R.I.P. Phil Everly (1939-2014)
On Friday, January 3, 2014, another tall tree toppled in the steadily thinning forest of true rock'n'pop trailblazers with the death of the younger of the legendary Everly Brothers. Phil was just a couple of weeks short of his 75th birthday.
Like The Shadows, The Beatles. The Hollies, Simon & Garfunkel, NZ's own Bill & Boyd and many more artists and groups, we members of The Shadz were strongly influenced, and instructed, by the songs, the harmonies and the guitar stylings of Phil and Don Everly. Our current repertoire features several of their greatest hits, hopefully rendered with the respect and integrity that they so richly deserve.
Already, you can find hundreds of tributes, biographies, retrospectives, YouTubes, you-name-it, on the Web. So, we'd just like to say: "Thanks for the music and the memories, Phil Everly. Rest in peace."
In 1972, Albert Hammond recorded, as an album track, a powerful, heartfelt ballad that he had co-composed with Mike Hazlewood. The following year, 1973, Phil Everly was the first artist to cover that song and release it as a single. Then, in 1974, his version inspired the cover by The Hollies, which would go on to become a major and enduring hit. Here, with arrangement by Warren Zevon and production by twangy guitar hero Duane Eddy, is Phil's sensitive rendition of "The Air That I Breathe"...
