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"...Let It Be Me..."
In June 2021 – and with copyright laws for material of this age long ago gone out the moral window – I am sure you can find the stunning Fifties Cadence Records beginnings of The Everly Brothers for cash peanuts elsewhere. In fact I'd lay odds that if you listen close enough, some of the remasters from this famously thorough release have probably been dubbed and half-inched for myriad cheaper budget reissues (Bear Family has even sued over suchlike theft).
So why spend money on this LP-sized behemoth that in late 2021 is fast approaching 30-years of age - old CDs being something of a pariah in the digital domain? Because its 'Bear Family' and they're the absolute biz-schnizz - the very best.
I've owned this LP-Sized beauty for decades now and it still feels like the words 'class act' were coined just to describe it (see photos below provided). There's a heap to discuss, so let's have at it....
Released 10 February 1992 in GERMANY - "Classic" by THE EVERLY BROTHERS on Bear Family BCD 15618 CI (Barcode 4000127156181) is a 3CD LP-Sized 74-Track Box Set of Remastered 1950s Columbia and Cadence Recordings in Mono (1955 to 1959) with Previously Unreleased that plays out as follows:
CD1 (48:06 minutes) 21 Tracks
CD2 (67:44 minutes) 24 Tracks
CD3 (68:39 minutes) 29 Tracks
The LP-sized colour booklet is a beautiful thing to behold that amidst black and whites snaps of the boys with Buddy Holly and other genre-luminaries of the day, are full-page colour plates of Don and Phil - young and fresh-faced – the clean-cut all-American lads with harmonising voices of gold. Pages 35 to 37 offer up an archive-type Columbia & Cadence Records US-based Discography put together by the award-winning musicologist and writer COLIN ESCOTT. It covers November 1955 through to the December 1959 sessions and you get American catalogue numbers for 45-singles, four-track E.P.s and full albums plus subsequent LP/CD reissues carrying tracks that were made in those early years.
Take for instance the beautiful song "Let It Be Me" – it's on two CDs – Track 9 on Disc 2 is the master for the December 1959 US 45-single A-side of Cadence 1376 – while we find that Track 11 on Disc 3 is an outtake version exclusive to this box set. The discography then also lists the US Mono LP it appeared on – July 1960's "The Fabulous Style Of..." on Cadence CLP 3040 and further to that Cadence CLP 3062, a 1963 best of called "15 Everly Hits 15". Above the master entries are session players, studio dates, and any other relevant info. But the big news is the stunning clear Audio from two hugely experienced Audio Engineers - Rhino's BILL INGLOT and England's 'Boppin' BOB JONES - names collectors would actively seek out when it comes to Exceptional Remasters.
An irritation for me with these master-type discographies is that you get catalogue number references to albums like CLP 3025 for instance without it ever telling you what that LP's title actually is – "The Everly Brothers' Best" on Cadence Records. I always feel they should have a reference to what catalogue number is for what so you know what you're dealing with. Also, despite the Discography not surprisingly being almost-entirely US-based – there is the occasional nod towards UK releases when it warrants it. The 'One O'Clock Lyric version' of "Poor Jenny" famously appears only on the May 1959 UK 45-single on London HLA 8863 (and the British LP apparently) while the 'Ten O'Clock Lyric Version' appears on the US single and LP. This is noted.
But the big news is the stunning clear Audio from two hugely experienced Audio Engineers - Rhino's BILL INGLOT and England's 'Boppin' BOB JONES - names collectors would actively seek out when it comes to Exceptional Remasters.
