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Webmaster B. & Bill Hollingshead |
BACK IN TIME
Regularly we will highlight a memorable period or topic in the Everlys career. Please sit back and enjoy these rare clippings and pictures from the EBI archive !
THE
SPLIT
(Knott's
Berry Farm, July 14th 1973)
Please Click Here to find out what happened to Phil's Guitar !
In the late sixties/early seventies it became apparent that Don & Phil were having a hard time finding themselves a legitimate place in the world of Pop music (again). Added to this were difficulties in their personal relationship eventually amounting to the infamous split at Knott's Berry Farm in the summer of 1973.
Although not widely known, the Everlys had announced their separation already a few weeks prior to the occasion. Things didn't go as smooth as they should have though. Having worked as a close unit for almost all of their lives it was bound to have some emotional repercussions for both of them.
On that fateful evening they were scheduled to perform three shows. At the start of the first show it rapidly became apparent that something was wrong. In order to cope with the situation a little bit better Don had done some drinking prior to the show and was clearly not able to pull off a decent performance. He was flat on the notes, introduced people by the wrong name and was making less than commendable remarks to the audience.
It placed Phil and the other members of the band in an awkward position. Coming to his rescue was Bill Hollingshead, Entertainment Manager of the venue, who decided that the show had to stop. During an uptempo number (according to him Wake Up Little Susie and not So Sad) he asked the annoucer to pull down the curtain and to announce the end of the show to the audience. After that Phil immediately left the stage after putting down his guitar, the beginning of a seperation that would last more than 10 years.
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Webmaster B. & Bill Hollingshead |
The problems weren't over though. After all the Brothers were supposed to perform three shows and that meant there were still two shows unanswered for. Although Don had performed poorly in the first show, he claimed that he was able to pull off adequately a second and third show by himself. To make sure however that he was up to the job Bill Hollingshead decided to keep a short audition before the start of the second show. He liked what he heard and so amazingly in matter of moments The Everly Brothers Show had become The Don Everly Show. Not surprisingly, apart from Lucille, Don didn't perform any Everly Brothers related material anymore.....................
