The Everly Brothers - Price of Fame 1960-1965 [Box Set] (CD)

All Music Guide

When the Everly Brothers left Cadence Records for Warner Brothers in 1960, they were the biggest rock roll act in America with the notable exception of Elvis Presley, who had just been drafted into the Army. The Everlys were survivors, withstanding shifting cultural tides and deftly sidestepping the pitfalls that befell their peers, avoiding jail and scandal when many of their peers couldn't seem to avoid it. But the duo wasn't successful merely because they kept their noses clean, but because their music had a broad appeal. Rooted in country, the Everlys could dip into their roots when necessary, clean up for a pop audience, while as the virtual inventors of the power chord rocking rolling like nobody's business. This, combined with a lavish production that came with a major label, made for a set of recordings that were more varied and less consistent than their Cadence work, but their earliest sides for Warner Records were frequently compelling and always fascinating, as Bear Family's massive sevendisc set The Price of Fame: 19601965 shows.