‘Blood Harmony' Review: Hearing Double

Wall Street Journal

18-07-2025

Feuding brothers have always been part of rock's dysfunctional dynamic. Renowned sibling rivalries include the Kinks' Ray and Dave Davies and Creedence Clearwater Revival's Tom and John Fogerty. Oasis' Liam Gallagher once clocked his brother Noel with a tambourine.
But the mother of all brother feuds erupted at the dawn of rock 'n' roll with the sparring siblings Don and Phil Everly. The pair of golden-voiced heartthrobs were often at each other's throats even as their heavenly harmonies exalted teen angst to the farthest reaches of AM radio. Theirs was a potent, almost mystical elixir that transformed pop music, helping trigger Beatlemania and the British Invasion in the '60s, and the West Coast country-rock revolution in the early '70s.
A random 1963 blow-up epitomizes the Everlys' feisty ways. At the time they had an unprecedented million-dollar record deal. But the brothers were 'tiffing rather loudly,' their act 'near collapse,' according to the Hollywood Reporter: 'The boys have been feuding for some time, but it became a matter of public discussion when Phil tried to belt brother Don during a Warner Bros. recording session. Other people got between the boys before blood was shed.'
It's another of what Phil called the pair's 25-year 'argument' and one of many brotherly scuffles cited in 'Blood Harmony,' the first in-depth biography of one of pop music's most influential duos. Barry Mazor strikes a balance between the Everlys' stormy lives and their enduring music, making a strong case for the Everly Brothers as more than pioneering rock songbirds. They were full-fledged auteurs who left their mark as songwriters, instrumentalists and creators of visionary pop records.