Tracks 1 and 2 from The Everly Brothers (1957)

Tracks 3 and 4 from Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (1958)

Track 31 from Born Yesterday (1986)

Don Everly was born in Brownie, Kentucky and died in Nashville, Tennessee, so it felt right to put "Kentucky" next to "Nashville Blues" in the playlist. I cap all of my playlists in this series at 80 minutes, so the number of songs varies based on the lengths of the songs, and this playlist ties They Might Be Giants for my previous record for the most songs. But I kind of amazingly managed to fit in something from each of The Everly Brothers' 21 studio albums. 

The Everly Brothers were success stories of the singles era -- they had over a dozen top 10 songs from 1957 to 1962, but only two of their albums went top 10, both of their 1960 releases peaking at #9. They were making proper albums all the while, though, only a handful of their biggest hits ("All I Have To Do Is Dream," "When Will I Be Loved," "Let It Be Me") never appeared on studio albums. But most of them did, although in typical fashion of the era their singles were also constantly being repackaged in best-of compilations. They were one of the biggest acts of the era immediately before the Beatles and the British Invasion, but their fusion of country and rock and their close harmony singing style proved in some ways more prescient and influential than most other stars of the late '50s and early '60s, and as country-rock became its own genre over the next couple decades a lot of people covered them, emulated them, and worked with them. I think their records have aged really well for their era, maybe because the focus is so much on their voices and acoustic guitars that I don't mind that the rhythm sections aren't really loud and rockin', which is sometimes what makes rock from before the late '60s sound a little lacking to modern sensibilities. 

The Everly Brothers' biggest hits were mostly penned by the wife-and-husband songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux  Bryant. Some Bryant songs among their earlier album tracks include "Nashville Blues," "You Thrill Me," "Donna, Donna," "Lonely Island," and "Radio and TV." One of the Everlys' first hits was a cover of Ray Charles's "This Little Girl Of Mine," and they covered a few more Ray Charles song over the years, including "Leave My Woman Alone." Charles sort of returned the favor, covering "Bye Bye Love." 

Don Everly, who wrote hits including "Cathy's Clown" and "So Sad," also wrote the album tracks "Maybe Tomorrow," "The Facts of Life," "The Drop Out," and "I'm Tired Of Singing My Song In Las Vegas." Phil Everly wrote or co-wrote "Made To Love," "Up In Mabel's Room" and "Brown Eyes." And both brothers wrote "That's Just Too Much," "Sigh, Cry, Almost Die," and "It Only Costs A Dime" together.