The Everly Brothers: Two CD collections with plenty of extras

Title: Both Sides on an Evening/The Complete US & UK Singles & EPs 1956-62

Labels: Hoodoo/Acrobat

Two attractive packages for Everly fans begins with Both Sides of an Evening, an unusual album release and an even more interesting reissue because this, to many people, is where the Everly Brothers’ career began to take a nose dive whereas other observers thought that this was the point that the duo’s music matured. What was certain was that the association with their producer/publisher ran into legal problems and their usual source of songs was suddenly cut off.

What actually emerged from this fractious time was an album mixing ballads with higher energy songs. The album feels terribly grown up with a good selection of tracks including Muskrat, Bully of the Town and the easy going Little Old Lady. It’s not a rock’n’roll album as such but it did signal a change in the evolution of the pair as performers.

This edition features a host of extras. Ten songs including singles from the same period including Crying in the Rain, I’m Not Angry and Temptation.

The singles and EPs collection is a 3CD set including a nicely put together book. To reiterate, this collection features every single A- and B-side from the first seven years of the duo’s career along with every single EP track from that period in the UK and USA. The collection is slightly eccentric because it also includes the eight tracks from the second Warner Bros LP, A Date with the Everly Brothers which were not on the singles or EPs. Sounds like filler to me but it’s very nice and welcome filler, nevertheless.

In sonic terms, both productions are nicely put together with the Hoodoo disc being rich in tone, with a busy and generally neutral presentation while the Acrobat collection is patchy in terms of sonic consistency, natural because of the varied sources. Nevertheless, even with a few compressed cuts that are rather dynamically restricted (stand up The Sun Keeps Shining) has a balanced output with no harsh upper midrange barking or brightness to harm your enjoyment.