The Everly Brothers were a staple in my house musically when I was growing up back in the early ‘60s; they were one of the biggest duos around and were known for their soaring harmonies and fusion of the current country sound with rock and roll. They toured and recorded from the late ‘50s through the early ‘80s and amassed a staggering collection of songs in their catalog. It must have been a huge undertaking to sift through them and choose the ones that Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie “Prince” Billy re-interpret here on their new release What The Brothers Sang. The important point to remember here is that, while Dawn and Billy are fans of the brothers, they didn't want to attempt to duplicate the songs in their original format; rather they preferred to take a fresh look at the songs and melodies to bring them into the present to a new group of fans.
Overall the album is chock full of gems chosen from their entire career such as the fabulous version Dawn and Billy put together of the song “Kentucky," a Karl Davis song (covered by Phil and Don in 1958) and a true gem in every the sense of the word. The harmonies performed by Dawn and Billy are the focal point of the meandering song. Another great song on the album is "Breakdown" written by Kris Kristofferson in 1971. The vocals here are ethereal in nature and the song flows beautifully giving it a completely different feel over the original.
"Empty Boxes" and "What Am I Living For" are two songs that, again, are drifting folk tunes that were meant to be done by these two. The combination of the lyrics and the talented musicians accompanying them on both songs is incredible. The upbeat version of "Milk Train" sounds completely fresh and new in this version, as does the old standard "Somebody Help Me." McCarthy does a great interpretation here and shows her vocal range, as does Billy in making this one rock from start to finish as it was originally intended to.
Much of the material on the album, such as "My Little Yellow Bird," "Devoted To You," "Its All Over," "Just What I Was Looking For," and "Omaha" work well in the overall scheme of the album, which is to bring some great forgotten songs from the early American Songbook back into the present with a laid back flow to them presented by a talented group of studio musicians and two of the best vocalists currently recording in this genre today.
