July 7, 1959: Rock and Roll’s 1st “Supergroup”?

Phil (left) and Don Everly

July 7, 1959: A recording session is held at RCA Records' Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. From 1957 to 1977, this studio, at 1611 Roy Acuff Place (at the time, Sigler Street), was the site of the recording of some of the greatest songs in the history of rock and roll and country music.

This session may have been the first of what would later be known as rock "super sessions," and, possibly, rock's first "supergroup."

The song is "(Till) I Kissed You," by The Everly Brothers, Don and Phil. The song is written by Don. Among the other musicians on it were guitarist Sonny Curtis and drummer Jerry Allison, who were members of Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets. As a result, the song sounds like a tribute to Holly, who was killed in a plane crash 5 months earlier.

The song also has the man regarded as country music's greatest guitarist (and also as one of its best producers), Chet Atkins; Hank Williams' bass fiddle player, Floyd "Lightnin'" Chance; and Elvis Presley's pianist, Floyd Cramer, in one of his best performances.

The producer is Archie Bleyer, The Everlys' usual producer, who was also the producer for pre-rock acts The Chordettes (which included his wife, Janet Ertel), Julius La Rosa and Andy Williams. So the song has representatives from several of the top music "franchises" of the 1950s -- pop, rock and country. It is recorded on the label that Bleyer founded, Cadence Records, who rented the studio from RCA.

According to Billboard magazine, "Till I Kissed You" -- or "Till I Kissed Ya," in the Brothers' Kentucky accent -- hit Number 4 on their main popular music chart, the Hot 100; Number 8 on their C&W (Country & Western) chart; and, although everybody involved was white, not black, Number 2 on their R&B (Rhythm & Blues) charts.

The song was covered by reggae singer Jimmy London in 1975, and a version by Connie Smith reached Number 10 on Billboard's country chart in 1976.

Steve Beisser, a friend of mine who was a professional musician, cited the December 4, 1956 "Million Dollar Quartet" at Sun Records in Memphis, with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, as the first great rock jam session. But he added, "Really, as a record, though, and not just as a jam session, this might be one of the first recordings to feature that many people who were marquee names on their own working together."

Later "supergroups" would be intentionally formed. In the 1960s, these included Cream; Blind Faith; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and the 1968 "Super Session" brought together by Al Kooper, with Stephen Stills and Michael Bloomfield. In the 1970s: Humble Pie; The Eagles; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Beck, Bogert & Appice; Journey; and Bad Company. In the 1980s: Asia, The Honeydrippers, The Highwaymen, Rollins Band, The Traveling Wilburys and Bad English. And, in the 2000s: Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, Gorillaz, and, in a one-shot deal for the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge!, Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink.

Archie Bleyer died in 1989, Floyd Cramer in 1997, Chet Atkins in 2001, Lightnin' Chance in 2005, Phil Everly in 2014, and Don Everly in 2021. As of July 7, 2022, Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison are still alive. (UPDATE: Allison died later in the year, and Curtis died in 2025.)

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July 7, 1959 was a Tuesday. Only one game was played on this day: Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. For the 1st time, MLB played 2 All-Star Games in 1 season, added to make money for the players' pension fund. This 1st game was played at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. A home run by Eddie Mathews of the Milwaukee Braves gives the National League a 5-4 win.

The 2nd All-Star Game of the year was played on August 3, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The American League won that one, 5-3.

March 1, 1957: The Everly Brothers Record "Bye Bye Love"

Phil (left) and Don

March 1, 1957: The Everly Brothers record "Bye Bye Love" at RCA Victor Records' studio in Nashville, Tennessee. It rises to Number 2 on Billboard magazine's Top 100, and becomes one of the most influential songs in music history.

Isaac Donald Everly was born on February 1, 1937 in Brownie, now part of Central City, in western Kentucky. It's 125 miles southwest of Louisville, and 95 miles north of Nashville. His brother Phillip Everly (no middle name) followed 2 years later, on January 19, 1939, while the family was living in Chicago. They spent much of their childhood in Shenandoah, Iowa, where their father, Ike, had a radio show.

They moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1953, and Nashville, already the capital of country music, in 1955. They signed with Archie Bleyer's Cadence Records, and "Bye Bye Love" was their first single. It was followed by their 1st Number 1 hit, "Wake Up Little Susie"; 2 more Number 1 hits in 1958, "All I Have to Do Is Dream" and "Bird Dog"; and another in 1960, "Cathy's Clown." They had several other hits, and their harmony lent itself well to both soft country ballads and rockers. They became TV favorites, with Don always standing to the viewer's right.

Both brothers enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1961, and that curtailed their careers. The revival of interest in 1950s music in the early 1970s brought them back into demand, but Don became a bit of a control freak, and Phil left him in mid-concert in 1973. Peace was made in 1983, and they continued to perform together until Phil died in 2014, almost 75 years old. Don followed in 2021, at 84. Each was still married to his 1st wife at the time of his death. Phil had 2 sons, while Don had 3 daughters and a son.

In 1986, they were charter inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the only 1 of the 10 charter acts that was not a soloist. They were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Rolling Stone magazine named them 33rd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004, and the greatest duo in 2015.

Without the Everly Brothers, there would have been no Beatles. There would have been no Simon & Garfunkel -- who recorded "Bye Bye Love" for their last album, Bridge Over Troubled Water. There might not have been a Beach Boys -- who, it should be noted, included among their original lineup 3 brothers and a 1st cousin. Consider all the acts that those acts influenced, and there's a huge part of rock and roll that flows out of those two brothers. It's worth noting that each of those acts was also heavily influenced by Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, also charter inductees.

Giving their Hall of Fame induction speech in 1986, Neil Young said that every musical group he had ever belonged to had tried, and failed, to copy the Everly Brothers' harmonies. When Phil died, Paul Simon said, "Phil and Don were the most beautiful sounding duo I ever heard. Both voices pristine and soulful. The Everlys were there at the crossroads of country and R&B. They witnessed and were part of the birth of rock and roll." The great New York disc jockey Bruce Morrow, a.k.a. Cousin Brucie, called "All I Have to Do Is Dream" his favorite song of all time.

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March 1, 1957 was a Friday. Baseball was entering Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were no games scheduled in the NHL.

There were 2 games in the NBA, and they were a doubleheader at the Boston Garden. In the opener, the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Rochester Royals, 125-117. In the nightcap, the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 90-80.