Mar 1, 1957-Feb 18, 1960
Strictly speaking, the title of this two-CD, 47-song collection is not accurate. This does have every recording the Everly Brothers released while they were on the Cadence label in 1957-1960, and does also include at least one version (always the more familiar one, in case only one is used) of every song the pair recorded for the label. However, it does not include most of the alternate versions that were released on the Rhino collection All They Had to Do Was Dream. That technicality out of the way, this is a very good collection for those who want more early Everly Brothers than a Cadence best-of disc, but may not want to have every last thing (and you can always pick up All They Had to Do Was Dream as a supplement), though it does have everything from their Cadence singles and LPs. Serious fans and collectors, however, are going to be tempted to fork out for this even if they have all that stuff already, since this has four previously unreleased demos, all Phil Everly songs, none dated, but almost certainly recorded in the late '50s. These are just okay, not great, and sound like Phil Everly solo acoustic numbers rather than full duo performances, but they're certainly worth having if you love your Everlys. Also of value are a couple of demos of Don Everly originals, "Give Me a Future" and "Life Ain't Worth Living," that aren't that easy to come by either, although they've been previously released on Bear Family's Classic Everly Brothers box set; "Give Me a Future" uses, according to Varese Sarabande, an improved source from the one used on the Bear Family collection.