When Will I Be Loved

"When Will I Be Loved" was written by Phil Everly and recorded for the Cadence label with his brother Don in 1960, but not immediately released. The Everly Brothers moved to Warner Brothers shortly afterward and rerecorded the number in the softer pop style. Fortunately, Cadence was still able to release the original cut which was the last of the brothers' great rockabilly numbers. Linda Ronstadt, of course, had an even bigger hit with her release in 1975, and most covers since then have been of her version.

The brothers were temporarily back on speaking terms in 1983, after ten years of estrangement. They stopped talking again, on and off, until Phil died in 2014. Don died in 2021.

Music begins at :40

I was certainly surprised by this pre-Ronstadt cut by Manfred Mann (audio only):

Music begins at :55

One of the few covers of the Everly version (ignore the false start):

Duet begins at :46

Comments

[Cory]

Warner Brothers was about to close their record division in 1960 when they took two gambles to save it. The first was signing a young comic named Bob Newhart to record his night club act. The second was signing the Everly Brothers to an unprecedented million dollar contract. Those two moves saved Warner Brothers records. The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a huge seller and prompted more comedy albums. The Everly's first Warner Brothers release, Cathy's Clown, was #1 for much of the summer of 1960. They did some more great records for Warners but, unlike Elvis, their career took a huge hit when they went into the Marine Corps in 1962.

[Pete Best]

No one does it better than Don & Phil (RIP). Linda Ronstadt's version is just as good. Lots of interesting pairings here, not always as good as the original. I was particularly disappointed by Manfred Mann's version. They were one of my favorite groups but this version stinks; the horns are not their bag. I expect that when Quinn the Eskimo gets here he'll fix that.

Interesting story about Warner Records. For another interesting story that went the other way, the Beatles were rejected by Decca for the reason that guitar groups were on their way out. Oops. Read about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles%27_Decca_audition

[anon]

You all are so smart and well informed about events 65 years ago! Impressive, of course. (Isn't that the point?)
Ok, I know. Readers are supposed to bow down in worshipful silence and reverence for your greatness, and never say anything negative about this exercise in the nostalgic musings of one person and the competition that ensues to outdo one another with bits of trivia.
This exercise isn't objectionable per se and I suppose for folks who are stuck on the music scene of their youth 65 years ago, it is fine to dwell on it. (Imagine, if you will, these folks, when they were at the age they enjoyed this music, spending their time dwelling on the music of Billy Murry.)
What this reader finds regrettable is that this series of posts has become almost the sole focus of this once terrific site.

[Alan Scopp]

There is an interesting version of this song by The Bunch which included Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson on vocals from 1972. It's acoustic and understated but quite lovely.

[Bill Parker]

Alan,

Here's The Bunch's version; it's quite nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTVDvwduVnk