On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, Cindy & I drove 150 miles almost
straight North to Shenandoah, Iowa, to see the childhood home of the
Everly Brothers. We visited Shenandoah in 1987 at which time the one room
house was still a private residence on the same lot as when the Everly
family lived in it in the 1940s & 1950s. Our tour guide told us that
the house was not originally on that lot but that it was one of a few
one-room shacks on the side of town used as housing for railroad workers
when repairing tracks in the area. When the railroad no longer
wanted the shacks a local person bought one and moved it to 6th Avenue
where it stayed until 2006. Now, the restored house sits next door to the
Greater Shenandoah Historical Society Museum. Inside the museum on display
we saw lots of photographs, newspaper & magazine clippings related to
the Everly Brothers (Don & Phil), their parents Ike & Margaret and
the two radios stations where they sang and played guitars on live radio
broadcasts on a daily basis.
Across the street is the Depot Deli, an old railroad passenger depot
converted into a restaurant & bar. The interior is a filled with
lots of Everly Brothers memorabilia and other artifacts of the era.
The Depot Deli is owned and run by Bill Hillman, who has been the
instigator of most/all of the local efforts made to acknowledge Shenandoah
as the boyhood hometown of Don & Phil Everly. In 1986, Hillman and his
crew brought the Everly Brothers back to Shenandoah to play an outdoor
concert which attracted thousands of people including hundreds of people
who lived there the same time as the Everly family.
The Everlys moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1950s. In a few
years, Don & Phil were recording hits records that were heard on radio
stations around the world like "Bye Bye Love", "Wake Up Little Suzie",
"When Will I Be Loved", & "On the Wings of a Nightingale" (written for
them by Paul McCartney). They became among the biggest stars of
first generation rock 'n' roll music. Their hit records &
concert tours continued into the 1970s at which point they had an
acrimonious break up that lasted for ten years. Upon patching up their
relationship they made fresh, contemporary music that retained the essence
of their sound. Today, Don Everly survives the passing of his
younger brother Phil. (UPDATE: Both of the Everly Brothers have passed. Phil on January 3, 2014, Don on August 21, 2021.) The Everly Brothers still have millions of fans
everywhere.
Cindy & I thank everyone in Shenandoah who made our day there
pleasant.
Now here are the photographs I took, all with captions. Feel free
to share these photos--do with them whatever you like.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/daddyodilly/albums/72157600861976127/page1
