," and "Devoted to You." The Warner years are more or less covered via five tracks, including "Cathy's Clown" and "Walk Right Back," drawn from a reunion concert in 1983 at Royal Albert Hall. There are more complete collections of the Everly Brothers on the market that tell a more complete story than this one, but the strength of their legacy was built during the Cadence years of the late '50s, which means this set has the heart of it, including several marvelous Bryant/Bryant songs.