Growing up, I listened to the local AM radio station every day, and often some nights with the little white earplug that came with transistor radios. The station played lots of Everly Brothers hit songs. Only I had no idea they were basically "oldies". Before reading this book, if someone had asked me when their hit songs were released, I would have replied all through the 1960s. Wrong. The last big hit for the Everly Brothers came out before 1962, years before I was old enough to listen to the radio day and night.

I also never knew how much Don and Phil Everly influenced other singers with their guitar playing and blood harmony. "Blood harmony" is a term used to describe an effortless type of harmony produced by siblings or other close relatives. Never knew there was such a thing, either, before reading this book. In addition, I did not know the brothers were teen idols, gracing the covers of teen magazines at least ten years before I was reading such magazines.

Yes, if you watch old videos online of them singing, one can see why teenage girls were swooning over them; especially Don, if you watch a video of him singing the solo parts of "Cathy's Clown". I like that song, along with others by the brothers, but never bought any of their records, tapes or CDs. I do have two of their songs on my Sony MP3 player, but only because they were on CDs of songs by different groups. The two songs being "Crying In The Rain" and "Bowling Green".

I don't know, their music just never appealed to me that much. Yet this book has got me watching the old videos with great interest. Along with their music, it covers to a point their personal lives and relationship with each other. There was indeed like a 10-year break up between them, as widely reported by the press over the years. Plus, both had three marriages, with Phil being the far better father and uncle. Don apparently felt it was best to stay away from his children if he did not get along with their mother. Both brothers also appeared to have some issues with their mother, but not their father.

Hence, Barry Mazor's "Blood Harmony" is a worthwhile read for both Everly Brothers fans and those who may not be real fans, but are interested in music made during their time period. At times the story did drag a bit after the brothers became estranged, yet not so much that I wanted to stop reading. My only real problem with this book was it led to some pretty bad earworms some nights. Yes, I was lying awake one night trying to remember all the lyrics to "Wake Up Little Susie". Another night, I was trying to remember the words of Don's solo parts in "Cathy's Clown".

Who knew that decades after I was listening to songs at night with the little white ear plug, I would be asking an electronic device next to my bed to play some of those songs? No waiting for when they were played on a radio station. Who could have imagined being able to do such a thing one day?

My parents took me to see the Everly Brothers in concert when I was about ten years old. Still a great memory. It was interesting to read about their story ! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.

5 stars.

Blood Harmony, by longtime music writer and critic Barry Mazor, is a well-paced and comprehensive biography of the Everly Brothers. From 1957 to 1962, The Everly Brothers were a hit-making machine whose sound transcended genres. They influenced most notable musicians and bands, who spoke highly of them in interviews and covered their songs.

While they never duplicated that success again, the brothers continued touring for over 40 years to large audiences, except for a 10-year period during which they did not speak with one another. They still released albums that did not sell well, but Mazor praised many of them and noted the shortcomings of the others. While I have not listened to any of those albums, the Nashville music community respects Barry Mazor so that I will defer to his judgment.

Blood Harmony is the first comprehensive biography of the Everly Brothers. I recommend it to any fan of the group or, if you are, in my case, someone who doesn't actively seek them out but knows of their significance to future generations of music in many genres.

I want to thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing/Da Capo for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you, Grand Central Publishing | Da Capo for the copy of Blood Harmony, The Everly Brothers Story by Barry Mazor. I remember listening to The Everly Brothers when I was growing up so the hit song titles were familiar to me. I also remember their stunning voices! I loved this book and had no idea about their lives behind the scenes and I appreciated how their hard times weren’t downplayed. I especially liked hearing about the other up-and-coming musicians that played a part in their story. I’m not a musician so there were some musical terms I didn’t really understand, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. I had no idea that ‘blood harmony’ was a common term! I think this book is for people who loved The Everly Brothers and those who are new to them. 4 stars