A Date With The Everly Brothers

I don't date. I certainly don't date good ol' white boys from the 50s. That's asking for a dose of ghb in your soda at the sock hop. Nice vocals but this album has nothing for me.

When I got my car a couple of years ago, I named it Lucille, coincidentally one of the songs on this album. It was a used Kia Niro, but it has the look of the Subaru cars a bunch of lesbians drive (Lucille is more of a bisexual to be honest). She's had some trouble here and there, but is an overall great car. I can't say the same about the song or this album, frankly. It's painfully average. Like having to put air in your tires after you just did a week before.

Mid

Surprisingly pleasant.

There are some classics on this album, which just moves it up from a two. But it's not really a must listen to album for me.

You’re grandma isn’t going to like it, but the Everly Brothers were just two of the chipmunks singing passable 12-bar blues.

Nope

Some lovely melodies but not for me

Kratak i brz album. Simpatično je bilo ajde. 3.8 realno, ali ajde 4 :)

I liked this album from the first moment. The sound / the vouchers remember me at the Beatles, even it’s less beat … the rhyym is different but this harmony between the voices is great. I have not already saved the songs, but most of them will be saved.

As average as average gets. 2.5/5. Raising to 3.

Look. It's not that I don't like the EBs but like, what are we listening to them for? Simon and Garfunkel did 2 part harmonies better. certainly they didn't invent the genre of Bluey Piano pop that was the basis of early rock 'n' roll. You can't even qualify them as rock 'n' roll even for this time period. They were the 60s version of Savage Garden. And I feel like their impact on music is equally as trivial. Again, it's not offensive music. It's just not impactful. Now that being said, they had major songs that completely altered the music landscape but none of these are it. Love Hurts? Pointless if it was never remade in the 80s. Cathy's Clown? Not even their song, and basically forgettable. That's the best two songs on here!

Very short and shows its age but in a good way

The halfway house between Elvis and the Beatles? It was ok.

Poprock, svängigt. Något tillrättalagt. 3,5 av 5.

puhafiúk anno 1960

Nekem ez tok hallgathato es kedves. Probaltam lentebb huzni, David, de nem megy. Sajnalom.

Passz

Túléltem. Limonádénak sem mondanám, mert azt szeretem.

Zenetöri, sok fade outtal

Közepesen szórakoztató, de csak 30 perc. Kicsit elszállt felette az idő, főleg a szövegek egy részénél érezni ezt. 5/10 Fav: Made to love (tetszik az intro, de a szöveg problémás), So how come (no one loves me)

Enjoyed the instrumentals and vocal harmonies. Definitely outside of my current wheelhouse which is fun, but not something I'd add to my main rotation.

“Most people go to their graves with their music inside them.” Music Within (2007)

a bit creepy, innit? Thats also some poly type shi Not that poly is wrong The everly brothers just seem a bit creepy Cool music tho

alright

this was fun!

Day1026 - cathy’s clown really saves this one for me. i wasn’t crazy about the cover songs like lucille

Good vocals harmonise very well. At the hop type songs 50s feel about it obviously. Short punchy however pretty dated. Not bad but a little boring and one dimensional heard one heard them all. Not bad but not my thing really. Love really does hurt so I agree with that.

3/5

Always fun to hear this early rock and roll. The Everly’s are particularly good with those harmonies. A worthy listen.

Music from a bygone era, boy that’s old. Wait, I don’t remember when A Date With The Everly Brothers dropped, but 1960 isn’t that long ago. Or maybe it is because this one seemed pre rock n’ roll. The Everlys were past due by the time I started listening to music, but I do remember a couple of the covers. Heard a Chuck Berry influence. Hard to believe Cathy’s Clown was the single, worst (and goofiest) song on the album. Oh well, early 60s and the times will be a’changin’. Overall, not a bad listen with short songs and very short run time. (2.33*s) Looks like they had a thirty year career, might be hearing from them again.

