Cathy's clown
Cathy's Clown is the title of a hit by the Everly Brothers that hit the charts worldwide in 1960 .
First successes
The Everly Brothers received a recording deal from Cadence Records on February 21, 1957 . Here a mixture of different circumstances contributed to the enormous success of the duo. Producer Chet Atkins created the close-harmony singing style, with Phil mostly singing a parallel third above his brother Don. At the RCA Victor recording studios in Nashville they were accompanied by a precise session band with Chet Atkins and Ray Edenton (guitar), Jimmy Day (steel guitar), Lightnin 'Chance (bass) and Buddy Harman (drums). Most of their hit material came from the successful country music writer couple Felice and Boudleaux Bryant , who had already written six million-seller and numerous other titles for the Everlys.
New record label
When their record contract with Cadence Records expired in February 1960 and disputes over royalty accounts arose, they switched to Warner Brothers . The group had previously only been active in the film business and founded the Warner Music Group on March 19, 1958 . The new label suffered a false start because Tab Hunters Jealous Heart (WB # 5008) was the only hit parade entry for Warner Brothers in the year it was founded with a rank of 62. The young label could not boast more than one hit with the humorous title Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb by Edd Byrnes in April 1959. In 1960, a loss of $ 3 million was made. Under this pressure, Warner President James Conklin offered the Everlys as the first pop stars in the music industry a $ 1 million contract with a ten-year term.
History of origin
Cathy's Clown was about a former school friend of Don Everly, who knew that the first single for the new label had to be a hit, otherwise everyone would claim that Archie Bleyer of Cadence Records was the secret to success. Two chords and the martial drum roll of the song about the end of a relationship, completed in 15 minutes, come from Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite , which was one of the three best-selling classical LPs in the USA in November 1960. The music industry also considered separating from the Bryants (who were still available as composers for a transitional period) as a significant risk.
Warner Brothers set the first recording date for March 8, 1960 in the previously used recording studios. The result was three titles, on March 17, 1960 two more titles that had no prospect of success as a single and were therefore planned for the LP It's Everly Time (WS # 1381; May 1960). Of the four titles recorded on March 18, 1960, it was decided to use the original composition Cathy's Clown , while the B-side Always It's You came from the Bryants. The recordings took place in the same recording studio as in the Cadence times, but the Everlys had more artistic freedom under their new producer Wesley Rose , who was also their manager. It was not the Everlys ' first original composition, because ' Til I Kissed You was also written by them.
publication
Because of her tour of England, Cathy's Clown / Always It's You (WB # 5151) was first released in the UK, followed by the US in March 1960. The record broke all records. It was in England, at seven weeks, the longest of all Everly records, and it was the first single to reach number one in the US and England at the same time. In the US, she stayed at the top of the pop hit parade for five weeks, while for the first time she could not reach the top 40 of the country charts. The sales figures vary between more than 2.5 million and often cited eight million copies sold worldwide. Anyway, it's the brothers’s best-selling single, followed by Wake Up Little Susie . It was the fourth and final number one hit by the Everly Brothers.
Warner Brothers stayed with them for a ten-year contract until 1970, when they switched to RCA. At Warner Brothers they published a total of 253 titles.
Individual evidence
- ^ Frederick Dannen, Hitmen: Powerbrokers and Fast Money Inside The Music Business , 1991, p. 121
- ^ Roger White, Walk Right Back: The Story of The Everly Brothers , 1984, p. 58
- ↑ Billboard Magazine, November 7, 1960, p. 37
- ↑ Tim Rice / Jo Rice / Paul Gambaccini , The Guinness Book of Number One Hits , 1982, p. 52
- ^ Charles Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 68
- ↑ Everlynet: Everly Facts, the Everly Brothers Homepage