no doubt this is a masterpiece: buy it !

If I could I would have given 6 stars.

No doubt 1960 was the best Everly year for both music quality and quantity.Would you buy only one Everly cd this is the one to buy.All tracks are extremely impressive,nothing to reject, many songs came from the Bryant and they were especialy writing songs for Don and Phil,the best combination.

The Nashville sound is as pure as the music and the voices.

It' s clear: there will never be an other country rock album reaching this level of quality.



"Sleepless nights" is an extreme exemple of the perfect combination of 2 voices,Cathy's clown was building the new standard of country music for the years to come, Nashville blues showed the Everlys were good at blues also...and I could say such things about each title.

But most of all, many golden titles from these 2 albums were missing a lot in previous PARTIAL re issues. If you find you have already some of these songs on other cds, you can still buy this CD because songs like "just in case" (drums are incredible !) or "I want you to know" (and many others) can only be found here.

I CONFIRM DON'T LOSE ANY TIME, BUY IT WHILE YOU CAN !( I purchased 3 of them as I had waited 40 years before...)

I am now hoping Warner will do the same job for all original LPs especialy "Beat and soul"

Everly yours

Thierry Cordonnier

Landmark Recordings by Overlooked "Oldies" Duo

If these two albums, recorded in 1960 and 1961, were the benchmark by which all other recordings were judged, there would be a stack of CD's up to one's knee, perhaps a little higher. Irrespective of the Everly's historical grouping as oldies pop stars, there is a quality of material, musicianship, and breadth of focus that is so unusual that the end product could be likened to a spontaneous combustion, a freak, a winning ticket.

That is not to say that these albums are freak shows, or avante garde mayhem, rather they are a deceptively simple meld of country, blues, rock and even (thanks to Hank Garland) jazz. Because the Everly Brothers are associated with the bubblegum teenybop era, it seems unlikely that this work should be relegated to anything but the oldies dustbins of our mega music stores. As a music lover in his middle twenties, "oldies" hold no nostalgic value, no meaning beyond music was actually committed to tape, which, though always charming, seem at times silly and contrived, as can the music of any generation, no doubt. These two albums, however, are on visionary and cutting edge fringe of music I've heard from this era (and I've heard a lot of it). The songs are classic (not in a Led Zepplin, AC/DC way), the musicians are hot, and the Everly's are in such fine voice, and so in tune. That their stylistic edge has been ground flat and "genericized" by the numerous artists who've replicated these songs and their style is evidence of this being true musician's music. To me, there is no greater compliment than that.

To say that the Everly's unwittingly created a masterpiece here amidst their transition to Warner's is discrediting. The fact that they were so young and producing this music themselves, admidst a power struggle between those who sought to exploit and manipulate them makes this music not only a testament of their skill, but of their strength and integrity. Luckily, the songwriters and the Nashville A Team who who wrote and sat in, respectively, on these sessions created a nurturing environment for the brothers to realize their intuitive creativity, not to mention their own songwriting abilites. The result of this nebulus is a powerful and infectious rendering of then "new" and "older" tunes. There's some Fat's Domino, Ray Charles, some Jimmy Reed, and a lot of then current Nashville songwriting. If John Lennon hadn't been listening closely to these records, namely Cathy's Clown, I seriously doubt the Beatles would have had much of a blueprint for their first four albums. The fact that these two Everly albums happened at all, given the pressures against them both creatively and socially, is amazing.

But they went to tape, and thank God for that. Just look at the track list, I think that speaks more than any words o mine. Not to downplay the Everly hit catalog, but the real Everly muscle was flexed in these sessions: "Sleepless Nights", "Love Hurts", "Cathy's Clown", and even killer country/blues rave ups like "Nashville Blues" and "What Kind of Girl Are You?" are testament to their verstatility, which may have been what the Everly's had in mind, given their connotation with the 50's. Did this translate to sales? I think so, but not much into credibility, which is why I feel compelled to write a review like this. No need to write one for Hank Williams or the Beatles or Jeff Buckley, they've gotten their due, and deservedly.

The sound quality of the masters, incidentally, are amazing, thanks to the engineer, Bill Porter at RCA Studio B who engineered the original sessions. The musicians are not sideliners by any means, and are hands down as good as it gets, a well oiled team consisting of the most inventive and tasteful players of that era. Some of the tracks really sound like and "after hours" session, in which all the musicians, Everly's included, played what they wanted, may the world be damned. To those who haven't heard them, these albums are a must have, and for those who have, worthy of a second and closer listen.

Get it while you can

If one needs any more convincing that the beginning of the Everly's tenure at Warner Brothers was every bit as brilliant as their time at Cadence, this CD should set you straight. All their 1960 recordings are here, and it is impressive. It includes the two albums that were released that year, plus the singles and several alternate takes and songs that were recorded but unreleased at that tiem. All are wonderfully remastered in pristine stereo, and the choice of songs and studio musicians (which includes the great Chet Atkins) is absolutely the best. Man these Nashville cats know how to play, and what a pleasure it is to listen to Chet Atkins absolutely gorgeous licks; his guitar playing alone is worth the price of admission. It goes without saying that the singing, well, just doesn't get any better than this, in ANY era.

These are classic, timeless recordings, really. If their were any justice in this world, this CD would be a catalog item that would sell several hundred thousand copies a year, like Abbey Road or Revolver. As it is, you better get this while you can, because it's only available as a limited supply import. Even if you've got the Everly Brothers boxed set, you need this if you appreciate just how good these guys were. This collection from 1960 catches the Everly Brothers at their peak...period.