CKY Fall Festival of Stars
(book excerpt)
EVERLY MANIA
Our band The Dovermen had driven into Winnipeg
to play a number of Community Centres in 1964, but a much higher profile
gig came our way at the Winnipeg Auditorium on November 16. We were booked
to open the sell-out CKY Fall Festival of Stars with headliners The
Everly Brothers, Roger Miller and the Newbeats. We were also
asked to back the Newbeats who were riding high with hits like Bread
and Butter, but we had only a few minutes rehearsal with them backstage.
I sensed a bit of panic in their faces when they noticed how young two
of our band guys looked, but the songs went well. Larry Henley's falsetto
lead vocals surprised us since we had thought it had been a girl singing
on the records (a few years later Henley wrote Wind Beneath My Wings).
We opened with a Shadows instrumental and followed
with a Stones number, The Kinks' You Really Got Me and a few more
current rockers. We then backed The Newbeats on their hits. I left my Fender
Twin amp set up on stage and it was used by Roger Miller's guitarist, Thumbs
Carllile. The very entertaining Miller sang his current big hits including,
Dang
Me, King of the Road,
Chug-a-lug, and Engine, Engine No.
9. Roger who was riding high on the charts with these hits had
received top billing for the show. We were, however, soon to see why the
Everlys, early in the tour, were chosen to close the shows.
The Everly Brothers' band included Sonny
Curtis from
Buddy Holly's Crickets, but sadly there wasn't too
much time for chatting with him on the show. When the long-haired and charismatic
Don and Phil Everly started belting out their many hits with their famous
"goose-bump" harmonies the audience went wild. First, the crowd sang along
with every song. It wasn't long though, before the screams began and the
excited girls mobbed the stage as the Everly magic took hold. The fire
warden threatened to close down the show a number of times if the fans
didn't return to their seats.
This was our first experience with a really wild
Elvis/Beatlemania type of audience. It was also the first time we had worked
with male performers who wore stage make-up... and who appeared strangely
"glassy-eyed." When Sue-On and I started to perform so many of the Everly
songs a few years later, we noticed that you can play the chords and melody
from Walk Right Back (the Everlys' 1961 hit written by Sonny Curtis)
when you sing Roger Miller's later 1965 hit Engine, Engine Number Nine.
When told about that, Sonny Curtis said, "Mad at Roger for copying me?
No, I'm honoured." Sonny has written many hits including the theme for
The Mary Tyler Moore TV show.
When we returned to the Aud to pack up next morning
we found one of the Everlys' famous Gibson guitars that had been left behind
a stage curtain. We were there when their road manager phoned from Minneapolis
to track down the whereabouts of the instrument. It was soon after this
show that we were booked to back Canadian rock idol, Bobby Curtola, on
his Western Canada tour. We were about to see many more screaming audiences.
Ten years would go by before we would have a chance to
see the Everly Brothers in concert again. The opening act for this show
was Jud Strunk who had just had a hit with "Daisy a Day." The brothers
were welcomed warmly by a large adoring crowd. Costumes and music styles
had changed a bit but their unique harmonies still thrilled the audience.
The set lists were similar to those featured in their recent live album.
The rapport between the brothers seemed a bit strained, but it was a shock
when we heard a few months later that they had gone through their well
publicized breakup at Knotts Berry Farm.
