The Everly Brothers: Live at the BBC

The Everlys? Again? Hmm, let's see, how can I put this...

If you love music, you love the Everly Brothers! If you love American music, harmony singing, rock 'n' roll, country-rock, folk-rock, ROCK, you love the Everlys because they are in its DNA.  They are in the DNA of the Beatles.  They are in the DNA of Bob Dylan. They are in the DNA of Simon & Garfunkel.  They are in the DNA of The Byrds.  I could go on.  Their harmonies are among the fundamental building blocks of the music you likely love today.

But don't think the Everlys are a corny oldies act. Don't think their music is something you have to tilt your head and squint at to like. It goes down easy. Their songs are clever, not corny. Well, I should say, even the corny ones are clever. Their originals are great, and the other songs they debuted by such great songwriters as Carole King and Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, are gems. They are real rockers, playing tough, crisp rhythm and lead guitar and always leading the best bands. (Warren Zevon played in their band early in his career, to name one.) They were performing on the radio with their dad and mom before their ages were in double-digits. In the '60s they were one of the few first-generation rock 'n' roll acts to retain creative viability, recording an album backed by The Hollies, and covering the Beatles and Tim Hardin and songs from Hair (all of those in just one wild, trippy medley from 1969's The Everly Brothers Show). And, of course, there are those justly famous, chilling, heart-tugging sibling harmonies, a hair's breadth apart. John and Paul, Paul and Art, Gram and Emmylou, The Eagles, Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds, The Jayhawks' Mark Olson and Gary Louris, those are just the first pairs of singers that come to mind who have taken the Brothers as their ideal. But as much as others might emulate their trademark sound, there's no substituting for the magical connection of Phil and Don.

Anyway, the downloads of their stuff are lagging behind much of the other stuff here, so I thought I'd put in a good word for 'em with you all! Here is their out-of-print Live at the BBC collection. The first nine tracks are from the first stage of their career, three early tracks including a rare version of "Baby What You Want Me To Do", and six from the later '60s, featuring the immortal "Walk Right Back" and their great last hit, "Bowling Green". The other six are from their reunion concert in 1983, of which I may post the whole thing later if there's interest (hint!) as it's gone out of print, too.

Link in comments. 320kbps.
UPDATE: New Mediafire link posted for those having difficulties with Megaupload.