Hans 2021 Song Draft: Round Two-Pick Two-Cathy’s Clown-Everly Brothers (1960)
Hanspostcard has a song draft challenge. This is my Round Two pick.
I grew up around lots of music. My dad had his tastes, my mom had hers and I got some exposure to my grandparents music, too. There was plenty of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson, Gene Pitney, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, The Ventures, The Beach Boys, instrumental music (think Hugo Montenegro or Paul Mauriat), funny stuff like Ben Colder/Sheb Wooley, Ray Stevens or David Seville (my dad’s stuff), The Four Seasons, Motown, soul music, beach music (my mom’s stuff), big band music (my paternal grandparents) and, bluegrass, country and Latin/jazz (maternal grandparents). One song, in particular, that reminds me of my dad the most is Cathy’s Clown. When I was a kid, my dad liked to just get in the car, drive around and listen to the radio. It was, literally, No Particular Place To Go. When I became an adult, we’d still get in the car and cruise. He and I would sing Cathy’s Clown, together, with me taking Phil’s harmony. I still own my dad’s original 45. ~Vic
Written by Don, it was recorded in March and released in April 1960. It was recorded live, in a single take, with both brothers sharing a microphone. Floyd Cramer was on piano, Floyd Chance on bass and Buddy Harman on drums. An odd song, it has a chorus and bridges but, no verses. It was their first single for Warner Bros. It spent five weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, one week on the Billboard’s R&B chart and seven weeks at #1 on UK’s Singles chart. It was their biggest selling single and their last #1 after Wake Up Little Susie and All I Have to Do Is Dream.
The song is ranked at #150 Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and it was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2013. Covers have been done by Reba McEntire and Neil Sedaka (1983) with McEntire’s version reaching #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and Canada’s RPM Country Tracks chart in 1989. There is even a Jan and Dean version on Filet Of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings (2017).
“We owe those guys everything. They started it all.” ~Bob Dylan
Additional Reading & References:
The Everly Brothers: That Sibling Sound (BBC News/2014)
Cathy’s Clown ~ The Everly Brothers (Library of Congress/PDF)
Recording Cathy’s Clown (Steve Hoffman Music Forum)
Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show 1960
July 21, 2021 at 6:21 AM
Great song and nice that you have that memory of singing with your Dad.
July 21, 2021 at 4:03 PM
It was good times for sure. It is amazing how music or even a certain smell can trigger memories.
July 21, 2021 at 5:03 PM
Sooo true! Our minds are so powerful!
July 21, 2021 at 9:18 AM
I don’t know why…I thought Hans posted this again…I was like…what the hell? Is it Groundhog day?
July 21, 2021 at 4:23 PM
😆 I waited 24 hours to post it. July 1, I went back to posting every other day. I am too busy to post every day. It’s a struggle.
But, yes…it is Groundhog Day…again. Know how I know? We still have a fake Prez. and we still have a fake pandemic. You got a hammer? Smash that alarm clock, please…😠😡🤬
July 21, 2021 at 4:24 PM
“They say we’re young and we don’t know
We won’t find out until we grow” ….smash smash smash
July 21, 2021 at 4:53 PM
Oh dear god…Sonny & Cher. 😳
July 21, 2021 at 12:01 PM
I’m rather fond of a bit of Everly Brothers. I had a similar upbringing, musically, my sister was 19 (yup I was definitely a mistake😂) I spent my baby years jiving to Elvis etc… apparently lol, so r”n”r was instilled in me from day one. Apparently one of the Everly’s Don? 🤔 Taught Kieth Richards 5 string open tuning too… dunno some music trivia I recall 😂
July 21, 2021 at 4:15 PM
It’s good music. All three men were pioneers. The downside is, fame can be seductive…and destructive. Elvis died young and the brothers fought. Don even went so far as to have Phil’s name removed from writing credits on this song…after Phil’s death in 2014, taking away any and all royalties from Phil’s estate & family. Nice guy, huh?
I was a “deliberate.” My mom got pregnant, on purpose, to get out of a strict religious household. My parents were very young and the power struggle between them ended 12 years later. It was ugly and I was shielded from some violence.
July 25, 2021 at 12:43 PM
Yes, it’s such a shame that fame and money doesn’t bring happiness. It must have been a traumatic time for you even if you were shielded to some degree….
July 25, 2021 at 3:09 PM
Yeah. Between the fighting and the loss of a parent via divorce is not fun.
They split when I was 12, divorced when I was 13 and, when I turned 14, my mom pretty much told me that, if I didn’t ask about her business, she wouldn’t ask about mine and…”Don’t make me a grandmother before I am 40.” I *could* have been a wild teen…🤔🤨😎
August 4, 2021 at 11:19 AM
For some reason I don’t get notifications of follow up comments on others posts🤔 It’s not a good age for that kind of change, you’ve done well to be so ‘grounded’ I like the * * 🤔😉
August 4, 2021 at 3:46 PM
WP is always jacking with code. Every time they do, something breaks. Their latest keyboard warrior crew did something to make pictures disappear on older posts in the Reader…and the app. That is quite a feat considering the phone is Java & the site is PHP/Javascript.
So, how did you find out I did comment?
July 23, 2021 at 12:15 AM
This song for me is just perfection, when their voices blend for the chorus… One of the best pop songs ever, I’d say.
July 23, 2021 at 1:25 AM
I would wholeheartedly agree! ❤