Good-morning, kittens & dawgs!  February is the month of love, and we typically think romance with Cupid sporting hearts to pierce with his arrow. But, heart breaks are also found in February and we all know nothing hurts like a romantic break up, but a band breakup?! Well…that’s a double heart breaker ~ for the group and their fans. This morning, I’m sharing hits of a one the messiest band breakups mentioned in Rolling Stone’s 2013 article in my addition of Breaking up is hard to do series part I with…

Don and Phil The Everly Brothers.

Before Don and Phil were “The Everly Brothers”, they sang as a family with mom and Dad called, The Everly Family. The family lived in different places, but interestingly moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1953. It is here that they gained attention from family friend Chet Atkins. Soon, the brothers became a duo and moved to Nashville to pursue their career.

The boys spent more than two decades together before the era of the best of The Everly Brothers came to an end. Addicted to speed in the early 60s became a problem, Don’s problem was worse with the added use of Ritalin.

Don collapsed on stage in Britain, leading him to hospitalization and treatment for his addiction, but by the mid-60s The Everly Brothers took back seat to The Beatles in the British Invasion and as the decade closed they were no longer known as hit-makers.

Tension between the brothers escalated in the early 70s. Don told a reporter he was tired of being an Everly Brother. Their last performance in July 1973, Don showed up drunk and unable to sing properly. An angered Phil broke his guitar on stage and stormed off leaving Don to finish the show alone closing this chapter of their lives for good.

They parted ways for a time, and reunited for come back tours, but things were never the same again. In memory of Phil Everly who died a year ago this month (1939-2014), let’s listen to 20 songs found on The Everly Brother’s Platinum Collection.