A Date With – THE EVERLY BROTHERS****

Made To Love/That’s Just Too Much/Stick With Me Baby/Baby What You Want Me To Do/Sigh Cry Almost Die/Always Its You/Love Hurts/Lucille/So How Come/Donna Donna/A Change Of Heart/Cathy’s Clown

A Date With was a quick follow up Warner LP from the Everly Brothers, just in time for the Christmas rush. Don and Phil must have been pretty chuffed by the massive success of their own composition Cathy’s Clown, No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic for weeks on end. (US:9 UK:3) “The Everlys second set with Warners contains a few more Bryant gems including the debut of the classic melancholia song Love Hurts, always associated with Don and Phil but never released as a single, plus the self penned Cathy's Clown and a thumping cover of Little Richard's Lucille.”

“The pre-Beatles era is hugely neglected as a source of classic and minor classic albums. Even a blatant classic like A Date With The Everly Brothers gets overlooked. An album like this can challenge some pre-conceptions about music history. Side one is terrific. Overall, this is a bit sedate and lacking in surprises - but still a flawless period piece, with eight new songs and four good covers, climaxing with their greatest ever song.”

“The big hit here is Cathy's Clown. However, the other songs are excellent examples of Don and Phil's style of very catchy pop rock beat songs with a few ballads that highlight their harmonic singing. Some of the songs are written by one or both of the brothers: Most of the others are penned by Boudleaux Bryant and his wife Felice who were responsible for The Everlys hits on the Cadence label.”

“An incredible opening with the vaguely surfy Made To Love, and an unbeatable closer with the classic Cathy's Clown. What happens in between is consistently very good - the best songs are written by The Everlys themselves, while the Bryant originals are also very special (Love Hurts in particular). The bluesier covers are less compelling but done with love.”

“The singing and close harmony are just beautiful, and the love songs on this album (all of the songs, that is) range from jubilant and happy to, more often, melancholic and unhappy. Whatever the mood, they are always sweet and beautiful. And Cathy's Clown is one of the finest pop songs of the decade.”