Bill and Sue-On Hillman: A +55-Year Musical Odyssey
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Presents
EVERLY BROTHERS IN THE PRESS
Part 1
Phil Everly's Son Is Suited For His Part During a recent rehearsal for Chapman College's "30 Years of Rock and Roll" revue, the young singer chosen to portray Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers announced that the wardrobe for his character was wrong and then volunteered to supply his own outfit.
LA Times POP BEAT ~ February 14, 1986But this was no case of an overinflated ego.
"I said, 'Look, I'll bring the original suits to you. They're not quite like that,' " said Jason Everly, whose father and uncle are the Everly Brothers.
By appearing as his father in the show, which opens a six-performance, two-weekend run tonight in Orange, Jason Everly will add a dimension of authenticity rarely found in such productions.
At 19, Jason is only a year older than his father was in 1957 when the Everlys sprang into the national spotlight with their hit "Bye Bye Love." In addition to the Everly physical and vocal likenesses he naturally brings to the role, Jason has borrowed some of his father's original clothes and guitars to use in the revue, which spans rock 'n' roll from Elvis Presley to Cyndi Lauper.
"What I'd like to best represent if I possibly can is the look when they first started--one microphone, the high-button black suits and the 18-year-old starry-eyed kids, which is what they were, essentially," Everly said earlier this week during a noisy rehearsal in Chapman College's Memorial Hall.
Ironically, Jason's natural vocal range is closer to that of his uncle Don, who sings melody, than to that of Phil, who handles the higher harmony parts. But when preparing for the show, Jason wanted his father's part even if having it would be something of a strain. "My dad said, 'Go ahead and sing the melody, it's easier.' But the harmony is where it's at."
Jason's counterpart as Don in the Everlys' segment is his friend Garrett Mehok, who recommended Jason when the director asked for suggestions on whom they could get to play the duo.
Like most of the other amateur and student singers in the show, Everly and Mehok play multiple parts. Mehok's other duties include the crucial role of Elvis Presley, and Everly will also appear as one of the Beach Boys, as Kenny Loggins ("I'm trying to grow a little stubble," he said, scratching the beginnings of a beard) and as one of the members of English heartthrob band Duran Duran.
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Even though he is the son of one of rock's most popular and influential performers, the sandy-haired young Everly said his musical ambitions are modest and that he is more interested in political science, which he is studying at Santa Monica College.That, he said, suits his father just fine. "Dad told me, 'If you don't learn anything else, learn how to play guitar so at least you can eat. If worse comes to worse, you can always sing for somebody. But I forbid you to actually make a career out of the business. If you make it a lifetime commitment out of it, you're in trouble.'
"The truth is I'm not really a lifetime committed musician," Jason said. "It's not like music is my life. I know better. Dad's gone through good times and bad, and he'll tell you it's not the best of professions."
Unlike Phil and Don, who grew up in a musical family that frequently sang together at home and at church, Jason and his father rarely collaborate, he said.
"He and I have trouble writing together, and we have trouble singing together for no reason except that he's famous, he's incredibly talented and he's my father--three very difficult things to overcome."
Jason has, however, joined voices occasionally with his cousin Edan--Don's son--who made a cameo appearance with the Everlys during their performance last fall at the Pacific Amphitheatre.
"Want to hear some great stuff? He and I are within one day of being exactly the same age apart as my father and my uncle--but reversed. I'm the oldest," he said. "But Edan's a much better guitarist than I am, and he wants to do it for the rest of his life--so let him."
Jason said his father hopes to attend one of the performances, but he is recovering from some recent knee surgery, and that may prevent him from leaving the Toluca Lake home father and son share.
But even if he misses this show, it might not be the last chance Phil Everly will have to see his son perform in public. Jason has enjoyed his role in the Chapman College show so much that he is considering doing some lounge performances of acoustic music with Mehok. "I'd love to have just two guys and guitars doing old, mellow Beatles songs, Simon & Garfunkel and that type of stuff, because it's just so much fun to sing. It's too incredible if you do it right."
Copyright LA Times 1986
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