Some sappy 60s pop songs from the Everly Bros. "Love Hurts" and "Cathy's Clown" get this album on the list. The other bubble tracks are blah. I guess you got to put at least one record from the duo on the list. They were a pretty big hit at one point. Not torture to get through but skippable. 1.98 stars.

Quite a hokey album from top to bottom. A bunch of love ballads and 60s ditties about the simpler things in life which is about what I expected. I'm glad music has evolved so much over the past 60+ years and this is no longer top of the charts (though plenty of modern music is just as bad or worse). Perhaps in a simpler time I could enjoy this but it's just cheesy nonsense from the past for me. It's more endearing than a lot of other albums on this list but 27 minutes was about all I needed. 1.80 stars.

It’s clean nice and lovely. It doesn’t have much in the way of edge, their take on Lucille is less anguished scream and more distant observation. But it is filled with the amazing harmony they’re known for.

It's funny to hear the originals of the many cover songs I grew up with.

That's alright. It's pretty dated but I guess it's a precursor to other rock bands and they even composed some of the songs themselves.

Nice 60s pop with no side to it

Very average

this rocked in the 60's, sure. doesn't quite hold up as much anymore, but it feels nostalgic. Love hurts is timeless

I did not know until listening to this that "Love Hurts" was an Everly Brothers song written by Boudleaux Bryant. I think the Everlys deserve more than one album in this list, but if you are only choosing one I don't think it would be this one. Their first album had more songs that I think people need to hear before they die. But this album was great too.

It's cute, bordering on adorable, but it's not very good.

nice enough

I love this band.

I really rather enjoyed this! Not much to say about it, it hasn't changed me to the core, but I've spent my time doing worse things. 4/5

Неплохо на фон какого нибудь ром фильма 80х

cute

Sweet, sometimes saccharine, but wonderful and over before you know it.

Fine.

What can I say? 60's pop just hits different sometimes. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

I’m at a 5. I mean, sometimes it’s just that simple. If you sound good, you sound good. The Everly Brothers sound good, and I can hear some of the DNA of the Beatles & other pop stars of the ‘60s to come in this album. Their harmonies are nice, their vocals feel dynamic enough to switch tempos pretty easily, and while the album is a bit one-note about relationships (like most 50s/60s albums), I’d say they still get in some good lines on the 4 tracks they wrote. The only track that didn’t really work for me was the opener, if only because it’s a bit simplifying towards a woman’s purpose, but also, their dad was born in 1908. I can’t hate on the advice of a guy who’d be 118 today. It’s literally an entirely different era. I think my favorite one here is probably “Always It’s You”, just because the backing xylophone gave it a really warm vibe that just clicked for me, but “Cathy’s Clown” is a very close second. You can practically feel the spark in Paul McCartney light up on that one. The rest all range from good to great (“Lucille” is a pretty good cover), and I’d say there’s not really a miss. It’s a super breezy 27 minutes, and the remasters make the tracks feel especially crisp. If I have any minor complaint, it’s that there’s a lot of fadeouts, but that’s practically nitpicking. I think it’s a 5. I’m glad it’s on the list.

awww I liked it so much!! i'd definitely listen to it again

This is an enjoyable listen and the Everly Brothers can sing their asses off. But by the time Lucille came around, it confirmed my suspicion that this is extremely watered down rhythm and blues. Compared to their contemporaries, this album can sound pretty weak at times.

Some absolutely ground breaking and enduring tracks here. A sound only associated with this era but no less excellent for that.

Short, sweet, and seemingly effortlessly charming. Anything lower than a 4 would be a disservice to this classic.

Listening to this makes you realize how far music has come in not a very long time. This was probably some super awesome music back in the day with people really into is. Then the Beatles and other bands came that left The Everly Brothers in the dust. Listening to this now seems like listening to some ancient relic from a long ago time. Overall not terrible and it's still got the same innocent charm but not really something I would listen to.

Good stuff

Don't try to tell me this isn't the same song 12 times. The music is okay, the lyrics are a joke, I'll never listen to this again.