In fact if you want to sequence their first three albums from this box set, here’s how: 16/1 = Track 16 on Disc 1, 2/3 = Track 2 on Disc 3 etc
"The Everly Brothers"
January 1958 US Debut Album on Cadence CLP 3003 (Mono)
May 1958 UK Debut Album on London HA-A 2081 (Mono)
Side 1: This Little Girl Of Mine (16/1) / Maybe Tomorrow (10/1) / Bye Bye Love (6/1) / Brand New Heartache (11/1) / Keep-A Knockin' (13/1) Be Bop A Lula (17/1)
Side 2: Rip It Up (15/1) / I Wonder If I Care As Much (5/1) / Wake Up Little Susie (8/1) / Leave My Woman Alone (14/1) / Should We Tell Him (12/1) / Hey Doll Baby (9/1)
"Songs Our Daddy Taught Us"
November 1958 US Second Album on Cadence CLP 3016 (Mono)
February 1959 UK Second Album on London HA-A 2150 (Mono)
Side 1: Roving Gambler (13/2) / Down In The Willow Garden (17/2) / Long Time Gone (18/2) / Lightning Express (19/2) That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine (20/2) / Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet (14/2)
Side 2: Barbara Allen (21/2) / Oh So Many Years (22/2) / I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail (23/2) / Rockin' Alone (In An Old Rocking Chair) (15/2) / Kentucky (24/2) / Put My Little Shoes Away (16/2)
"The Fabulous Style Of The Everly Brothers"
July 1960 US Third Studio Album * on Cadence CLP 3040 (Mono)
October 1960 UK Third Studio Album *** on London HA-2266 (Mono)
Side 1: Like Strangers (11/2) / Since You Broke My Heart (1/2) / Let It Be Me (9/2) / Oh, What A Feeling (8/2) / Take A Message To Mary (3/2) / Brand New Heartache (11/1)
Side 2: When Will I Be Loved (12/2) / Rip It Up (15/1) / ('Til) I Kissed You (7/2) / Hey Doll Baby (9/1) / Poor Jenny (5/2) ** / Be Bop A Lula (17/1)
NOTES ("The Fabulous Style Of..."):
* Although this is technically their third US album, "The Fabulous Style Of..." is a compilation that features Four Tracks from the debut while the other eight cuts are the A&B-sides of Four US 45s that hadn't appeared on a US LP up to this point
** the song "Poor Jenny" comes in two forms - the 'Ten O'Clock Lyric Version' that appears on the US albums CLP 3040 and CLP 3062 (Track 5, Disc 2) while the 'One O'Clock Lyric version' appears only on the May 1959 UK 45-single on London HLA 8863 that cut is Track 4 on Disc 2 (the UK LP cut is the Ten O'Clock version)
*** The UK LP variant features a different track list as follows
Side 1: Like Strangers (11/2) / All I Have To Do Is Dream (18/1) / Claudette (19/1) / Oh, What A Feeling (8/2) / Take A Message To Mary (3/2) / Devoted To You (20/1)
Side 2: When Will I Be Loved (12/2) / Bird Dog (21/1) / ('Til) I Kissed You (7/2) / Problems (1 / 2) / Poor Jenny ** (5/2) / Love Of My Life (2/2)
All the huge Billboard Pop hits are here - "Bye Bye Love" (No. 2 in 1957 with "I Wonder If I Care As Much" on the flipside), "Wake Up Little Susie" (No. 1 in 1957), "This Little Girl Of Mine" (No. 26 in 1958), "All I Have To Do Is Dream" (No. 1 in 1958 with "Claudette" on the flipside) and so on until "Let It Be Me" in January 1960 (No. 7 on the charts) marked the transition over to Warner Brothers for the rest of the Sixties. "Bird Dog" also hit No. 1 in 1958, "Problems" went to No. 2 and other chart notables include "Take A Message To Mary", "Poor Jenny" and "('Til) I Kissed You". The Brothers charted 14 songs in that period and they are all here is best Audio.
Bear continued their thorough exploration of the Everlys musical legacy by going all out on the next two sets - "The Price Of Fame 1960-1965" came in January 2006 and covered the first part of the Warner Brothers Years (7CDs) - while "Chained To A Memory 1966-1972" came in June 2006 and its 8CDs+1DVD covered the remaining Warner Brothers catalogue.
I know "Classic" is expensive as all Bear Family tomes tend to be – but put it to you this way – any Box set that is still on catalogue after nearly 30 years has to have done something right in the first place. Beautiful and then some...
PS: Bear Family followed up this release with a real gem that I've also reviewed - "Studio Outtakes" from February 2006 featured 34 x 1950s Cadence Recordings Outtakes onto 1 CD (79:42 minutes), all Remastered and placed in a Mini Clamshell Box Set with a substantial booklet (Bear Family BCD 15931 AR - Barcode 4000127159311). If you've any love for the Harmony Vocals of the Ev's then you will need that too...
