Paul Simon is one of the greatest songwriters America has ever produced, with Art Garfunkel and as a solo artist, he has written a host of widely influential tunes, including ‘The Sound of Silence’, ‘Mrs. Robinson’, and of course, ‘You Can Call Me Al’. A master at writing from the heart and weaponising the simple combination of the voice and acoustic guitar, he followed in the tradition of a series of greats, including Ricky Nelson, Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, and, The Everly Brothers.
While Simon’s life and career has been pretty oscillating at points, with him enjoying immense highs and crushing lows, he has mostly stayed true to himself in an artistic sense, with him placing pure songwriting at the centre of all he does professionally. This is what has led to him creating such a lengthy list of timeless tracks, that appeal to listeners of all walks of lives and age groups.
One of the groups that inspired him the most are The Everly Brothers, the pair who sang classics such as ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ and ‘Cathy’s Clown’. Heroes of the early rock period, who put a dreamy, wistful twist on the genre, while they might have experienced a decline in stature as the 1960s wore on and music charged headfirst into the future, those who were there at their peak never forgot them, including Paul Simon.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2010, he said: “The roots of the Everly Brothers are very, very deep in the soil of American culture.”
Revealing his deep fandom of the brothers, he explained that at first, they were child stars, who had a radio show with their family, and that their father, Milford “Ike” Everly Jr. was an influential country player. Because of their father’s stature, he exposed his young sons firsthand to the talent of other stars such as Merle Travis and Chet Atkins, who would prove to be huge influences later on, even helping get them onto the Grand Ole Opry.
Due to being exposed to country-roots music from early on, the Everly Brothers were more pioneering than they are credited for Simon, argued: “Perhaps even more powerfully than Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers melded country with the emerging sound of Fifties rock & roll.”
Mentioning the impact the band had on his generation, Simon’s next points were salient: “The Everly Brothers’ impact exceeds even their fame. They were a big influence on John Lennon and Paul McCartney – who called themselves the Foreverly Brothers early on – and, of course, on Simon and Garfunkel. When we were kids, Artie and I got our rock & roll chops from the Everlys. Later, as Simon and Garfunkel, we put ‘Bye Bye Love’ on Bridge Over Troubled Water, and much later, Phil and Don both sang on the song ‘Graceland.’”