I’m feeling quite positive on the Everley Brothers. I love a good crooner and I can see how they influenced Simon & Garfunkel , Roy Orbison. Some of the lyrics are of its time (I won’t go into it). But they did write a lot of their own material (mixture of country and blues). High 3

The Everly Brothers were very influential and much copied. I found it a very enjoyable half an hour's music with a large dose of nostalgia.

These are offensively inoffensive teen bops which have aged terribly. The songs are very short, but they are anything but snappy. The vocals are pleasing, but the musicians sounds comatose, in terrible need of a shot of adrenaline to stop them from keeling over. Every song is in a mid-tempo slump with next to no progression from passage to passage. All the songs could be significantly faster. I was eager for it to end.

Everly Brothers was a high 2 for me, felt outdated and not in a good way at times though it was charming in terms of melodies and vocal harmonies

The Everly Brothers at their most dangerous.

While dated and having some antiquated themes, the harmonies are impressive.

it's nice :-)

Servicable

I'm not sure any of this late 50s stuff really holds up today.

Sitä Elvis tason rock n’ rollia

Perfectly cromulent

I never realized Nazareth covered the Everly Brothers' "Love Hurts," written by Boudleaux Bryant. Learn something new every day.

This could easily stray into the syrupy but the brothers harmonies are so pure it cuts through the arrangements and the lyrics. This leaves with you simple but interesting songs. For me though it’s always the sense of what this will become rather than what it is

Some classics and classic-adjacents from the era.

I really rather enjoyed this! Not much to say about it, it hasn't changed me to the core, but I've spent my time doing worse things.

Pleasant, easy, safe. I see how they had an influence on Simon and Garfunkel, who would put out much better music in the years that followed.

4/10

I think I just don’t like music pre-Beatles. Lol. Partially joking. But so many of the reviews have touched on all my beefs with this album. Not going to spend energy giving more explanations of why this album is not it and should be removed from the list.

Thank god the Beatles saved us from this bullshit. I wanted to give these guys the benefit of the doubt but I just can’t stand the saccharine lyrics and voices. Also, “girls were made for loving” is the nicest way to endorse sexual assault possible.

3.0

Enjoyed the oldies

Can't help but think about the bands they influenced. Appreciate the classic harmonies, appreciate the pop sensibilities, and stay for A DATE WITH THE EVERLY BROTHERS (which sounds like a cornball 1960's dating show).

A little boring but some good songs. Maybe just dated

I spent a lot of time thinking that they were the same as the Righteous Brothers and they are not. None of the hits

yeah not replaying to this syrupy 50s/60s shit again. interesting though to hear the archetype / DNA for so many pop rock harmonies to follow

Esenciales y fundamentales. Guitarras y dos voces en perfecta armonía. Un duo eterno. Sin ellos no se entendería la música posterior, desde Paul Anka o el Duo Dinámico hasta los Beatles, Beach Boys, Bee Gees y sobre todo en Simon and Garfunkel. Skiffle americano. Este cuarto disco no contiene la catarata de gemas del anterior (ni los tremendos éxitos que ya habían tenido como Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie o All I Have to Do Is Dream ), pero sí una versión de "Baby What You Want Me to Do" de Jimmy Reed, "Lucille" de Little Richard, Love hurts o Made to Love. Fue le paso de Cadence a Warner Bros y el inicio de un declive que estaba más cerca de lo que ellos podína pensar al entregar este álbum (el lío con el sello Acuff-Rose, adicción a anfetaminas y la invasión británica) y sobre todo por el éxito de "Cathy's Clown" (más de 8 millones de discos vendidos).

1960. Great duo artist vocally and thematically. I love the style of music at this time even if it is far out of date by today's social standards. Fun and heartfelt.

This was interesting to listen to, as a time capsule. I did not know they were the first to sing Love Hurts.

An important album? Yes 5/5. Fun to listen to today...eh, 3/5 4/5

Nice album

This was nice to hear, and it is good for what it is, but not something really in my wheelhouse. I appreciate it though.

Classic Everly Brothers songs.

