Don't mess with a winning formula

On holiday in the Spanish island of Ibiza a few years ago, I would walk down a quiet street every morning on the way to the local shop to buy a newspaper. I passed by a small tavern, which at 10.00am wasn't open for business but was being prepared for the day ahead. I remember the same music being played from within the tavern, reaching the street and filling the air with wonderful songs and harmonies. It was the Everly Brothers' greatest hits. The original recordings of classics such as All I Have To Do Is Dream, Walk Right Back and Bye Bye Love remain the best examples of male harmonising in popular music (with the Beach Boys a close second). The Everlys enjoyed years of tremendous success and are an acknowledged influence on artists that followed them such as Simon and Garfunkel. By 1973, the brothers - never the closest of friends - had become so distanced from each other that an on-stage disagreement, following years of arguing, saw the duo divide and pursue solo careers. Ten years later, they reunited and performed a much-anticipated reunion concert in London. Naturally, this was recorded and has been released on several record labels in the subsequent years. Was it worth the wait? The answer is yes, but with some reservations. The harmonies are as glorious as ever, remembering that in some cases, the now middle-aged brothers are attempting to duplicate their teenage voices from 25 years before. Where the CD is less impressive is when certain songs (Till I Kissed You, Love Hurts and others) require verses sung solo. There are attempts at noticably different phrasings from the original recordings during these segments. It doesn't work: in an effort to be different, inadvisedly high notes are attempted, and the feel is that there is a high degree of improvising, none too successfully. Back to these songs' choruses, they sound completely in tune and as good as ever. In pop music terms, this album amounts to Da Vinci repainting the Mona Lisa. I don't regret buying this album but I know that, like the Spanish bar owner, I prefer the original versions.

Harmonium

The essence of perfect harmony has been distilled onto these two discs, capturing the live reunion in September of 1983 at London's Royal Albert Hall. Although it's a bit of a puzzle as to which concert actually got recorded (likely both), it really doesn't matter, because this is as good as it gets.

The single CD version omits far too many of the superb medleys, and in any event, why would you omit any of this concert? The brothers are singing better than ever, they're backed by a crack band of seasoned pros, and the recording is ALMOST flawless.

If there's any complaint, it's that the recording level is lower than it should be, but that's a minor problem at best.

All the hits are here, and in a lot of ways, they're performed better than the originals. Absolutely essential.

Highlights

This was recorded at the Everly Brothers reunion concert at Albert Hall on September 23, 1983. It was a really great show, with the boys singing almost all of their old hits, in great two part harmony. Seriously, this is an awesome concert, and all Everly Brothers fans should enjoy it.