The Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love (1957)

Born Isaac “Don” Everly (b. 1937) and Phillip “Phil” Everly (b. 1939), these American brothers were in the top two of the charts by the time they were twenty and eighteen years old, respectively. Born in Kentucky, the Everly brothers close vocal harmonies inspired artists of the 1960s such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, and many others. In 1956, family friend Chet Atkins had the brothers signed at Columbia records, but the release of their first single, “Keep A’ Lovin’ Me,” flopped and they were dropped from the label. Not to be discouraged, the duo signed with Cadence and released their first million-copy seller in March 1957, also heard below. Through 1957 and ’58, the brothers toured a rugged schedule with Buddy Holly, supporting their hit songs “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do is Dream,” “Bird Dog,” and many others. The 1960s saw a slight decline in popularity, as the brothers had a falling out with their manager and were consequently cut off from their usual songwriting team. Sales were especially low after the Everly’s stopped working for six months to report to boot camp in November 1961, having enlisted in the Marines as reserves to avoid getting drafted. Their last top ten hit, “That’s Old Fasioned,” was in 1962. Between drug addiction, a falling out between the brothers, and working with The Hollies, there’s a lot more to the story than what’s been briefly touched upon here.

Written by the aforementioned songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, this song was rejected by more than thirty artists before being accepted by The Everly Brothers as their first single for Cadence Records. Reaching number one on the country charts, it only reached number two on the pop charts, being kept off the top spot by Elvis Presley’s “(Let Me be Your) Teddy Bear.” Notable cover versions of the song include a live rendition by Simon & Gafunkel for their Bridge Over Troubled Water album in 1970 and a particularly bitter version by George Harrison in 1974 that altered some of the lyrics to address his ex-wife, Pattie Boyd, leaving him for his best friend Eric Clapton. The version heard below is the first release of the song.



The Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love (1957)

Loading the ABLYAM player...(Might not work on mobile devices)

Lyrics:

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry

Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye, my love, goodbye

There goes my baby
With someone new
She sure looks happy
I sure am blue
She was my baby
‘til he stepped in
Goodbye to romance
That might have been

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry

Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye, my love, goodbye

I'm through with romance
I'm through with love
I'm through with countin’
The stars above
And here’s the reason
That I'm so free
My lovin’ baby
Is through with me

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry

Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye, my love, goodbye
Bye bye, my love, goodbye
Bye bye, my love, goodbye
Bye bye, my…