Happy Birthday Don

Can Don Everly really be 74 today. He'll always remain one half of the baby faced teen duo, the Everly Brothers. They have the greatest harmonies in rock history. Some of their vocals are simply magical - just listen to the SOngs Our Daddy Taught Us and marvel at the beauty.

Below is a great little clip from Shindig that Phil Davies thrust in my direction. Shame about the girlie group and the dancers, but Don and Phil are cookin'.

Reasons to love youTube No.4 - Wilburn Brothers

Continuing the long line of brother-duos, the Wilburn's were probably the last bona-fide act in the tradition. Had rock 'n' roll not materialised in the mid-50's I'm sure the Everly Brothers may have claimed that honour, but it did and they can't! The brothers, Doyle and Teddy were born in Hardy, Missouri in 1930 and 1931 respectively, the final kids in a bunch of five. Before they reached puberty they were part of the Wilburn family band with brothers Lester and Leslie and sister Geraldine, playing on guitars, mandolin, and fiddle that their dad had bought from the Sears, Roebuck catalogue. A series of local gigs soon made way to appearances throughout the south until in 1940 they came across, and impressed Roy Acuff who arranged for them to join the Grand Ole Opry. They lasted for six months until the Opry were forced to drop them because of child labour infringements.

In 1948 they joined the legendary Louisiana Hayride and had formed a close allegiance with future Hall of Famer Webb Pierce. This exciting period was scuppered by the Korean conflict which saw both Doyle and Teddy called up for action. When they returned from duty they were forced to become a duo as the elder brothers had left the business and Geraldine had gotten herself hitched. Webb Pierce was by now working at the Opry and with the two Wilburns old enough to fight for Uncle Sam and therefore definitely old enough to sing on the radio (!) they rejoined the famed Nashville show. They became a part of Pierce's backing band and signed in their own right to Decca records.

They enjoyed their first hit record in mid 1954 when Sparkling Brown Eyes spent four months on the charts, peaking at number four. They made national television appearances on both The Arthur Godfrey Talent Show and American Bandstand. Over the next 15 years they notched up 30 hit records, including Go Away With Me, Which One is to Blame, Trouble's Back in Town, It's Another World, I Wanna Wanna Wanna, I'm So in Love With You, Go Away With Me, Roll Muddy River, and their biggest single, 1966's Hurt Her Once for Me. From a rocking point of view there was only one record to warrant mention. As with most country artists in the 50's they were tempted into taking a stab at rockabilly. They cut little known but pretty good rocker, Oo Bop Sha Boom which was released as a single (Decca 9-30591).

Their talents didn't just end on the performing front though. They formed the Wil-Helm Talent Agency with former Hank Williams sideman Don Helms and started a music publishing house called Sure-Fire. These helped the early careers of among others, Sonny James, the Osbourne Brothers, Jean Shepherd and most controversially of all, Loretta Lynn, who parted in a sour manner from the set-up. When she collaborated with Hollywood on her biopic Cole Miner's Daughter the Wilburn Brothers were omitted completely from the story line despite their massive role in her career. Such was the ill feeling between the three after the split that Loretta started to use other writers instead of writing herself and letting Sure-Fire get the publishingIn 1963 they started their own weekly TV show, in colour, The Wilburn Brothers Show, that ran until 1974. They were named Duet of the Year in the Music City News Awards in 1967 and were nominated for Vocal Group of the Year at the 1972 CMA Awards.

Doyle died of cancer on October 16, 1982, which left Teddy to carry on as a solo act on the Grand Ole Opry until his own death from congestive heart failure on November 24, 2003. As with most acts from the past, their artistic talent is long forgotten by the country music industry but real fans of the real sound still hold them close to their hearts. Their harmonising and countrypolitan sound still has a freshness today which outshines the majority of stuff the Nashville labels are producing today. If they are to be the last of the sibling duos they certainly carried the torch with proud. The stage is set for someone to take the throne, but when and who will that be?

Top Ten Picks:

1. Trouble's Back In Town - Top 5 hit from 1962 is countrypolitan Nashpop that has the Big O and Jim Reeves written all over it.

2. Trouble Keeps Hanging Around My Door - The Wilburn's revived the Delmore Brothers style on this great Ted Daffan ballad. All that was missing was a Wayne Raney blast on harmonica.

3. Hey, Mr Bluebird with Ernest Tubb - A perfect slice of Nashville pop from the pen of the late-great Cindy Walker that sees Ernest as tuneful as he ever got.

4. Which One Is To Blame - 1959 hit record in the Ray Price shuffle beat. You'd swear the Cherokee Cowboys were backing the boys here.

5. I Wanna, Wanna, Wanna ­ Louisiana music guru J.D. Miller penned this uptempo two minute chunk of fiddle laden hillbilly.