This is such a category of music that I sometimes forget was real and not just in old movies that already seemed old when I was a kid. I guess that tracks, with this coming out 30 years before I was born but still. I’m reading about how influential they were for the bands like the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel etc. I just can’t stop picturing them like… idk on stage Dirty Dancing but only Baby’s sister and parents are there whereas Baby is carrying a watermelon where the fun music is. It’s cute? Mellow af in a way that feels oddly threatening HA sorry guys. // Bumped down for the fucking catastrophic lyrics

No better harmony

This is really lovely/sweet album. It's completely honest and straightforward with what these brothers with the last name Everly want. I can with certainty, hearing this album and all the Beatles albums, that the Beatles (earlier career) are complete rip-offs of the Everly Brothers. Like wow, my god! A lot of it sounds like some of John Lennon's songs early on in the Beatles career. This albums really invokes a certain period of time really well, like all those nostalgia-for-the-50s 70s movies and media. This was a nice palate cleanser of an album, but I don't think I'd revisit it. Highlight Song/s: "Made to Love" and "Cathy's Clown"

*The Everly Brothers' 1960 album A Date With The Everly Brothers* is a pivotal record that captures the duo at their commercial and artistic peak, bridging their late-'50s teen-pop hits with a more mature, self-contained sound. Released just five months after their Warner Bros. debut, *It's Everly Time*, it repeated its predecessor's chart success (No. 9 on the Billboard Pop albums chart, No. 3 in the UK) and contains some of their most enduring work, including the first-ever recording of "Love Hurts" and their self-penned No. 1 single, "Cathy's Clown" . ### 🎵 Music and Style Musically, the album is a polished blend of rock and roll, country, pop, and blues. The production is pristine, featuring a who's-who of Nashville session players, including guitarists Chet Atkins and Hank Garland, pianist Floyd Cramer, and drummer Buddy Harman . This A-list backing gives the recordings a tight, professional sheen. The album's most defining musical feature, however, is the Everly Brothers' vocal interplay. Their close, entwined harmonies—often with Don taking the lower lead and Phil weaving a higher harmony around it—are the centerpiece of nearly every track . This approach, built on sturdy acoustic guitar rhythms, was highly influential and can be heard in the DNA of countless later acts. There is also a notable eclecticism in the material. The duo tackles Jimmy Reed's blues standard "Baby What You Want Me to Do," slowing its shuffle to let the vocals shine, alongside gentle ballads like "Always It's You" and more upbeat rockers like "Lucille" . The album also features some innovative guitar work for the era, such as the growling, subdued effects on "That's Just Too Much" . ### ✍️ Lyrics and Themes The album's title, *A Date With...*, signals its primary lyrical concern: the many facets of teenage love and romance. The songs explore desire ("Made to Love"), heartbreak ("Cathy's Clown," "Love Hurts"), rejection ("Donna, Donna"), and devotion ("Stick With Me Baby") . While the themes were highly relatable to its target audience in 1960, the lyrics themselves are frequently cited as the album's weakest element. They often rely on simple, repetitive structures and phrasing. Some lines, such as "Love is like a stove, burns you like it's hot" from "Love Hurts," have been criticized as clunky or basic . "Made to Love" opens with a father's advice about girls, stating "Girls, girls, girls were made to love," a sentiment that many modern listeners find dated or even sexist . However, the simplicity of the lyrics serves a purpose: they provide a clear emotional canvas for the Everlys' vocal performances. The focus is less on lyrical poetry and more on the directness of the feeling conveyed. The standout exception is "Cathy's Clown," a Don Everly composition inspired by a high school sweetheart. Its downcast, self-deprecating lyric about being a "clown" for a woman who has moved on represents a step toward more mature songwriting and hints at the sophistication that would soon become standard in pop . ### 🎛️ Production Produced by the Everly Brothers themselves, with the likely involvement of Archie Bleyer in an executive capacity, the album benefits from the warm, clear sound achieved at RCA Victor Studios in Nashville . The recordings were made with remarkable speed; aside from the "Cathy's Clown" single sessions, the rest of the album was cut in just four sessions during July 1960 . The production