THE EVERLY BROTHERS - SONGS OUR DADDY TAUGHT US 1958. I know I have written about this LP before (several times over the years), but I just found another clean copy, and I won't shut up about it, because it is that goddamn good. Before there was Chris Stapleton, there were The Bottle Rockets. Before The Bottle Rockets, there was Uncle Tupelo. Before Uncle Tupelo, there were The Flying Burrito Brothers. Before The Flying Burrito Brothers, there was The Sir Douglas Quintet. But even before Sir Doug, there were Don and Phil Everly, a couple of hillrod brothers who could harmonize like Jesus himself had commanded it. There is something more than a little bit creepy about siblings singing really tight harmonies. It can almost sound like the same voice at times, warbling though some kind of semi-functional chorus effects pedal. Add to that a bleak set of ancient mountain songs about death, poverty, and heartache, and you have a twang boomerang that will keep hitting you in the head with its awesomeness with every listen. The brothers were just about to become huge rock stars at this point, and releasing a full LP of hill tunes with only acoustic backing may not have been the best career move in the nascent rock and roll scene, but they knew where they had come from, and were not afraid to show it. The Green Day dude and Norah Jones released a cover album of this entire record a few years back, and they are not total meatheads. If you have never heard the original, you probably should, and your copy awaits you
-John G.
Bad Kitty Music #11: Albert King/Otis Rush
Bad Kitty Music #10: Uriah Heep
Bad Kitty Music #9: George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Bad Kitty Music #8: Bob(by) Darin
Bad Kitty Music #7: Todd Rundgren
Bad Kitty Music #6: The Rockets
Bad Kitty Music #5: Rush
Bad Kitty Music #4: Dr. John
Bad Kitty Music #3: Terry Reid
Bad Kitty Music #2: Roy Buchanan
Bad Kitty Music #1: Bobby "Blue"Bland
3 comments:
That's an excellent old timey album.
And before there was Uncle Tupelo there was Jason and the Scorchers and the Knitters. But before there was the Everlys, there was the Louvin Brothers and before them, the Blue Sky Boys. All are great, and part of a great American tradition as old and majestic as the hills whence such music originated.
C in California
Excellent album!
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