6. Somebody's Back In Town ­ Top ten honky tonker written by Teddy and Doyle and Don Helms.

7. Arkansas ­ a deviation into the folk field that suits the guys to the ground.

8. Sparkling Brown Eyes with Webb Pierce ­ this classic split tempo number was their first hit.

9. Fighting A Mem'ry ­ pure honky tonk from the pen of Danny Walls.

10. Hurt Her Once For Me ­ their biggest hit from 1966 which reminds me of Buck Owens.

Battle of the Song No.4 - A Legend In My Time

A Legend In My Time - As peformed by;
Don Gibson, Ricky Nelson, Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash

Don Gibson was one hell of a songwriter with a portfolio that included no less than Oh Lonesome Me, Blue Blue Day, Sea of Heartbreak and I Can’t Stop Loving You. I read once, I think in Now Dig This that he considered himself more of a songwriter who sang than a singer who wrote. And that’s probably fair, because although his voice was good, his songs were brilliant. I was surprised during my research to learn that the only version to reach the country charts was by Ronnie Milsap in 1975.

Country music is built on it’s lyrics, and the saying goes, the sadder the better. Throw in a big hunk of pity and you’re starting to get here. No song plays the pity card any better than A Legend In My Time. “If loneliness meant world acclaim / Everyone would know my name / I'd be a legend in my time”. The upshot though is that they don’t, “But they don't give awards / And there's no praise or fame / For a heart that's been broken / Over love that's in vain”.

When Gibson was interviewed about the song in Nashville on 7th September 1973 he said, “This song was written on the road to Knoxville, Tennessee, in a car with Mel Foree. I was reading an article in a magazine I had picked up about an entertainer. He was talking about show business and his career and how he would like to be a legend in his time. I told Mel that that would be a good title for a song, so I started humming.” The guy was a genius with the pen, but how does his version stack up against the others?

Don’s original is pure Nashville circa 1960. The sympathetic backing courtesy of the A Team had the right amounts of backing vocals, piano and guitar to allow Don’s voice to portray the pity in the message.

The Ricky Nelson version from his 1963 long player, “Sings For You” is a really good cover. The backing is very similar with James Burton adding a few extra embellishments. Ricky’s vocal performance is strong and belied his teeny bopper image.

Roy Orbison’s version was probably the first time I’d heard the song. My mate, the much missed Alan Galbraith, used to play it all the time. It was on the earth-shatteringly great Lonely & Blue album which included no lesser gems than Only The Lonely and Blue Angel. The Big O’s version of Legend is quite different to Gibson’s. The session from mid September 1960 was held at Nashville RCA studios, with his usual producer and engineer, Fred Foster and Bill Porter, using string arrangements to augment the same, without ever threatening to drown out the Bob Moore led country pickers. The haunting, atmospheric sax solo gives the words an extra dimension. On top of that, Roy plays with the lyrics for all they’re worth. A stunning masterpiece where the singer, the musicians and the material, bond in perfect harmony. He recorded the song again in 67 for the "Sings Don Gibson" album and that's great, but the first version is the best.

I love the Everly Brothers and think they are the tightest unit in rock history, but there’s something not quite there with their version of Legend. There’s just something missing that I can’t put my finger on. Their vocal performance actually reminds me of the style they were to employ in their 80’s comeback albums, EB84 and Born Yesterday.

Johnny Cash cut the song sometime between 2002 and 2003 just prior to his death. It was released late in 2004 as American V, and as with most of the American series it’s a dark, acoustic version. His worn, tired vocals gave most of the American recordings a hard edge that gave the mainly death and religious material an added effect. His take on Legend is no different and it was an inspired choice of song for that final period in his life.

The two that missed the boat with this song are my two main heroes. I would absolutely have loved to hear Jerry Lee do it at the London Sessions. When he did No Headstone On My Grave he had the upstart British musicians eating out of his hand and he knew it. His ego grew even more and he told them he didn’t want a headstone he wanted a damn monument. You can just imagine him doing this and shouting out that he’s already a legend in his time. Obviously the other guy who should have covered this was Elvis. In the early 60’s he’d have slayed it. Take a listen to Suspicion or Fame and Fortune and tell me that this wasn’t the perfect voice. With the Nashville band giving him the same backing as Don Gibson’s original, it would be phenomenal, and it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this would be the perfect version.

I know there’s been loads of other versions, including Hank Snow but I have got a life and the five above will have to do. To be honest the handful I’ve looked at are the cream of the crop. As it is, the winner of today’s battle of the song is Roy Orbison. Beautifully sung, totally convincingly sung by the king of pain.

If heartaches brought fame in love's crazy game,
I'd be a legend in my time.
If they gave gold statuettes for tears and regrets,
I'd be a legend in my time.
But they don't give awards, and there's no praise or fame
For a broken heart that's been broken over love that's in vain.
If loneliness meant world acclaim,
Then everyone would know my name --
I'd be a legend in my time.