From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Fri Feb 1, 2002 1:15 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Don Everly DON EVERLY (By Shaun Mather) Born 1 February 1937, Brownie, Kentucky "I'm Don, and I'm still the oldest". Older than the joke in fact, and that takes some doing. Don Everly, one half of the internationally renowned Everly Brothers was born into a family of music, with his parents Ike and Margaret working in radio. Throughout their childhood, the boys joined their parents on the air and gained valuable experience and developed the closest of harmonies together. They moved to Nashville and when Don was 17; Kitty Wells recorded one of his first compositions, Thou Shalt Not Steal. The brothers made their own recording debut for Columbia but it was when they moved to Cadence and cut the Felice and Boudleaux Bryant number, Bye, Bye Love that they began their long string of hit records. Classics like Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have To Do Is Dream and Bird Dog followed before the boys left the label and joined Warner Brothers. Hits like Cathy's Clown, Walk Right Back and So Sad continued but a spell in the Marines and the British Invasion saw their success dwindle. As the 60's progressed, Don was recovering from drug addiction and in 1973 the brothers had a fall out on stage and parted, not seeing one another until their father's funeral, 10 years later. Don recorded three solo albums in the interim, Don Everly, Brother Jukebox and Sunset Towers, all being strong country rock. In June 1983 they reunited for a standing-room-only audience at London's Royal Albert Hall and started recording successfully again. They have remained a touring force but their stage act has varied little since the Albert Hall show. Don Everly is more than just a pretty boy with a lovely voice, he wrote some brilliant songs and was also experimental on their sessions (he was the one responsible for having four lead guitarists on the intro to Lucille). The Everly Brothers were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Useful websites: http://www.everly.net/main.htm and http://www.everlybrothers.com For recommended listening and reading see Phil's post on Phil Everly (Jan. 19)