wisely prioritizes the vocals, placing them front and center in the mix while allowing the skilled session musicians to provide a solid, unobtrusive foundation. The instrumental arrangements are tasteful and serve the songs without ever overshadowing the singers. This "clean" production is often praised, even by those who find the overall sound dated, as it gives the album a timeless and pleasant tone . ### 🌊 Influence The influence of *A Date With The Everly Brothers* is twofold: it lies in the specific songs it introduced and the sonic template it cemented. - **"Love Hurts":** This album contains the first-ever recording of the Boudleaux Bryant song, which has since become a standard covered by countless artists. Roy Orbison covered it as early as 1961, and Nazareth's 1970s hard-rock version turned it into a global hit, introducing a new generation to the song . Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris also recorded a definitive version, showcasing the song's country potential . - **Vocal Harmony Template:** The Everly Brothers did not invent close harmony, but their particular style on albums like this one set a new standard for rock and pop. Their influence is directly audible in the Beatles, who famously covered their song "So How Come (No One Loves Me)" for the BBC and whose early harmonies on songs like "Please Please Me" owe a clear debt to the Everlys . The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Byrds are among the many other artists who built upon the foundation the Everlys laid . ### ⚖️ Pros and Cons **Pros:** - **Exquisite Vocal Harmonies:** The Everly Brothers' singing is the album's greatest strength. Their close, emotionally resonant harmonies are technically brilliant and deeply moving . - **Strong Material:** The album features classic original compositions ("Cathy's Clown," "That's Just Too Much") alongside superb interpretations from the Bryants ("Love Hurts") and blues covers ("Baby What You Want Me to Do") . - **World-Class Musicianship:** The backing from Nashville legends like Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer provides a rich, professional, and tasteful musical bed . - **Historical Significance:** The album is a landmark for containing the first recording of "Love Hurts" and for its profound influence on the future of pop and rock harmony singing . **Cons:** - **Lyrical Simplicity:** Many of the lyrics are basic, repetitive, and dated, especially in their portrayal of romance and gender roles . - **Formulaic Structure:** Several songs follow a straightforward verse-chorus-verse pattern that can make them feel generic or monotonous to modern ears . - **Dated Sound:** While the production is clean, the overall sound, instrumentation, and subject matter are very much of their time, which can make the album feel less immediate to contemporary listeners . - **Inconsistent Quality:** Critics and fans often agree that the album contains some filler tracks, with the second half sometimes being described as weaker than the first . ### 💎 Summary *A Date With The Everly Brothers* is an essential document of early rock and roll. Its primary value lies not in lyrical sophistication but in the sheer beauty and influence of its vocal performances and the introduction of a song that would become a standard for decades to come. It is a record where the sound—the warm, interwoven voices of two brothers—is the message. While some of its cultural attitudes and lyrical content have aged poorly, its musical legacy remains profound, offering a clear window into the foundations of modern pop harmony.

This was fine, but it did feel a bit more like visiting a museum than something I'd put on just to listen to. The Little Richard cover, like the Beatles ones, pales in comparison to the original, but otherwise A Date With the Everly Brothers was ok. I'm not going past first base with them though.

The harmonies and chord progressions from the Everly Brothers still resonates today. I had always loved "Cathy's Clown" when it came on the radio growing up; I didn't know I was missing out on some other great tracks.

Entirely too sweet for me, but I loooooved Love Hurts.

Too jaunty for me! Also besides that I think I don't really care for this sound (wow I'm on a real streak of unimpressed reviews these last few days). Not anything particularly wrong with it

Pretty mellow, so 50s, I only recognized Cathy's Clown

Short and sweet and fun to eat. Beep and bop and hop till you drop.

I like how in the early days of 'modern' pop music, the rhythm and blues and rock-n-roll influence was so obvious. This was a very good example of that done well and I enjoyed it, even if it's not something I'd habitually listen to.